A Film Festival Case Study
Narrative | Dramatic Features.
Film Name: Loser.
Genre: Drama.
Length of film: 11min, 32 seconds.
Date: Completed in 2024.
Director: Colleen McGuinness.
Producer: Tyson Bidner, Kristyn Macready, and Colleen McGuinness.
Writer: Colleen McGuinness.
Cinematographer: Nate Hurtsellers.
Editor: Travis Cummings.
Composer: Kyler Brier.
Production Company: N/A.
Budget: $60k.
Financing: Self-financed.
Shooting Format: 2.35:1
Screening Format: 2k flat DCP.
World Premiere: Oscar-qualifying Norwegian Film Festival.
The Official Trailer for Film
Watch The Trailer for FILM directed by Colleen McGuinness
A Short Biography of Colleen McGuinness
Colleen McGuinness is an Emmy, WGA and PGA nominated writer and director. She recently wrote and directed a short film on 16mm called Loser. The film is based on her short story. It stars Angourie Rice and it is produced by Tyson Bidner. Loser tells the story of 22 year-old Alice. Who works at a frozen yogurt shop, on what turns out to be an unforgettable day of her life. Loser made its World Premiere at the Oscar-qualifying Norwegian Film Festival. Its North American premiere at the Palm Springs International ShortFest in June 2024. Additionally, Loser will be an official selection at the Bend, Crested Butte, Raleigh, and New Hampshire. Charlotte, Brighton Rocks, Catalina Island and Bengaluru, Salute Your Shorts and HollyShorts Film Festivals this year.
McGuinness has developed projects with HBO, F/X, and New Line Cinema. As well as with producers Tina Fey, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck. Her first short film For Mature Audiences Only is executive produced by Michael De Luca and Richard Brener and sold to Atomfilms. McGuinness is currently co-Executive Producer on Stargirl for the DC Comics streaming service. He is developing a show with Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine producing. It is based on Curtis Sittenfeld’s book You Think It, I’ll Say It.
The Colleen McGuinness Interview
indieactivity: What is your film about?
Colleen McGuinness (CM): LOSER follows 22-year-old Alice, who works at a frozen yogurt shop, on what turns out to be an unforgettable day of her life. It’s based on a short story I wrote, back in 2011, when I realized gun violence was only going to become a bigger problem in our country.
Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
Colleen McGuinness (CM): Loser made its World Premiere at the Oscar-qualifying Norwegian Film Festival and its North American premiere at the Palm Springs International ShortFest in June 2024. Additionally, Loser will be an official selection at the Bend, Crested Butte, Raleigh, New Hampshire, Charlotte, Brighton Rocks, Catalina Island, Bengaluru, and Salute Your Shorts Film Festivals this year.
Give the full Official Synopsis for your film?
Colleen McGuinness (CM): 22 year-old ALICE contemplates her life choices as she struggles through another day of work at Fro Yo, alongside her co-workers ARTHUR and LISA. With the arrival of a customer named RED, Alice delves deeper into her past, examining her relationship with her sister KARINA, her night out at a local bar, and her grief over the loss of her mother, IRENE. It feels like a regular day, until something happens that changes Alice’s life forever.
Development & Financing?
Colleen McGuinness (CM): I wrote LOSER as a short story, back in 2011, and used it as a writing sample for film and TV. I was always trying to figure out how to make it into a film, when I realized that I could utilize voice-over and shoot scenes beyond what was in the story. I had just had my second child and when I had a few moments, I would duck into a coffee shop to work on the script. When I finished, I showed it to Tyson Bidner (THE BEAR), and he agreed to produce it. I used my savings to finance the film. All of the department heads worked for free, we got almost all of the locations for free, and everyone else worked for a reduced rate. People came together and gave us all kinds of favors. It was during the strike, so I think people were just happy to be working on something. It was such a special experience, and I am so grateful to the cast and crew for all of the hard work and heart that they put into this film.
Production?
Colleen McGuinness (CM): Tyson and I started building our team, based on the relationships we had in the industry. I was thrilled when Nate Hurtsellers, our DP, came on board. Nate shot THEATER CAMP and did REN FAIRE on HBO with the Safdie brothers. He’s so talented. He and I started meeting in person and over Zoom to create a shot list, pull images and art for inspiration, and discuss the overall tone and feel of the film. I made a lookbook with help from another talent, Taylor Maruyama, and as Tyson and I hired department heads, I would share the lookbook with them and start to discuss, so we could all get on the same page and make the same film. A big turning point was offering the lead role to Angourie Rice.
I saw her in MARE OF EASTTOWN and just thought she was amazing in that and would be perfect for the role of “Alice” in LOSER. Angourie was shooting MEAN GIRLS and so I was encouraged by Tyson and our casting director, Findley Davidson, to look at some other actresses. I met with some wonderful talented actresses, but for some reason, I couldn’t shake the Angourie idea. She was just perfect for it in my head. So we finally made an offer to her, and then I got a text from Tina Fey, who I worked for on 30 Rock, and has become a mentor and friend, and she happened to be on set with Angourie. She told me Angourie liked the short and was asking about me so Tina vouched for me, and then I met with Angourie and we hit it off beautifully.
She was just phenomenal to work with – we did a lot of prep, so by the time we got to set, we had already made the big decisions and could just be present and open to new ideas and inspirations. We were so lucky to have most of our locations given to us for free: John’s Drive-In in Montauk – David Rutkowski, the owner, was lovely and let us shoot for 3 days there. Laura Casey owns a house in East Hampton and let us shoot all of the interiors there and set up as a base camp. David Schwartz let us shoot at White’s Apothecary with Greg Petrucci supervising. It was so generous of all of them and the locations had such a specific feel and mood to them, plus our production designer Mylene Santos and her team did an incredible job on a tiny budget.
The whole process was a joy. We weathered some bumps in the road, like running out of film twice! – but it was such a labor of love that everyone came together to make things work, or we’d pivot and make adjustments when needed. The crew and cast were so pro, everyone was flexible and professional and there was never a real issue once we started shooting. In post, Travis Cummings came on as editor and did a brilliant job. He and I worked so well together and again, so many incredible people donated their time and talent in post. I’m so grateful for the experience.
Festival Preparation & Strategy?
Colleen McGuinness (CM): I researched festivals through magazines and websites and also joined FilmFreeway. Showing at Palm Springs ShortFest was really special, because the film was exposed to a lot of people and we got a great review in Film Threat from it.
Advice from the Filmmaker?
Colleen McGuinness (CM): My biggest piece of advice would be to write something personal. The parts of this film that have resonated the most with the audience are the parts I was most scared to write about. I had to make myself vulnerable and dig deep to make this film and I think that’s what drew in our cast and crew. Many of my collaborators told me they connected to the hardest parts of the character’s journey.
My other piece of advice is to have patience and persistence – which is a very tough balance. It took so long for me to realize how I should adapt this, and then when I saw it, it felt completely like the right way to do it. So sometimes things take a minute – but it always comes together as it should. The persistence part means, no one will care about making your film as much as you, so every day, you have to keep pushing and making sure that you’re moving towards making your film. Don’t ever give up.
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