Two Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing alumni filmmakers will have their work screened at the Heartland Film Festival.
An official selection of the festival and part of its Indiana spotlight series, “Three Months” will receive its world premier when it is shown during Indiana’s largest and longest-running independent film festival. The festival will showcase more than 130 independent films from filmmakers around the world Oct. 16-25.
The 20-minute film was created by Matt Spear, 23, of Martinsville, and Selena Hubbard, 22, of Greenwood. Both Spear and Hubbard studied Media Arts and Science, with an emphasis in video production, and graduated earlier this year from the Indianapolis campus. Hubbard and Spear co-wrote the film. Spear also directed and served as executive producer. Hubbard is cast member and served as film producer.
“Three Months” tells the story of a man who puts off his dream. Now, after a cancer diagnosis, it may be too late. This film follows the themes of pursuing dreams and not pushing them off for another day.
The pair created the film for their senior year capstone project. With a few minor changes, they then submitted the film to be shown in the Heartland Film Festival, one of more 1600 films that were submitted for consideration.”
As they began working on the film, Hubbard and Spear decided they wanted the film to be about something that was personal and something to which they could relate.
One of the big themes in the films is about not being afraid to pursue your goals, because the time everyone has to do that is limited, Spear said. “We hope our film can be an inspiration to those students to take the risks needed to reach their biggest goals.”
“The cancer diagnosis is a way for the main character to realize you don’t have forever,” Spear said. “It is about life being short and you shouldn’t hold back on anything,” Hubbard said.
While Hubbard and Spear were hopeful that Heartland would accept the film, they still had doubts about their chances of success. But a faculty member in the Media Arts and Science department knew the two students had produced a great film.
“I knew early on that Matt and Selena had a good film in the works,” said Thomas Lewis, a lecturer in the Media Arts and Science department. “It was such a pleasure to see it take shape over the course of the semester. To have Three Months get accepted into the Heartland Film Festival is almost as rewarding for me as I can imagine it is for them. It makes me extremely proud to see students of mine produce a great film and get the recognition they deserve.”
“As we worked on the capstone, we set some goals and one of the goals was to have the film shown beyond school,” Spear said. “Our goal was to submit it to a film festival and the Heartland was our first choice,” Hubbard said.
Spear received an email last August while sitting in a Media Arts and Science department class that Heartland would screen the film. “I kind of smiled, got on my phone and texted Selina.”
“I was so excited,” Hubbard said. “Somebody else watched it and wanted to show it to lots of people.”
“It was very definitely exciting to know that a project we made for school was going beyond that, that other people outside IUPUI saw it and thought it was good and worth being part of a festival that is international,” Spear said.
Spear and Hubbard credit the School of Informatics and Computing for preparing them to make a festival-worthy film. “We wouldn’t know how to make these films without getting the knowledge from our classes,” Hubbard said.
“The school was a great environment,” Spear said. “The classes in Media Arts and Sciences are project based, providing students with experience in different areas of filmmaking. The program is definitely geared toward experience and getting people out there and ready for the real world.”
Hubbard and Spear have submitted the film for entry into five other film festivals, including one in Berlin and another in California. Meanwhile, the two have formed Creative Pear, a business in which they will work on video projects and additional films.
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