When Ray Tintori ’06 sent his senior thesis film to the Sundance Film Festival review board, he figured his chances were as good as winning the lottery.
“I really didn’t expect for us to get in,” Tintori said. “I sent it in the way someone would buy a lottery ticket. Thinking, well this will never happen, but what the hell.”
Tintori’s short film, entitled “Death to the Tinman,” was originally screened at the Center for Film Studies in May 2006. It was one of 4,400 short films submitted to Sundance and one of 70 short films screened. The film received an Honorable Mention for short filmmaking, making it one of a handful of films singled out by the jury as the best of the festival.
“It didn’t seem worth the money [to submit it],” Tintori said. “It was $40.”
This January, the film was screened five times during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, which is regarded as the leading venue for introducing independent films and their creators to mainstream Hollywood. Tintori spent almost two weeks at Sundance with the film’s 11 crewmembers, many of whom are current students or alumni of the University’s film or other arts programs.
The film, an adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s “The Tinwoodman of Oz,” tells the story of Bill (played by Jeff Delauter ’06), a discharged, firefighter-turned-vigilante of the town Verton, and how far he will go to keep the woman of his dreams.
The 12 minute black-and-white film was shot on 16mm in Middletown and the surrounding area. The majority of Tintori’s actors and crew came from the student body, with one exception. His high school English teacher, Marvin Illman, was cast in the role of the disgraced engineer who builds the Tinman limb by limb.
Jeanine Basinger, chair of the Film Studies program and Tintori’s advisor at Wesleyan, explained that Tintori falls in line with the great tradition of Wesleyan filmmakers.
“The moment [the faculty of Film Studies] saw Ray’s film, we knew it was top work,” Basinger said. “It is original, imaginative, very complicated, and executed at a very high level of film making.”
Art Studio major Rob Leitzell ’06 is credited as the film’s cinematographer. He was responsible for many special effects in the film, including the Wright-Brothers-style airplane that crashes several times throughout the film.
“Tinman was made at the risk of a great many of our friends’ lives,” Leitzell said. “It was bitterly cold, Ray and I never really slept, and our mission never really ended, which is all as it should be.”
The film’s debut at Sundance is a powerful testament to the quality of the film. Though Sundance is billed as an independent outlet for filmmakers, many of these creators use a budget substantially larger than the $9,000 Tintori had for the film. “Death to the Tinman” has been cited by The Wall Street Journal, New York magazine and American Cinematographer as one of the standouts of Sundance 2007. The film is currently available for purchase on iTunes, and is the third most downloaded short film from the site, with only shorts by Disney and Pixar ranking above Tintori’s work.
Genevieve Angelson ’08, a film studies major, was part of the crew that traveled with Tintori to Sundance. She noted that, in spite of the age of the crew and their outsider status to the movie industry and Hollywood, both the crew and film were warmly received.
“We looked young, ”Angelson said. “Not dramatically younger than the other filmmakers, but the youngest for sure.”
One of the great perks of the Sundance experience, the crew said, was the connections they made as a result of the film’s reception.
“Each of us met people who were willing to help us professionally according to our interests,” Angelson said
Sophia Holman, who stars in the leading female role and is one of the few non-Wesleyan actors in the film, praised Tintori’s and Letizell’s professionalism.
“Working with [Tintori] and Rob Leitzell was simultaneously energizing and draining,” said Holman. “What impressed me most about shooting was the energy and devotion that all of the cast and crew showed towards the project.”
Tintori’s premiere into the movie industry at the Sundance Festival makes many of his ideas start to seem like possibilities.
“My next film is a 1930s style adventure serial in the mold of ‘King of the Rocketmen’ or ‘Perils of Pauline,’” Tintori said. “The good news is that, based on the reception of ‘Tinman,’ I’ve met several people who are very interested in financing the film. The trick will be to pick the right one and retain as much creative control of the project as possible.”
Tintori is currently in New Orleans working on the film project of fellow Wesleyan alumnus Benh Zeitlin ’04. The project, entitled “Glory at Sea,” is a retelling of the Orpheus myth and is partly set underwater in the destroyed landscapes of the city.
“I’ve never been so excited about a project before,” Tintori said. “If people liked the Tinman film, they are just going to lose their minds when they see this one. Benh’s making an amazing film and it’s a real honor to be a part of it.”
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