Seattle Film Festival
Celebrating 50 years of the festival's iconic history
Directed by Matteo Mosterts
Directed by the incredibly talented Matteo Mosterts, the 2024 campaign video for Seattle Film Festival blends humour and heart, celebrating the festival’s rich history of film. The video takes a seemingly ordinary birthday party and transforms it into a cinematic feast, where the guests indulge in a cake infused with the magic of past SIFF premieres.
Mosterts brings this thrilling vision to life with a playful spirit and shared appreciation for the art of cinema, turning each slice of cake into a celebration of unforgettable moments and cinematic treasures.
How did the opportunity to direct the campaign video for the Seattle Film Festival’s 50th anniversary come about? Could you share with us how you were approached for this project?
It all started with the long-standing relationship between WONGDOODY and the Seattle Film Festival. WONGDOODY has been concepting and executing award-winning campaigns for the festival for decades. I was lucky enough to get involved during the ideation phase. The original idea came from the agency’s creative team led by Monkey Watson, but we developed the ‘film goo’ concept together. Working so closely with a creative team is rare, and I’m super grateful for that opportunity.
Can you elaborate on the creative process, working with producers Max Grigoryan and Amy Wise, and the process of building the buzz for the Seattle Film Festival? How did you ensure it celebrated the history of film effectively while combining a fun nostalgic feel?
Max and Amy had to overcome many challenges. They’re both superheroes. Once we all agreed on the idea, there was a ton of creative and technical exploration with our Director of Photography, Andrea Gavazzi, and Production Designer, Alessandro Marvelli. All of the content featured inside the slime comprises movies that have been showcased at the Seattle Film Festival over the years. It’s been enlightening to see how many incredible films have passed through there. There were many considerations around which film should go into each take. For instance, I always felt that the first shot inside the cake should feature the most recognizable movie, making Star Wars the perfect choice.
Everyone played a key role, from producers to talent and production assistants. After all the meticulous prep, everything came together on set, and we had an absolute blast.
The concept of a ‘film-infused’ cake with clips from iconic movies is fascinating. What was your thought process behind this idea and how did VFX play a pivotal role in bringing this idea to life? Were there any specific challenges or unique experiences you encountered while incorporating these elements?
The goo was a challenge from start to finish, from getting the right consistency to nailing the visual effects. We brought in Proxima Milano as our VFX partner, and they worked just as hard as we did to embed the movies in the slime. They were part of the creative team, developing the look and feel with us. We had clear ideas for the placement of some clips from the beginning, but others were decided throughout the production process. For example, The Notebook being inside the snot on the wall was always part of the script. I love the idea of someone sneezing out a cute movie scene and then reacting to it. Chewbacca in the toilet bowl, instead, was a happy surprise. Fun fact: the green goo tasted pretty awful, so the talent had to put up with that, too!
How was your experience collaborating with Rachel Ruggles on the sound design for this project? Can you elaborate on the process to ensure the sound complemented the visual narrative perfectly - as we think it does!
Post-production was super detailed. Rachel totally understood our creative vision and, together with the John Buroker team at HearBy, crafted the soundscape for the final piece. We had creative discussions about almost every shot, from music to sound design and, of course, the movie’s audio.
“I love the idea of someone sneezing out a cute movie scene and then reacting to it.”
The editing must have been intricate, especially with so many transitions between old and new footage. Can you walk us through the editing process, working alongside James Whittington, and how you achieved such seamless cuts?
James Whittington absolutely nailed it. He’s not just an editor with great instincts; he’s a storyteller, too. He kept bringing in ideas and creative techniques that made the film tighter and better. Plus, he had the patience to deal with the excitement and impatience of the whole team, especially mine!
One approach I like is to involve the editor from the creative development phase. When working with talented editors, a lot of editing ideas can be suggested during storyboarding. Once we had the footage, we had a full team working on the edit simultaneously. Film clip selection, music research, agency creative agenda, and director edit were all happening simultaneously, almost like an agile tech workflow. We had to try many different things to see what worked best.
To get granular, we divided the film clips into two categories: textural and narrative. The textural clips were used quickly, almost like graphical elements, while the narrative clips served as the true narrative tissue for our overarching trailer. We dialed in the audio from the original movie for the narrative clips, making it an intrinsic element of our edit.
PRODUCERS: Max Grigoryan, Amy Wise
DIRECTOR: Matteo Mosterts
DP: Andrea Gavazzi
1st AC: Richard Hilton
2nd AC: Brandon Ellingwood
Gaffer: Chase Dubose
Best Boy Electric: Chris Ponce
Key Grip: Sergio Silva
BB Grip: Rob McKnight
Grips: Milton Troche, Alex Lopes, Noah Rumenapp
Prod Designer: Alessandro Marvelli
Set Dressers: Marco Schiazza, Taylor Mahoney, Prianna LaChance, Jenna Craig, Evan Foster
1st AD: Lorenzo Grasso
Audio Engineer: Zeke Jones
Wardrobe Stylist: Edurne Fernandez
H&MU Artist: Wren Witting
PAs: Vinny Castellini, Ernesto Luna, Marco Apun, Jesse Jines
PERFORMERS: Lisa Starrett, Davi Stefond, Jowelle Christian Salcedo, Jano Andre, Clare Landis, Jeff Chambers, Bunmi Famuyiwa, Eric Hammond, Marco Schiazza, René Mena, Joanne Shen, Jenn Muse
POST PRODUCTION
EDITOR: James Whittington
Color: Ethos Studio
Producer: Nat Tereshchenko
Colorist: Dante Pasquinelli
VFX: Proxima Milano
Head of VFX: Claudio Falconi
VFX Supervisor: Darko Prolic
VFX Executive Producer: Andrea Masera
VFX Producer: Daniele Biglia
VFX Artists: Chiara Giacometti, Francesco Poppa
Mix: John Buroker & HEARby
Sound Design: Rachel Ruggles
MUSIC by Ear Candy
Track: “Belgrade Burning” by Dark Bardo
CLIENT // SIFF
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR: Beth Barrett
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MARKETING: Clare Canzoneri Garvin
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF PR & COMMUNICATIONS: Madison Zimmerman
AGENCY // WongDoody
GLOBAL CHIEF CREATIVE AND DESIGN OFFICER: Grace Francis
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Pete Gosselin
VP, GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Monkey Watson
AVP, FILM PRODUCTION: Matteo Mosterts
SR CONTENT PRODUCERS: Laura Haithcock, Byron Miller
ART DIRECTOR: Nat Chan
ART DIRECTOR, MOTION: Dillon Sturtevant
DESIGNER: Loretta Aho
COPYWRITER: Spencer McAfee-Gundrum
STUDIO ARTIST: Kendal Sparks
SR STUDIO ARTISTS: Gail Savage, Jason Hall
ASSOCIATE 3D DIRECTOR: Jeremiah Dapkey
SR RETOUCH ARTIST: Charlie Rakatansky
SR CLIENT PARTNER: Thomas Bobson
SR PROJECT MANAGER: Barbara Wilson