April 30, 2024
Gotham Class: Going from Shorts to Features
Registration For This Event Has Ended

Join The Gotham for our two-part “Shorts to Features” class where you’ll learn a variety of pathways to jump from shorts to the world of features!

Overview

During this class, independent filmmaker Michael Lukk Litwak, writer and director of ‘Molli and Max in the Future’ (SXSW 2023, BFI LONDON 2023) will take you step-by-step through his ten-year journey of transitioning from his Vimeo-Staff-Picked and Short-of-the-Week-selected films into features and all of the mistakes he made along the way. From the macro big-picture advice to the micro, technical details, he’ll cover all the topics he wish he knew when he started.

During the second session, Michael will be joined by special guest Mike Cheslik, the co-writer, director, editor, and animator behind the cult hit Hundreds of Beavers (in theaters now).

SESSION 1:

  • Finding your style and voice via short filmmaking
  • How to adapt your shorts to features
  • Working with agents and managers
  • Navigating Hollywood development and finding your career path while still paying the bills
  • Writing a script with a scalable budget
  • How to build pitch books and prep documents
  • How to vet your collaborators, determine your budget level, and find your team

 

SESSION 2:

  • Raising independent equity
  • Working with a casting director
  • Directing and collaborating with experienced actors
  • Preventing creative and logistical burnout, and how to create a supportive and non-exploitative work environment
  • How to navigate the film festival circuit and how to hire/work with a publicist
  • Finding sales agents and negotiating with distributors
  • Marketing and releasing your film

Panelists

Mike Cheslik
Mike Cheslik is the co-writer, director, editor, and animator behind the cult hit HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS.

Instructors

Michael Lukk Litwak
MICHAEL LUKK LITWAK is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and cartoonist that was born and raised in Los Angeles. He likes to tell character-driven stories that embrace the absurd, often through a lens of classic genre-filmmaking. His first feature was ‘MOLLI AND MAX IN THE FUTURE’ , a sci-fi Romantic-Comedy often described as ‘When Harry Met Sally’ meets ‘Futurama.’ ‘MOLLI AND MAX’ had its world premiere at SXSW 2023, played at BFI LONDON, Sitges, and Fantasia, was Certified Fresh (w/ 98%) on Rotten Tomatoes, was a NYT Critic’s Pick, was featured on Late Night w/Seth Meyers and was distributed theatrically on Feb 9th 2024 by Level 33 Entertainment. It stars Zosia Mamet (Girls, The Flight Attendant), Aristotle Athari (SNL, Silicon Valley), Arturo Castro (Broad City), Michael Chernus (Severance), Aparna Nancherla (BoJack Horseman), Okieriete Onaodowan (Broadway’s Hamilton), Paloma Garcia-Lee (Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story), Erin Darke (Good Girls Revolt), Grace Kuhlenschmidt (Search Party), stand-up comedian Matteo Lane and seven-time Tony Award nominee Danny Burstein (Broadway’s Moulin Rouge!). /Film declared it #4 on it’s top 10 Sci-Fi films of 2023 (behind Spiderverse, GOTG3, and Asteroid City), FilmThreat gave it a rare 9/10 and called it “a grand achievement in indie sci-fi filmmaking.” His career first started with his NYU Thesis film THE LIFE AND DEATH OF TOMMY CHAOS AND STACEY DANGER, an unflinching look at the brutal effects of space-dinosaurs on a relationship — a topic that resonated across the world: after taking home NYU's top prizes and playing at more than 40 film festivals around the world, DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD voted it the #1 Short Film of 2014. Since then he's sold a tv pilot to SONY, two feature scripts to independent producers and directed the entire season of a multi-million dollar series (SNATCHERS SEASON 3) for WARNER BROTHERS. ‘Snatchers - Season 3’ was unfortunately never released because of the untimely demise of the streaming service Verizon Go90, which was kinda like Quibi but not as successful. He was selected to be a screenwriter-in-residence at The Wassaic Project in upstate NY and has previously developed a series with Paul Feig’s digital studio POWDERKEG and a feature film adaptation of CHAOS AND DANGER with Dan Harmon’s STARBURNS INDUSTRIES. As a commercial director he’s created colorful, comedic, VFX-driven ADS & BRANDED CONTENT for SUBWAY, BURGER KING, KEYSTONE, MACY’S, VERIZON, YAHOO, APPLEBEE’S, SQUARESPACE, ELITE DAILY, VOX MEDIA, SPOTIFY, SNAPCHAT and many more. You can find all of his work at www.michaellitwak.com

Date, Time & Location

This event takes place over multiple dates.

Tuesday, April 30, 2024
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM EDT
Virtual Online

Thursday, May 2, 2024
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM EDT
Virtual Online

RSVP DEADLINE: May 2, 2024 @ 8:00 PM

RSVP Instructions

GOTHAM MEMBERS: Enroll in this class through your Member Dashboard to receive your 20% discount.
Not yet a member? The Gotham community has access to year-round programming, resources, and support, plus exclusive perks and discounts. Learn more about membership.
This class will occur virtually via Zoom. Both sessions will be recorded and shared with registrants after the conclusion of the class.
If you are coming with a guest, they must RSVP independently.

Contact

Questions about the event? Contact membership@thegotham.org