Getting a $5K Feature into TIFF & Going Viral With An 80 Second Short Film With Nick Toti

In this episode I'm joined by filmmaker Nick Toti - one half of the DIY filmmaking duo behind the viral 80-second short Dead Grandma, the TIFF Midnight Madness sensation It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This, and the upcoming feature Homebody.

Throughout the episode Nick breaks down the decade-long origin story of Dead Grandma, from an improvised game he invented while working as a nursery school teacher in Austin to a 35mm short film that blew up in Variety and landed him on this podcast.

We also discuss how his $5,000 found footage feature It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This unexpectedly landed in TIFF's Midnight Madness, the unconventional theatrical-only release strategy he's used to screen it across multiple continents without a distributor, and why Nick is now trying to convince A24 or Blumhouse to fund a studio remake of Homebody.

Topics covered include:

• The real-life origin of Dead Grandma and how it developed over a deade
• Co-directing with his wife and creative partner Rachel Kempf
• Shooting on 35mm film - and everything that went wrong before they even rolled
• How It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This got into TIFF Midnight Madness
• The aesthetic of Homebody: making a movie that feels like a lo-fi demo tape
• Actively pursuing failure as a creative strategy - and why it eventually worked
• Nick's 25-hour real-time experimental documentary project
• Die Die Books - the horror film criticism press Nick and Rachel run
• Much more!

Links from the show:

Dead Grandma Short Film

Homebody Trailer

Die Die Books

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