As we've mentioned a number of times on this site… for filmmakers chasing Hollywood dreams, one potential route to take that's proven to be successful for a number of filmmakers in the recent past, is to consider investing in a solid high-concept or genre short film (note the bold on those 2 words) that's preferably less than 10 minutes long, stick it up on the web, tell the whole world, and hope for the best!
Easier said than done, of course, but that's often the case, so nothing you haven't heard before.
I actually watched this short film a couple of days ago I believe it was, when a reader sent it to me (it was posted on Wired Magazine's website), and didn't do anything with it, and forgot about it (it just didn't do much for me as it apparently did for countless others; I know, I'm weird like that).
Then a couple of days ago, the filmmaker himself (Jesús Orellana from Barcelona, Spain) actually sent it to me, alerting me to the fact that it had indeed been featured on other web sites. So I took another look at it yesterday, but, I dunno… it still didn't do a lot for me. Don't get me wrong, it's looks cool, and the fact that he made it for a reported $99, and it took him 1 year, is certainly impressive! I just wasn't as *fanboy* crazy for it as others seem to be.
Titled Rosa, the film's synopsis reads:
Rosa is an epic sci-fi short film that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where all natural life has disappeared. From the destruction awakes Rosa, a cyborg deployed from the Kernel project, mankind’s last attempt to restore the earth’s ecosystem. Rosa will soon learn that she is not the only entity that has awakened and must fight for her survival.
I got my post-title from Wired magazine's description of the film, which follows:
ROSA follows the brief life and bloody death of a gorgeous Halle Berry-meets-Trinity-meets-Neytiri cyborg who wanders through a dystopian steampunk landscape, scanning the strange frontier for danger.
It's played at a bunch of international film festivals, and thanks to all the exposure it's been getting, both on and offline, director Orellana has been approached by the top talent agencies (CAA, WME, UTA, etc); and as the Hollywood Reporter says, the film and Orellana are attracting Hollywood's attention in a big way. There's definite interest in turning Rosa into a live-action feature film, naturally, and the filmmaker is currently fielding offers, he says.
Orellana says that he's currently working on the treatment for that feature.
Following in the steps of recent filmmakers like Neill Blomkamp (District 9), and several others we've featured on S&A in the last couple of years (remember THIS ONE, THIS ONE, and THIS ONE?), director Orellana might be heading west indefinitely, very soon.
Watch the short film Rosa below, which I'd say has all the traits I mentioned at the beginning of this post (high concept/genre, less than 10 minutes, viral spread…):
