A Swim Lesson is a documentary short film directed by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack. It is about a children’s swimming instructor named Bill Marsh, who talks about what it’s like to do his job, and what it means to him. He explains a lot of universal ideas through the lens of children learning how to swim. This documentary is beautifully shot, with great music choices and great editing. This short film uses its simple premise to tell a story that anyone can relate …

Faces was an Official Selection of Fantastic Fest 2024 that agreed to a review by Filmmaker Mixer Podcast. Faces is a horror short film about a group of college students and a strange entity. The story is intriguing and saying anything more about it could spoil it. The premise behind it is brilliant, and it is revealed to us gradually over the film’s run, but its greatest strengths are the editing, sound design and cinematography. It’s from these facets of the film that …

Troy Takaki, ACE, Editor Escaping Twin Flames, Episode 3, “Up In Flames” has been nominated for an Emmy for Best Picture Editing in a Nonfiction Program. The team nominated include: Martin Biehn, Lead Editor; Inbal B. Lessner, ACE, Editor; Mimi Wilcox, Editor; Kevin Hibbard, Editor; and Troy Takaki, ACE, Editor. This particular episode was fantastic and kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. The editors spliced together footage of online events, interviews, illustrated recreations of events and photographs …

Michael Anthony Brown, Editor (photo credit: Blackwell Studios LA) Michael Oliver, Editor (photo credit: Ryan Hensley) “Up The Town?” is the fifteenth and final episode of the second season of the documentary series Welcome to Wrexham. It has been nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality TV Program. Boy, do editors, Michael Anthony Brown and Michael Oliver deserve that Emmy. They managed to take footage that was recorded as events were occurring and make it feel exceptionally cinematic …

Shelly Westerman, ACE Editor (photo credit: Justine Halliday) Payton, Koch, Editor (photo credit: Luke Fontana) “Sitzprobe” is the 8th episode of the third season of the live action series Only Murders in the Building. Shelly Westerman, ACE, Editor and Payton Koch, Editor, have been nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Picture Editing for a Single-Camera Comedy Series. Watching the episode, I was quickly impressed by how the transitions between shots were smooth, and the way they were spliced together often heightened the emotions …

Living Australia is a short wildlife film shot entirely on a fold-up drone that consists of various shots of Australia and the animals that live there. These shots are all incredibly beautiful. I loved every second of this film and was in awe of just how good it looked. It’s just stunning, honestly. The soundtrack is also great, with many music cues furthering the emotion you may feel from what you see. There’s a slight narrative to it, as it emphasises how special and …

One For the Road is a horror short film loosely based on a Stephen King story of the same name. I really enjoyed how casual the spoken dialogue between the two main characters was in this film. There’s a lot of banter between them, with a dash of humor to it. This made them pretty likeable and relatable, so I got pretty worried about them when the horror elements kicked in. The camera work and sound design both were great at building suspense and …

THE MAKING OF A CLASSIC was not only a great short film but was also a great introduction to a topic I was previously unfamiliar with. It’s well worth the watch to not only be transported to the making of a historically important film, but also for its celebration of black cinema. I love the ending. It cuts from the color footage recreating the making of a scene to the actual scene from the original movie that we were learning about. All dialogue …

The short film YOU ARE HERE has a very straightforward story about a man learning from a newspaper article that there are now thought to be 250 billion stars in the milky way galaxy alone. It’s a very touching piece that anyone could enjoy. The first half of the film is delivered to us with a surprising amount of humor, and the use of said humor made me think of Kurt Vonnegut’s work. The direction it took in the second half was unexpected …

SALLY, GET THE POTATOES was very endearing. The visuals were creative and unique, and the characters and story were quite interesting. In fact, I kind of wish we got to see more of these characters because there was a lot going on with them that is hard not to get invested in. My favorite part of SALLY, GET THE POTATOES is how charming the protagonist, Sally, was. The actress, Kynlee Heiman, brought a lot of life to her character. -Madelyn, Filmmaker Mixer Correspondent …

The short film PRINCETON’S IN THE MIX is brilliant from start to finish. The opening credits sequence was captivating and the film starts off relatively normal before taking a surprisingly dark turn and slowly shifting into a horror/thriller. PRINCETON’S IN THE MIX’s tonal shift amps up the simple premise that it had established to the extreme. The horror in this film manages to simultaneously be humorous (given the absurdity of the situation) and genuinely suspenseful. The character writing is particularly stand-out in this …

If you are in need for something uplifting to watch, I would highly recommend you watch the documentary, HOW I ROLL. This documentary gives us a glimpse into the life of a wheelchair bound woman with multiple sclerosis named Robin Cohen. We learn and see for ourselves the hardships she has to face day by day and learn about what it’s like to be her. What makes this film uplifting is that Robin does not let the turbulence that she constantly faces throughout …

The short film SLUMBER PARTY is a real treat. It has an uncomplicated but elegant plot that is elevated by its soundtrack, lighting and camera work. These three elements work together to give the film a tense and suspenseful atmosphere, and really draw the viewer in. It’s one of those short films that are so fun to watch you’re left hoping it doesn’t end. -Madelyn, Filmmaker Mixer Correspondent …