Interview with Director Mark Cogan (THE HANDSOME SHADOWS)

Both myself and the cast and crew were thrilled to hear the audience feedback. It’s always nice to share your story with an audience and very rewarding to hear their thoughts. It’s also a great honour to know your story may have moved someone and that the themes expressed within it can resonate with an audience far beyond its home.

– Mark Cogan on his reactions to the audience reactions his film at the WILDsound Film Festival

At our April 2014 Film Festival event, the short film, THE HANDSOME SHADOWS, played at the WILDsound Festival to great success.

Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video here:

Interview with Director Mark Cogan:

Matthew Toffolo: Your short film played at our festival in March 2014. How has it done since it screened? Has it played at more festivals? Distribution deal? Can be seen online? (if so, we’ll set up a link for people to watch it

Mark: The Handsome Shadows has played at numerous festivals including the Chicago Irish Film Festival and Limerick Film Festival where it won both the best screenplay and best short film award. It has since been broadcast on RTÉ television in Ireland. After it screens at the Capital Irish Film Festival in Washington DC in February, it will be available online.

MT: What motivated you to make this film?

Mark: I had previously written two other short films with the same characters and I knew I wanted to revisit them with a slightly darker story. The themes of loss and grief and the use of warm friendship in overcoming them, was something I very much wanted to explore.

MT: From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?

Mark: The total time from concept to finished film was almost a year.

MT: What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?

Mark: Funding was the biggest obstacle. I financed the movie myself and was very fortunate to have such a dedicated cast and crew, all of whom went above and beyond what was asked of them. Though I wasn’t able to pay much (or anything at al!) they all came to the project with great enthusiasm and professionalism.

MT: What film have you seen the most in your life?

Mark: Dances with wolves. Everything from story to pacing to score to cinematography is pitch perfect for me. I never get tired of it.

MT: What is next for you? A new film?

Mark: I’m currently working in TV production in Calgary but have a few of my own projects in the works. I hope to shoot a new short film in the summer of 2015. It’s a drama about the cold grip the past can have on us if we refuse to let it go.

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MARK COGAN – See director BIO

Mark Cogan attended St. John’s Central College, Cork where he studied video and film production. As a writer/director his early short films included Hitch Hiker, FPD and The edge of the world.

More recently his short films Heart, All Night Long & Partly Cloudy have achieved significant festival and awards success. He is the recipient of both the best screenplay (Heart 2010) and best director award (Partly Cloudy 2012) from the Underground Cinema Awards.

Partly Cloudy also won the best independent film award. Heart, All Night Long & Partly Cloudy have all been screened on Irelands national broadcaster. He set up Medicine Hat Films in 2010. His last short film project was The Handsome Shadows, a short drama featuring the characters from Heart and Partly Cloudy.

Matthew Toffolo, Interviewer BIO

Matthew Toffolo is the current CEO of the WILDsound Film and Writing Festival. He had worked for the organization since its inception in 2007 serving as the Short Film Festival’s moderator during the Audience Feedback sessions.

Filmmaker of over 20 short films and TV episodes. Took over full reins of the WILDsound Festival in May 2013. From then to the end of 2014, he’s presented over 90 movies at the monthly FEEDBACK Film Festival in Toronto, plus has had over 60 screenplays and stories performed by professional actors at the bi-monthly Writing Festival.

Go to http://www.wildsound.ca and submit your film, script, or story to the festival.

Go to http://www.wildsoundfestival.com and watch recent and past winning writing festival readings.