Let’s Be Friends – Short Film

Connor, the new kid in school, is a lonely boy whose only friend is a stuffed toy named Beadie. When Connor brings Beadie to school, despite his father’s warnings, a run-in with a bully leads to horrific consequences.

Directed by Ryan Glista
Written by Ryan Glista, Matt Bilmes and Alex Rouleau
Starring Tyler Williamson, Thomas Meacham, Akash Abhilash, and Atticus Burrello
Produced by Matt Bilmes
Cinematography by Alex Rouleau
Gaffing and Additional Cinematography by Christian Partenio
Puppetry by Kat Folker
Edited by Ryan Glista and Matt Bilmes
Music by Adriano Aponte, Sebastien Lipszyc, Emmanuel Lipszyc, Valentin Mussou, Ryan Glista, Enrico Cacace, John H. Nixon, Marc Sylvan
Costume Design and Makeup by Brittny Mahan
Production Design by Pedro Guevara and Mikayla Carr
A UCFilm Film Production

Director’s Note:

Let’s Be Friends is a personal examination of masculinity and child development through the lens of fantasy horror. Beadie, a boy’s doll that becomes a monster, represents a sensitive emotionality that many boys learn to hide when coming of age. I wanted to use an absurd concept, a fantastical world, to explore destructive social expectations put upon men and boys, and the complex decision to label some childhood emotions and behaviors as dangerous. Horror is a genre that is especially ripe for cultural critique and subtext. My favorite film examples are Raw, A Nightmare On Elm Street 2, Get Out, and The Nature of Nicholas. Through researching these films and their writers, I became fascinated by the idea of telling an important and personal story in the context of the absurd.

For the production of Let’s Be Friends, I led a group film students in an independent study at the University of Connecticut in Spring 2018. The film involved a crew of fifteen people, a main cast of four actors, and twenty-five extras, primarily middle school-age children. This film required an intensive shoot, taking place over three weekends in Connecticut. A large challenge associated with this project was the use of puppetry and practical visual effects. The design of ‘Beadie’ was a multi-stage process: from the initial design, to fabrication, to detailing. Four versions of the puppet were built to achieve the different movements needed for the production. I was awarded the Marks Family Endowment in Fine Arts to create this film.

SCREENINGS AND AWARDS:

UConn Short Film Exhibition – Official Selection / April 28, 2018
Out On Film, Atlanta LGBT Film Festival – Official Selection / September 27, 2018
Sacramento Horror Film Festival, California – Official Selection / September 29, 2018
CKF International Film Festival, England- Official Selection / September 30, 2018
Shriekfest Horror Film Festival, Los Angeles – Official Selection / October 7, 2018
Upstate NY Horror Film Festival – Official Selection / October 12, 2018
Atlanta Horror Film Festival – Official Selection / October 25, 2018
Scare-A-Con Film Festival, New York – Official Selection / October 28, 2018
Colorado International SciFi & Fantasy Film Festival – Official Selection / November 17, 2018
Fringe! Queer Film & Arts Fest, London – Official Selection / November 18, 2018
13HORROR Film & Screenplay Contest, Los Angeles – BEST DIRECTOR / December 1, 2018
Other Worlds Austin, Texas – Official Selection / December 6, 2018
Los Angeles CineFest Los Angeles – Semi-Finalist / January 20, 2019
UConn Puppet Slam, Connecticut – BEST HORROR PUPPET FILM / February 22, 2019
HorrorHound Film Fest, Cincinnati – Official Selection / March 15, 2019
Leeds Queer Film Festival, England – Official Selection / March 21, 2019
Boston Underground Film Festival – BEST NEW ENGLAND FILM / March 22, 2019
New Haven International Film Festival, Connecticut – Official Selection / May 1, 2019
Weird Film Fest, San Francisco – Official Selection / May 20, 2019
Reel Puppetry Film Festival, Minneapolis – Official Selection / July 16, 2019
Genre Blast, Winchester, Virginia – Official Selection / August, 2019
Chicago Horror Film Festival – Official Selection / September 28, 2019

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