Saturday 4 April 2015

Short films, big enough to succeed

Fast-paced life isn't an expression anymore. It's a reality - the one we all live in
But that's no reason to miss out on entertainment. Is it?
We moved to an era of what we call the "Snackable Content"- content that is short and precise enough to be meaningful and quick.

Shorter blog posts, instead of full news articles, Social Media updates, instead of full TV/news coverage, etc. We are always looking out for best tangibles in the shortest time! This is Snackable Content. 

Short Film is one such element of Snackable Content. Entertaining, fun and quick! Also, they can be watched anytime, anywhere on any device. This is not a new concept though. Films per se started off as short films, but later went on to become bigger. It was in the 70s that the craze for short films plumetted. They once again took off in the 90s with the arrival of handy digital equipment. Read the history of Short Films here (Source: Telegraph)

Short Films, today are not just about fun and entertainment. They have become an interesting way of auditioning for bigger films and building a real time portfolio (for both makers and  actors). MR productions is one such amazing Short Film production house based out of Andhra Pradesh. It was a fun hobby picked up by two friends; Dheeraj (left) & Subash (right) that opened up the Silver Screen gates  for them
                                                    

With an office in Hyderabad, they have successfully completed 100 short films and they are a very well known short film maker in the South (especially among the Telugu speaking crowd) Enough of me, let's now hear Subhash, speak ! 

(A glimpse of their 100th short film)


1. Is MR Productions a startup? or is it just a team of friends making films for fun?
We started off with friends being part of our Production as actors and artists. We are proud to have friends who encouraged us right from the beginning without expecting anything. I can't say if it's a company now but, we are planning to remain as a production house and encourage new talent by promoting their short films


2. Tell us about your team. Who are your stars?
Dheeraj came up with the very idea of making short films. We teamed up and launched MR.Productions with no proper vision. Later on we grew with our Production, learnt from our own mistakes and had friends encourage us by being a part of it. Now, we have a large family bound by passion. Yes, I said Family because in this journey, we never felt as if we are working with a team


 3. What in your opinion makes MR productions unique? There are many others out there. What makes you guys special?
At first, we didn't make films to attract audience. We made them because we like making films. Later on, we found out that even others were liking them and were getting entertained We concentrated on Pure Entertainment. We kept our films real short and crisp, filled with entertainment in those few minutes. Also, we are very concerned about the quality. We will never compromise on it.



4. What was your inspiration to start this production house? Tell us your story
 As i told before, Dheeraj came up with the idea of making a short film for a college level film festival. We paired up and made our first short film 'Success- the story of a street boy' in December 2008. We stood third in the film festival and continued making short films ever since. Inspiration came from movies. We both love to watch movies and may be that's where it all started. We started our production house in Vizag. We picked the letter M from MVGR college and R from Raghu college where we were pursuing our B.tech and created MR. Productions

5. One of your stars has recently done a film! "Uyyala Jampaala" So, are you planning to enter the film industry too?
Yes, we are working on a script for our first Feature film. It is likely to be hitting the sets by end of this year or start of next year. We are looking forward to it




6. How long does it take on an average to finish a short film?
 It depends on the script. We made shorts films in just an hour and also made short films in 10 days(1 month) including Dubbing and Music

7. Are you planning to make short films in other languages too? or will you just stick to Telugu?
We made all our films in Telugu and we will remain a Production house for short films for now. If we like a script in other languages and think a team can do it, we will support/produce the short film and release it online through our channel

8.What is your vision? A couple of years down the line, where do you see your team heading?
We want to be film makers, who make films that'll be remembered by people as Good films. We are planning for a Family entertainer as our first feature film. Audience liked us as short film makers, we want them to extend their love towards our Feature films too.

Thank you Subashfor the interview



Watch their short films here
Image Courtesy - MR productions|Collage Courtesy - piZap