Short Films Big Ideas
by Karen Pecota

GE (General Electric) & Cinelan began a year-long film festival tour showing off their wares in January of 2012. The two companies’s collaborated to specifically showcase quick, eye catching short films (shorts) to be used in advertising, thus; connecting to film festival programs in the short film media categories. Their interest is to support and work together with the independent artist in moving images, artwork, and photography. Their projects attract a wide-range audience that has the potential to keep a steady but growing fan base for their media outlet called Focus Forward.

Focus Forward is sponsored by GE and Cinelan. Focus Forward took the opportunity to showcase nine new 3-minute films from their thirty short-film repertoire at Tribeca Film Festival 2012. Under their branding tagline Short Films, Big Ideas the films were a part of the festival shorts program but more than likely they will be used in connection with TV/Online Media commercials. “Focus Forward is an unprecedented new series of 30 three-minute stories about innovative people who are reshaping the world through act or invention, directed by the world\'s most celebrated documentary filmmakers” comments the Focus Forward team. The idea is to quicken an emotional connection to a product or service.

Several of the films use humor because laughter is medicine for the soul, right? Many are more serious like the 3-minute short called Heart Stop Beating described by the director Jeremiah Zagar (In a Dream), “I tell the story of Billy Cohn and Bud Frazier, two visionary doctors from the Texas Heart Institute who in March 2011 successfully replaced a dying man’s heart with a ‘continuous flow’ device they developed, proving that life was possible without a pulse or a heartbeat.” Once you view this short you will not forget Zagar’s message or its impact.

Director Nelson George traveled the world to bring together the sounds of the vintage Roland TR – 808 drum machine from several musicians in All Hail the Beat. It’s a happy face of music and musicians that would easily be a positive resource for advertising.

My favorite is The Bionic Eye from director Steven Cantor. This short is by far the goriest due the visuals of a real eye under the knife. The possibility of using in depth medical technology to replace something broken is thrilling. It is incredible to think that our human bodies can actually undergo physical enhancements with futuristic bionic systems. The bionic man or woman will be a reality. Wow! To view got to You Tube or the focusforwardfilms website.

My husband, Steve, suffers from corrective laser eye surgery gone badly. Steve was of the population known as, the less than 1% that should not have the corrective surgery--unbeknown to him, of course. Not a day goes by that he does not feel badly about his decision to enhance his initially poor vision. His love for reading and studying has diminished. His story is long and sad because he needs his eyes for his job. After screening the bionic eye short, I wanted to sign him up right away to receive bionic eyes. I long for him to find his love for reading again because I know how important it is to him. I was so excited to relay my findings that one day he will be able to have bionic eyes. I explained the whole concept with overwhelming enthusiasm. Wiry of just the thought of trying one more time to make a mistake right, he told me I was crazy! Well, maybe he is right! Ha Ha Ha...but, I am not going to give in to his response because the amazing 3-minute short on making bionic eyes is amazing technology and will be remembered. I will hang on to the belief that my guy could be the first man to get those bionic eyes.