Five Dollar Friday — Matt Fowler & ‘System Failure’
A filmmaker and their short film deserving of your attention
Buon Venerdì da Cinque Dollari! Today’s edition is coming to you live from the beautiful Tuscan countryside. (Congratulations Nat & Emily!)
I’m so excited to introduce you to Matt Fowler, a father, husband, actor, writer, director, and producer based in Atlanta, Georgia.
He and his co-director Erica Arvold are currently crowdfunding their next short film, System Failure.
A convicted criminal tries to rebuild his life in a court-ordered therapy session but, as his therapist pushes him further and reality begins to glitch and unravel, it all leads to a complete System Failure.
Matt, I love the way your campaign teaser for System Failure lures you in with the slow push in, the ambient, echoing music, and the hypnotic narration. Even before the menu popped up, it gave me the best kind of video game vibe — not in the way that term is sometimes used to diminish visual storytelling — but in the way great games immerse you with atmosphere, mystery, and tone from the very first frame. And the embodiment of the hiccups / hallucinations is excellent. Bravo.
I'm curious about the performance — did you and your co-director Erica Arvold know exactly what you wanted it to be before you shot the video? Or was there an exploratory, discovery process during the filming of it?
Thank you so much for the kind words, Tom. Erica and I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted out of the performance. We went through multiple rounds of notes on the campaign script, which really helped dial it in. Erica also brings a level of spontaneity to her directing that is super helpful especially since I’m also acting in the piece. It was really helpful to have a co-director that is so collaborative in nature and I’m super excited to go into the short with such a great test run behind us.
How’d you meet Erica? What was the process like to decide to partner on System Failure?
I met Erica while studying with her at her studio in Atlanta, Arvold Warner Studio. Erica is also a multi-hyphenate and, like I said before, is a true collaborative artist. I asked Erica to co-direct because I was curious about the idea of co-directing as a way of bringing more voices into the conversation. Since I’m starring in the film I wanted a trusted partner —and having worked with her as an actor, I knew that she has a refined taste for performance and a unique talent for helping actors paint with all the colors of our palettes.
We did a lot of the preproduction together as far as our script changes, shot list, shot references, color choices, etc. That was nice because we were really on the same page when it came to the shoot day. I was free to act and Erica was free to direct, while still getting the vision that we had both agreed on.
I’m really looking forward to working with her again on the actual film.
What inspired you to make System Failure, and why was the prison system in particular an important story space for you to explore?
The film was inspired first and foremost by my desire to write something for the lead actor Eric Connelly. Eric and I met when we were both young hungry actors in LA and he has always been a champion of mine, casting me in multiple projects and giving feedback on numerous scripts etc. He's now a successful writer/director/producer, but I just really wanted to write something that we could act in together that would showcase his humanity in a way that I think it deserves.
As far as prison goes, the US has the highest per capita incarceration rate in the world. Many of those for nonviolent crimes, drug related, etc. I have numerous family members that have been in and out of the system at one point or another. Mostly due to opioid addictions and/or mental illness caused by childhood trauma/sexual abuse.
While there are some great people that are doing some great things to help (my older sister and and brother both manage programs that serve abused/incarcerated youth), from what I’ve seen “The System” as a whole — especially the private sector — is really designed to perpetuate itself. A lot of this is the result of the governing bodies in charge. It’s easier to put someone in a cage then teach them a different way. Easier to give somebody a pill then help them make healthy choices or deal with their trauma.
I wanted to write a piece that shines a light on those spaces. I created an audio drama called The Veil Audio Drama a few years back, and this film is sort of my foray into bringing the world of The Veil into the live action space.
I'm sorry to hear about your family's experiences with prison. Must have been hard, especially given the circumstances you mentioned.
This film has an AI angle but your connection to the topic pre-date AI's recent takeover of everyday tasks. Was there something in particular that sparked this idea?
I read an article from Time Magazine recently (and the paper it referenced) from an AI safety nonprofit about how major AI systems have been caught essentially lying, and the story just sort of spun out from there.
Is this a straight adaptation of an episode of The Veil? If so, what was that process like, adapting an audio drama for a visual medium?
This isn’t an adaptation from The Veil, rather a standalone story that feels like it’s in the same world. I’d love to turn The Veil into a live action series though and this is sort of my proving ground for that as a director.
I’m a huge fan of The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror, and that’s what spurs most of my writing. I love sci-fi. One review of The Veil called it “Speculative Fiction” which I really loved. I do however have a feature film that is being shopped around right now that is an adaptation of the two-part finale I wrote called The Deep that is from The Veil. I’ve also got a Stephen King pilot that I’m submitting to festivals right now.
Congrats! Fingers crossed for those projects.
Tell me more about The Film Ensemble collective. You mention some impressive credits in the campaign video for System Failure.
Yeah, The Film Ensemble is sort of an unofficial group of incredibly talented people that I’ve been lucky enough to fall in with. Within the last six months we’ve pitched several films and currently have a slate of three films and a music video that are in production or preproduction.
It’s a private group of working professionals so I can’t elaborate much more, but all the names that I shouted out in my Seed&Spark campaign are a part of the ensemble. I’d love to shout them all out again! I would like to send a HUGE special thank you to The Film Ensemble for supporting this film and to members Brian Rosso, Charity Hitchcock, Charlie Fisk, Emily Lane, and Erica Arvold for helping to shoot this campaign video. Thank you! :)
Amazing. Well, I wish you and The Film Ensemble all the best in the closing moments of the campaign and, more importantly, with your upcoming production.
You can join me in supporting Matt and his film System Failure by contributing to the campaign here:
Thanks to the help of paid subscribers, my weekly contribution has increased from $5 at the start of this newsletter to now $18.
Again: it’s better for everyone involved if you contribute directly to the filmmaker’s campaign yourself and don’t become a paid subscriber to this newsletter. But, if you ain’t got time for that, you can upgrade your subscription and I’ll contribute a little bit extra each week on your behalf.
🇮🇹 There’s a glass of chianti waiting for me poolside — ciao, belli!