Have you ever wondered how a young film director can successfully build a career starting with independent cinema? Matteo Cianci is one such director striving to make it in the industry who lifts the lid on the trials and tribulations aspiring directors can expect when working in short film.
It starts with two months of planning, finding the right actors, and borrowing all the equipment. The preparation of the set culminates in an all-embracing weekend of filming. On a Sunday night, a dozen folks who came for free lay happily among pizza cardboard boxes and beers. The short-movie will be ready to pitch to festivals in a few months. That’s the kind of timetable for a small, independent production.
The truth is that in most festivals the quality is high not only for the screenplay but also for the video and the audio. A director needs machines, equipment, renting a location, the lights; all that stuff costs money. Independent movie directors have to compete with other short-movies that are granted, say, fifty-thousand pounds.
One man who’s facing this process is Matteo Cianci. When he was a young teenager, he showed up in a library where they offered stage acting classes. His mum pushed him to perform as an actor. That moment proved the decisive kick for his career in cinema, which shifted towards directing films after a few connected events.
Matteo, 33, was born in Milan, Italy, growing up there until the age of 13. His passion for cinema lit up in San Benedetto del Tronto, in the Italian region of Marche, after a lacklustre relocation with his family: “It arose from a profound loneliness. When we moved I was alone; in Milan I was in the age-band where I’d just built my first group of friends,” Matteo reflects.
His first encounter with cinema was accidental: “When I arrived in San Benedetto del Tronto, my father began a VHS collection of the 100 best classics—I don’t even know why he did it. He wasn’t even interested in these movies, perhaps he thought it was a cool collection to have.” It was a matter of switching on the VHS player and gazing at movies by Stanley Kubrick, Brian De Palma, Federico Fellini and the like. His mum saw the fascination in his eyes. Meanwhile, acting on stage erased his loneliness and a new career sparkled. In a small town, however, the idea of getting into cinema is felt so far away…
Rome is fertile ground for an aspiring movie director. Matteo now lives there, in an old condominium. The squeaking, wooden double-door of the lift, the tiny red-painted interiors, and the plastic buttons engraved with floor numbers are a time leap into the Italian economic miracle. That’s when Hollywood came to the Tiber, the Italian cinema had its golden age, and these townhouses changed the outskirts of Rome and Milan. Fifth floor. There are iron beams horizontally hanging above the apartment windows, wires everywhere, tripods lying around. In a change of scenery, Matteo’s place has been converted into a set for directing his second short-movie.
“How did I get into directing? Well, at some point covid-19 arrived. It barred me from the theatre, the theatres were obviously closed. I always worked in secondary theatres and therefore it was impossible to start again. So, I took advantage of it to follow up on something I wanted to do for a long time, that is to write, and so I started writing stories.”
Certain segments of the population may be more obsessed with screen directors than they are actors. It is a choice for cinephiles who they feel is more important: actor or director? Acting doesn’t always provide the in-depth analysis of characters and situations that writing does. During the pandemic, writing was the only activity available within cinema, and Matteo realized it was the culmination of his artistic research.
He’s someone who understands that the journey to become a successful film director is steep for those who make cinema a second job. Matteo works in a company making investments in real estate. Cinema simply runs in parallel. He acknowledges: “What screwed me is that I was never able to access the thought that art could become a job.” Despite his performances as a young stage actor, he enrolled in the university and got a degree in economics. “However, I would like to make cinema until it becomes my main job, so cinema comes first. Many directors say that perseverance keeps you going because many people give up in the end.”
The story is different for those who study cinema. They have connections and, maybe, they make their first 5 to 10 short-movies in their twenties. The first full-length movie can be a turning point, where it’s key to find a producer who likes a screenplay. So, people doing cinema as a second job, being further from the community, must go all in on their scripts: “When I started writing, I realized that I wrote some of my scripts thinking about what people might like—maybe intercept a certain type of interest. On the other hand, all the doors will slam in my face, but one opening is enough to move forward… At that point I said, ‘Most likely, I will only get doors shut in my face. So, I write something that I like, that is, I would rather write something that only interests me, but who cares.”
Matteo believes that all the great artists bring their own criticisms, define their own language, and come up with their own ideas. That’s the only way to successfully reach out to an audience. “Otherwise, the work becomes cliched,” he observes.
Matteo now wants to make another short-film with a large budget. His idea is to find a patron to fund a bigger troupe, various lenses, camera dollies etc. “In 2024 I would like to raise the bar. In addition to the short-movie, I would like to start writing a full-length film and I will try to propose it to privates and competitions. I hope that the subject will interest someone who will entrust me with the direction.”
Matteo believes that independent cinema is the first step for anyone striving for a future as a movie director. However, he argues that the future of independent cinema might be for a niche of cinephiles: gaining the attention of the general public gets more and more complex without, for instance, an important actor or high-end locations.
Matteo concludes: “Independent cinema has a future in the message which, unfortunately, will be increasingly linked to those who are involved in cinema and know what to look for. Since there is a lot of junk released by large platforms, the alternative is that the independent movement hits with something big and really interesting.”
Words by Michele Crestani
Support the Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.