‘Poor Boys’ Spin Reels of Fortune

They lost their shirts to make their shorts.

And, next Tuesday, when the four filmmakers--all Cal State Northridge graduates--showcase their work in a festival at the Disney Studios in Burbank, they will take another step to determine if the sacrifice was worth it.

“We all want work,” said Stephen Jay Schwartz, speaking for the other artists. “Maybe we won’t get something that night, but everyone we meet, in a year or two, might lead to something down the road.”

They call themselves the “Poor Boys,” student filmmakers who scrapped for years to make their first films. As a promotional gimmick, they took a revealing photo of themselves, holding only their film cans to protect their private body parts. They sent the picture to hundreds of directors, producers, and agents, hoping to fill the 380-seat theater. They invited people to come see them “show their shorts.”

But they say poverty is no gimmick. “It takes a lot of money to make a film, even a short,” said Schwartz, who spent about $4,000 to make his movie, “Medications on a Suicide.” “I’m very broke now.”

Schwartz’s 23-minute film is about the deteriorating relationship between a son and his father who remarries into another family. Eventually, the father, unable to stay close to his son, commits suicide by taking pills. It’s completely autobiographical.

“I had to make this movie,” said Schwartz, 26, whose father died two years ago. “I’m trying to tell him in this movie that I’m angry, but I understand what he did and I love him. Two days before he died, he called me, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. I think about what he would have said in that phone call.”

The festival, which starts at 7:30 p.m., will also show “The Little Things,” by Reza Fatemi (13 minutes); “Living On Video,” by Todd Marks (14 minutes); and “Timeless,” by Ian Boyd (34 minutes). A reception will follow the films. The event is being produced by Avi Lonstein.

The four filmmakers spent about $750 to put the festival together; the studio, food, and printing were donated.

“Usually, the important people don’t show up to these things,” cautioned Lonstein, “but maybe they will.”