An Industry Case Study
Narrative | Dramatic Features
Film Name: T.I.M. (The Invisible Me)
Genre: Music Video (short film)
Length of film: in word(s) / number(s)
Date: July, 2019
Director: John Grammatico
Producer: Robert Katz
Writer: John Grammatico
Cinematographer: Luca Fantini
Production Company: Shinebox Media Group & Little Saint Media
Budget: NA
Financing: Self financed
Shooting Format: Widescreen
Screening Format: 2.39:1
World Premiere: NA
Awards: NA
Website: www.littlesaintmedia.com/tim
The Official Trailer for T.I.M or The Invisible Me
Watch The Trailer for The Invisible Me directed by John Grammatico
A Short Biography of John Grammatico
An ardent student of story, John has a writing background that includes a (sold) feature film screenplay to Dreamworks SKG, several short films, a series of cheeky children’s books (under the pseudonym Professor Punctilious) and countless ad campaigns. Since 2010 when he left the agency world for production, John has directed over 300 spots for brands like M&Ms, Visa, AT&T, Cadillac and McDonalds. He’s worked with dozens of celebs including Chris Elliot, Anna Faris and Duchess Meghan Markle.
John has helmed productions in nearly every major city across the US & Canada. He’s also filmed abroad in Mexico, Central & South America, Bahamas, South Africa, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, Greece, Belgium, Czech Republic, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Poland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Serbia, the Cayman Islands and France. John currently serves as a mentor on behalf of the AICP BIPOC Mentoring Program to help bring a next generation of diverse talent to the craft.
The John Grammatico Interview
indieactivity: What is your film about?
John Grammatico (JG): TIM (The Invisible Me) is a Webby-nominated short about an insecure student with a crippling crush who must find the courage to be seen
Tell us about the festival run, marketing and sales?
John Grammatico (JG): In addition to Webby Nomination and skyrocketing YouTube views that broke a million in the first month and where thousands of viewers shared comments of how touched they were by the struggle of a main character in search of inner strength, T.I.M. has been well-received on the awards circuit, picking up Official Selections at the most prestigious festivals including LEEDS International Film Festival, CINEQUEST Film & Creativity Festival, HOLLYSHORTS Film Festival and many more.
Give the full Official Synopsis for your film?
John Grammatico (JG): The Invisible Me opens on an empty set of high school lockers just one moment before an invisible student peeks around the corner. Meet T.I.M. who can’t help but to secretly watch a girl in the school Library. T.I.M. steps closer, engaged by this girl and how bold she is, unafraid to show herself to the world, to be seen. For a moment, it would see that the girl notices T.I.M. back, but it was only her own reflection she caught in the glass. As T.I.M. slumps against the lockers, we understand that pull inside between wanting to be seen but not having the courage to make it happen.
In the school cafeteria, T.I.M. searches for a table to sit but finds nowhere to belong and resigns to sitting among the trash, only to fall miserably to the ground, spilling food everywhere and staring up longingly at the ceiling. Later that day, we find T.I.M. in art class. All the other students are painting a fruit bowl while T.I.M. stares past the centerpiece, again, at the girl in the library. There’s just something about her.
Without even paying any mind to T.I.M. a bully in the class takes T.I.M. ‘s art from the easel and jokingly passes it down the line of kids until it reaches the girl. Rather than continue their prank, she stands up and delivers it back to T.I.M. It’s the first time any of them ever truly looks at T.I.M. To be seen serves as powerful motivation and inspires T.I.M. to find the courage that has been lacking. As a result, rather than accept the rolled up piece of artwork that was stolen, T.I.M. insists that the girl keep it and walks away.
This walk is everything for T.I.M. Little by little, against the flow of children crowding the hall, like a salmon swimming upstream, T.I.M. transforms from invisible to visible. Ankles. Arms. Hands. Neck… The door to the outside world opens and warm sunlight splashes promise onto the face of T.I.M. which has also now materialized, revealing to us a kind and beautiful young… girl.
Back in art class, the girl from the library unravels T.I.M. ‘s stolen artwork to see it was a painting of her that T.I.M. had been hiding. Except not with her bold goth black hair and black lipstick. T.I.M. saw her and painted her as full of vibrant color. She can’t help but be touched by the gesture. T.I.M. walks down the steps of the school and out into the world, ready to face whatever comes next, as herself.
Development & Financing?
John Grammatico (JG): With two children in middle and high schools, I couldn’t help but notice what I had not recalled from my own experience in school; the dichotomy of those kids who want to hide and those who want to be seen. It’s obvious in their dress, their talk, the choices they make in how they participate or don’t. I wanted to put two characters at opposite extremes of that spectrum up against each other to show that they are really two sides of the same coin. T.I.M. was in awe of the Goth Girl because she was so bold about making sure she was noticed, by dressing differently.
But at the end of the day, was she? Or was the goth appearance just another disguise so that she could be invisible underneath? The most important moment that becomes a catalyst for both characters to grow is when they are face-to-face in the art room. It isn’t just the Goth Girl who finally sees T.I.M.. There is reciprocity there that is just as powerful when T.I.M. stands up and looks back into the Goth Girl’s eyes. In that beat, they give power to each other and we, hopefully, understand that both are profoundly changed from that point further. And just as they have more in common than they may have known, so do we all. Human connection is what gets us to understand that. It’s what T.I.M. needed to find the courage inside to reveal her truth and give life a shot as her real self.
Production?
John Grammatico (JG): As a commercial film director, I have a process that’s pretty dialed-in. However, that still does not save you from the realities of production when the day goes long or is tight. This was no exception. One might think that with two full shoot days in an LA high school, this could be an easily doable project. But the truth is, there was a tremendous amount of plate shots and green screening to do. Every time Tim moves any part of the body in green screen (face, hands, ankles, neck, etc.) there needs to be a matching background (plate) that is filmed in the same way that the original shot is filmed so it can replace the object being removed.
When you add these up for every scene, it can be overwhelming. Then, there is the fact that a lot of my scenes did not take place where they appear to. For example, the opening scene where T.I.M. peeks around the locker to look at the girl in the library. Well, that library was on another floor and in an opposite orientation from what I needed, and built from two different locations and split together, so there was a lot of discussion about math to make those plates all come together to just appear like a girl was behind glass in a school library. Thanks to having a great crew at my side, I made my day(s) and got everything I needed in the can.
Festival Preparation & Strategy?
JG: I didn’t submit to a lot of festivals, but chose carefully which ones I wanted to be associated with. I didn’t want to just rack up meaningless laurels. I wanted to be associated with festivals that I respect. Places like HollyShorts and LEEDS and Cinequest were at the top of that list.
The Release?
JG: It was released on YouTube in association with the artist SYML whose haunting rendition of the classic oldie, “Mr. Sandman” was featured on the film.
Advice from the Filmmaker?
JG: This script is one of so many that I wrote and put down. The difference with this one is that I kept picking it back up. My advice is that I know filmmakers out there all have that script that they put away in a drawer or left on a hard drive or jotted in a notepad that keeps popping back up in their mind. That’s your voice calling you to let it out. Heed the call and do whatever it takes to nurture that voice. Otherwise beautiful and meaningful characters like T.I.M. will stay trapped in the prison of hard drives, forever.
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