Q and A with Santiago Bailey- Musacchio
Excitement was in the air on the final night of the Santa Barbara Film Festival (SBIFF), when the student films selected for the 10-10-10 (Ten Writers – Ten Directors – Ten Films) Screenwriting and Filmmaking Mentorship and Competition were presented at the Arlington Theater. Among the high school and college students whose work was screened that night was Santiago Bailey-Musacchio, an SBCC dual enrollment student who is also a sophomore at Santa Barbara High School. When the winner was announced for the high school filmmaking award, it went to Santiago for his film "Object Permanence," which he wrote, directed and edited.
To quote the SBIFF website, "At the heart of 10-10-10 is mentorship, and SBIFF is proud to offer aspiring screenwriters and filmmakers the expertise of our panel of respected and successful industry professionals."
Over a span of several months before the festival, a mentor leads each of the 10 film crews through all stages of planning and production. Mentors provide feedback on a rough cut of the film, then filmmakers submit the final version for the competition. SBCC dual enrollment student Santiago Bailey-Musacchio's mentor was Perry Lang, a director and actor, known for "An Interview with God" (2018), "Men of War" (1994) and "Little Vegas" (1990).
1. Tell us about your film, "Object Permanence." What is it about and what was your inspiration for writing it?
The film tells the story of a family, a mother, a father, and their young son. The story takes place in a near future where the technology to bring deceased organisms back to life is an emerging technology, and the plot focuses on the family dealing with the death of the young boy's dog.
The idea for the film came about because at the time of writing this it had just been the 200th anniversary of the publication of "Frankenstein" (the book), and so I had Frankenstein on the mind. I was thinking about that and reading something online about it when my dog happened to walk by. So the obvious question was "what if?"
2. How long did you work on the project from beginning to end?
The projects for the 10-10-10 started in October of 2018 and weren't done until late January. And on the night before it was due I stayed up until 4:00 a.m. finishing final edits.
3. What part of the process did you enjoy the most?
I think my favorite part of making this film was actively being on set (unfortunately that's about 5% of the time spent on the film). I had a wonderful cast and crew and being able to see what I've written come to life thanks to them is an amazing experience.
4. What did you find most challenging?
I think the most challenging part of this is after the production is done and trying to tell the story because the editing is really what makes the story into a series of understandable shots. I started editing over winter break and spent every waking moment of winter break working on it.
5. What are you planning to do next?
To be honest, I don't really know, I'm going to continue working on films but I don't think I'll be heading any major projects for a while. I'm going to try to work around on other films and try to do everything.
