Austin Formato worked in advertising for 10 years before he faced his future on the streets of New York. Written in chalk outside his subway station, he read, “Why are you working so hard fulfilling someone else’s dream?”
“That day I went in, quit my job and made plans to come out to Los Angeles,” Formato said.
Now completing a dual Master of Fine Arts degree in directing and screenwriting at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Formato’s talents and creativity as a filmmaker have won him awards and publicity in film festivals and competitions, helping him pursue his dream of producing full feature films. And to keep that goal in mind, he preserves the quote from the New York streets in every notebook he uses, written carefully on the lower inside cover.
His most recent project, “The Museum,” is now a finalist in the 2008 Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker’s Award competition for his second consecutive year, a contest with a $10,000 award and exposure in movie theaters nationwide for the winner. No stranger to filmmaking contests, Formato already boasts an award from the Into the Limelight program at the Ojai Film Festival in 2005 for his supernatural thriller “Repose” and for a film called “Ringtone,” which was shortlisted in the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival last year.
But the prestige and publicity offered by the Coca-Cola contest for both film schools and students alike have attracted Formato for the second year in a row.
“The contest has been going now for 11 years, and as far as contests go (it’s) probably the best exposure out of any of them,” said Formato.
Formato’s entry for the CCRFA competition, “The Museum,” combines live action and animation in a lively chase scene between Abby, a patron of an art museum, and a fictive ballerina who leans out of a Degas-styled canvas to snag the last Diet Coke. During the 50-second film, the two characters race through artwork canvases inspired by Van Gogh and Picasso, ending happily when Abby escapes through the frame of an Andy Warhol-styled painting of three glass Coca-Cola bottles, leaving the ballerina to open a painted bottle with a pop and flash, and a classic Coca-Cola smile.
“I did something I had never done before,” Formato explained, “(It was) much heavier in computer graphics and combining animation with live action. These were all things that made me nervous, and if you don’t do things that make you nervous, then you’re never going to grow.”
Formato’s readiness to take on a challenge isn’t something he limits to writing and directing behind the scenes ““ he wants the audience to experience the challenge as well and continue to feel it long after the lights turn back on and the theater empties.
“I always like things that challenge you intellectually, and that’s the one thing through all my films,” Formato said. “I’d like the audience to continue thinking.”
When he was selected as a finalist and provided with two months and a mere $7,500 budget to produce the idea he had submitted, Formato had the challenge he had been looking for. Using Internet Web sites and advertisements to put together his cast and crew, Formato attracted over 6,000 volunteer applicants for the acting roles of his film.
“I was looking for the best project possible, and it just so happened that the best people were from UCLA, either current students or alumni,” Formato said.
With his cast and crew selected, comprised mostly of UCLA students, the following two months consisted of production planning for three days of shooting and weeks of animation work.
“They have to have the film shot, edited, everything original, by mid-January,” said Belinda Starkie, the UCLA coordinator for the CCRFA competition and a professor of production at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. “It’s just almost unheard of for a student to be able to do this, and they do it. If you don’t know anything about film production, it’s pretty amazing.”
Despite months of pressure and sleep deprivation, Formato’s enthusiasm and resistance to stress on the set kept production rolling. Cast members were impressed with his ability to juggle the problems of long days and sleepless nights.
“He was so down to earth, completely relaxed in the midst of this maelstrom,” said Kate Kelton, a Los Angeles actress who played Abby, the visitor to the art museum, “And that’s pretty much the number one characteristic that I attribute to a good director, is being able to keep your cool. There’s so much stress and pressure bearing down on you.”
The stress and anticipation will end soon with the announcement of the winner of the CCRFA competition on Feb. 12.
The winning film student will have his or her film shown on approximately 21,000 movie theater screens all over the country, including a 10-second introduction featuring the name of the winning director and the school he or she represents.
“The exposure is unparalleled,” said Formato. “And it would be great for UCLA as well. Think of the advertising for UCLA, saying, “˜This is so-and-so from UCLA Film School’ on 21,000 screens.”
Formato’s “The Museum” and the nine other finalists can be found on the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker’s Award Web site.
Despite his successes as a competition finalist in the past two years, Formato has larger plans in mind for the future. The time limits of a 60-second commercial are too restrictive for Formato, who wants to create full feature films.
“I don’t remember what spare time is. It’s that ridiculous,” Formato said. “Sure we don’t have weekends and we don’t have nights, but we also look forward to Mondays. I can’t imagine doing anything but this.”