January 15, 2020

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Tyler Rabinowitz

NFFTY has grown into a wonderful community of over 2,700 filmmakers from around the world. Alumni have experienced success in many areas of the media industry. To celebrate these achievements, we are highlighting NFFTY alumni here!

Tyler Rabinowitz (NFFTY ‘17, ‘18), is a writer/producer/director triple threat whose work has screened in impressive venues like the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Tyler produced short films LAVENDER and THE MESS HE MADE (both directed by fellow NFFTY alum, Matthew Puccini), which garnered attention at Sundance and SXSW, with LAVENDER being acquired for distribution by Fox Searchlight.

As a writer/director, Tyler’s films have played at festivals like OutFest and Palm Springs ShortsFest, and his film HOW I GOT TO THE MOON BY SUBWAY was a 2018 Iris Prize Nominee. His film ALIENTOLOGISTS was acquired (and is now streaming) on DUST. A Sundance Ignite Fellow, U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and Creative Culture Fellow at the Jacob Burns Film Center throughout his career, Tyler’s most recent short film SEE YOU SOON will be hitting festivals soon!

OUR INTERVIEW WITH TYLER:

As a writer/director/producer, how do you balance all of your interests when building a career path?

I let the stories pave my path. If I feel in my bones that this is a story that needs to exist, then I’ll do whatever is necessary to push that boulder up the hill.

When all is said and done, I want to build a career that culminates in a very specific collection of stories which I’ll leave behind – stories that I believe have the potential to impact people in the same way that my favorite films have inspired me, shaped me, or even saved me. That’s why I do this, and I’ll wear whatever hat is necessary to make that happen. My role on any of these films is beside the point. It’s about bringing these stories to light.

How do you choose what projects you want to invest your time in as a producer?

There are a lot of exciting projects out there, and I wish I had time to do so much more than I’m currently doing. To determine if a project is worth investing my time in as a producer, I have to, above all else, assess whether or not I feel the writer/director has genuine respect for the role of the producer.

I’d invite directors to consider this: If I, your producer, am losing sleep, working for free around the clock for several months to make your dream happen, passing up on job opportunities the week before the shoot because I’ve already committed to doing your short… what is driving me to do that? Why am I going to volunteer to get this 10 minute film made that will yield next to nothing for me other than a few laurels, and maybe a Vimeo Staff Pick badge? The producer doesn’t have a shot at landing a hot-shot agent after that A-list festival premiere – you do. Be cognizant of the power dynamic here. It’s an important conversation to have with yourself. And what I hope that you’ll see is that when we produce, we are not just producing these shorts because we think you’re a talented director and we want to see you succeed. That’s certainly part of it, but most importantly we are producing shorts because we believe that, as a team, we can tell powerful stories together, and on some level we want to show you that you can trust us to shepherd more of your stories into the world.

What was your experience like crowdfunding your most recent short? Any advice for filmmakers that want to try it themselves?

Crowdfunding was an incredible surprise, to be honest. There’s no way around how daunting it is. Who am I and why would anyone bother throwing even $5 at my short film? That’s always the feeling I have going into it. But, to anyone doubting the power of crowdfunding, please, please, please just make your Kickstarter page and launch it now.

Here are some guidelines I’d recommend based on my experience with SEE YOU SOON as well as with another short I produced, Matthew Puccini’s LAVENDER (another NFFTY alum).

Set the fundraiser for 30 days.
Feel free to copy the perks I used for SEE YOU SOON. This is a community and I want you to be able to make your movie.
Make a video for it, but don’t stress about it being flawless. A sincere voice over with some reference footage and/or concept art will do.
Post about the Kickstarter every day. Make sure the link is in your Instagram bio. Every post, Instagram Story, etc. should remind folks that the link is in your bio.
During the campaign, add new perks if you need to entice more backers.

It’s a marathon for sure, but I think you will be stunned by the results.

As long as you’re not unreasonable about your goal, people will show up.

Look around the site for other successful short film campaigns. What made them work? What’s the average goal that they set? For what it’s worth, I personally believe that you should not be raising (or spending) more than $12,000 on a short film. There is simply no reason.

While the Kickstarter is going on, I recommend actively seeking out specific people in your life who may have the ability to donate $1,000. For SEE YOU SOON, each backer that donated $1,000 received an Executive Producer credit. That’ll go on IMDb, and it’ll have value for folks who want to support films. Personal e-mails, phone calls, or coffee meet-ups go a long way. Share the Kickstarter link with them. And whether they are able to back the film or not, feel free to ask them if they can share with anyone in their network who may be able.

When you make your pitch to individual donors, this isn’t the time to be shy about what you’re trying to do. You have an ambitious goal to tell a story you care deeply about, and without their help you simply don’t have the resources to make it happen. Be candid and honest about why you care so much about this story.

This will actually inadvertently help the film itself, as you become more clear about what you’re making and why you’re making it. The thought you put into your pitch for funding will carry over to your pitches to department heads you’re trying to recruit to join the team, it’ll carry over to the way you work through scenes during the shoot, to the way you pace the edit, and to the tone you and your composer land on for the music. You’re going to be asked about why you made this film at festival Q+A’s and for blogs like this, so start identifying that for yourself now.

With a bit of research, strategy, and a vulnerable pitch, we were able to bring on six EP’s for SEE YOU SOON. That was half of our budget.

You describe your new film SEE YOU SOON as "a tender queer romance about a gay man who travels across the country to spend the weekend with someone he met on a dating app," and you also indicate that a goal with the project is to "tell a story of a relationship that isn’t impeded by the typical setbacks that we’ve seen frequently addressed in queer cinema." Can you elaborate on the setbacks you feel you typically see in these types of stories and what you hope to achieve with SEE YOU SOON?

We are so much more than victims of the AIDS crisis, so much more than the Gay Best Friend, so much more than the pain of being closeted, and so much more than our unaccepting family members. These aspects of the queer experience are valid, and it’s important that each is represented, but when the same storylines are time and time again the only things discussed, we continue to remain at a standstill when it comes to queer representation in film and television. I am thrilled that there are a few more of us on our screens now, but the goal isn’t just to be seen, it’s to be understood; so, it’s critical that audiences are introduced to our multitudes.

With SEE YOU SOON, I wanted to capture the unique tension that gay men encounter some time shortly after coming of age, when we go about our lives still thinking on some level that there are certain fantasies of heteronormative life, like a fairytale romance, that are not within the realm of possibility for us. When I experienced a romance like this, he and I were completely overwhelmed. There’s a particular day that I remember vividly. It was the start of our relationship. He was driving us home from a day at the beach, and we were listening to the radio with the windows down while the sun was beginning to set... and, out of nowhere, he began to cry because he was thinking of how lucky we were to find what we had together. The first weekend that we met, I swear that we had somehow discovered magic. I couldn’t believe what I was feeling, because my society misled me to believe that I would never get to feel that.

This tension between a queer person and a world not designed for them made every kind word and every adoring glance that my now-boyfriend and I shared during the first weekend that we met feel seismic – like we were disproving the laws of physics.

When writing SEE YOU SOON, my goal was to thread together moments from that weekend and create this slow burn of a film, almost like I’m a chandler making a candle. I wanted to infuse the film with a specific romantic tension that sparks, glows, and flickers throughout the characters’ weekend together. That tension lies in the bed with them. It’s in the Sunday sunset before they have to say goodbye. And it’s in the 2,800 miles that separate the places they call home.

What inspires the addition of VFX in your films, and what does that artistic process look like in pre-production?

Movies are music to me. They tap into parts of the human experience that transcend words. And sometimes, to get to that place, the image that your story calls for defies genre, or defies the natural world. It’s a paradox I find myself coming back to again and again: this idea of having to create images that veer away from reality, in order to say something about reality. With ALIENTOLOGISTS, I was telling a story about how art is immortal, and, for me, the best way to tell that was through aliens floating through Earth’s remnants and discovering our music. With HOW I GOT TO THE MOON BY SUBWAY, I was telling a story about a closeted man dying of ALS who wanted to record a few things in his voice before he couldn’t speak anymore, and the best way to capture the magnitude of that was to send him and his partner on a surreal trip to the moon.

In pre-production, the conversations I had with my VFX artist had as much weight as the conversations that I had with my DP. For ALIENTOLOGISTS, we had frequent meetings, built practical models, and made sure our VFX artist was on set throughout production to ensure that every shot was usable since the DP and I had no prior VFX experience. For HOW I GOT TO THE MOON BY SUBWAY, we pulled specific reference shots, had calls with the VFX artists (even a couple on set since they couldn’t be there) and aired out even the seemingly silliest of questions, and I created storyboards. We pinned those storyboards to a wall on set so everyone could reference them if needed throughout the shoot day, to see how it was all supposed to fit together. We also planned for extra time for this on set, again being honest with ourselves about our lack of sufficient experience in this area. I also gave myself a crash course in AfterEffects by taking a number of YouTube tutorials, so that I was familiar with the terminology and tools that the VFX team would be using.

Can you talk a little bit about how your experiences with different fellowships impacted your craft and career?

I am incredibly lucky to be an alumnus of the Sundance Ignite Fellowship, Sundance Creative Producing Summit, and the Jacob Burns Film Center. Each of these fellowship opportunities gave me the space I needed to fully step into myself, and I’m forever grateful.

Through the Sundance Ignite Fellowship, I was able to attend my first Sundance Film Festival, my first Adobe Max conference, had the opportunity to intern at the New Frontier Lab, and assist a prolific producer on a Netflix feature film -- the first time that I was employed on the set of a major film with A-list cast and all.

This then led to my participation at the Sundance Creative Producing Summit, where I was able to pitch the script for my first feature film to production companies, producers, studios, and agencies and taken seriously in a way that the me from even five years ago could’ve never imagined.

Through the Jacob Burns Film Center, I attended weekly meetings with, truly, some of the most talented filmmakers that I know. What’s happening over there is unreal. It was everything you want film school to be, and the opportunity came into my life at a time when I wasn’t sure when or how I could afford to make my next short as a director. This fellowship program guaranteed that I made a short film. They provided equipment, insurance, and the most impeccable feedback and support at every step. I feel like I met folks here that I’ll call my collaborators for the rest of my career.

What advice would you give to young filmmakers that aspire to make work and tell stories like yours?

Here are a few excerpts from my journal. Things I tell myself. I’ve found them quite helpful, and maybe they’ll be helpful to someone else:

Always remember that cinema is a medium through which you have a transcendent power to affect minds and hearts. Take that power seriously. What you’re crafting is both a window and a mirror.

Always have something cooking, but don’t rush.

Embrace limitations. You don’t need an Alexa to make an incredible film.

You’re apart of a community. Contribute to it. Give as much as you ask for. This is a relationship-based industry.

The key to collaboration is compassion.

Limit your social media use. It’s all fake!

How has NFFTY influenced your life as a filmmaker?

NFFTY has been an endless well of support and inspiration for me over the years. It’s a festival I’ve quite literally grown up with. Through the alumni network, there’s this community that I can always turn to, where there’s an ongoing exchange of ideas, feedback, referrals, recommendations, and answers to so much of the things that continue to mystify me when it comes to carving out a career as a young artist.

What’s next for you?

See You Soon is gearing up for its festival run and an online premiere by the end of the year.

Beyond that, I’m always seeking out short form work to write, direct, and/or produce, but currently my sights are set on something longer. I’ll be attending the 2020 Sundance Artist Talent Forum with my first feature that I’m developing as a writer, director, and producer. It’s called You Cannot Erase Me, and I think I’m looking forward to developing and producing that over the next couple of years.