Size Up
Dir. Rigo Garay (2020 short film, 15 mins, SONY A7S)
Jesse Schratz, Rigo Garay, Jose Useche
After the senseless murder of this older brother, an 11-year-old boy will discover what kind of a person he will grow to be.
I was rejected from all film schools. I didn’t even know what a C-stand was until finally stepping foot on a film set for a Glass Eye Pix flick (10 years ago this April). It finally came time to make my own short, and SIZE UP was my first rodeo in many regards. By this time, I had been at GEP for 4 years as Office Coordinator and on set as a PA, boom operator, swing, assistant editor, etc (GEP was my film school) and I made many friends along the way who rallied up and helped good ‘ol Rigo make his short. Chris Skotchdopole producing and editing, James Felix McKenney producing & ADing, Jesse LoCascio as AC, Ben Duff lit it, James Siewert shot the thing and a slew of interns including 2 new hires Matt Yturralde & Santiago Saba Salem as PAs and a fresh faced Luke LeCount who was hired during post. And of course, Fessenden producing and watching over everything.
The inspo for this movie came from stories about people mugged and killed for their Galaxy Foamposites. It’s terrifying to think that you could never see your loved one ever again because of a pair of ostentatious sneakers (ugly sneakers, if I’m being honest). I had pals trading war-stories about violence befalling them from the sneaker game. Stories like surviving a knife to the gut and robbed $400 cash from a Craigslist seller, or mugged out of your True Religion jeans, Burberry Tee and Jordans at gunpoint, walk home in your undies. It was all so surreal, I had to make it a movie.
Skotchdopole and I would talk through the script a lot. He suggested that I should play the villain “Lito”, who’s such a specific character, an amalgamation of riff-raffs & yahoos I’ve encountered growing up in Long Island. L.I. is a weird place, you can commit a B&E with a Juggalo and a Central American war criminal, then go to Sunday mass with your mother the next morning. I know this type of guy too well, I had no choice but to play him. A suburban, sociopathic, bully: The Long Island Kingpin.
The flick is littered with directorial mistakes, and I wear that as a badge of honor. This was my first assignment, my tryout. And like everyone’s first, there are hiccups that I take ownership of and I’m grateful that my collaborators (who are some of the most talented folks I know) allowed me to be stubborn, allowed me to LEARN. With all that being said, the one thing I knew I got right was the HEART of SIZE UP, hopefully it touches yours.
Rigo Garay, Writer/Director – Writer, director, actor and Glass Eye Pix filmworker from Long Island, NY. Garay has various credits on many GEP productions such as STAKE LAND 2: THE STAKELANDER (2016), DEPRAVED (2019) and more. SIZE UP is his first directing effort.
Larry Fessenden, Executive Producer – Larry Fessenden, winner of the 1997 Someone to Watch Spirit Award, and nominee for the 2010 Piaget Spirit Award for producing, is the writer, director and editor of the award-winning art-horror trilogy HABIT (Nominated for 2 Spirit Awards), WENDIGO (Winner Best Film 2001 Woodstock Film Festival) and NO TELLING. His film, THE LAST WINTER (Nominated for a 2007 Gotham Award for best ensemble cast), premiered at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. Fessenden directed SKIN AND BONES for NBC TV’s horror anthology FEAR ITSELF and the feature film BENEATH for Chiller films. He wrote the screenplay with Guillermo del Toro of ORPHANAGE, an English language remake of the successful Spanish film EL ORFANATO. He is the writer, with Graham Reznick of the hit Sony Playstation videogame UNTIL DAWN. Fessenden was awarded the 2007 Sitges Film Festival Maria Award for his work as a producer, actor and director in genre film, and he won the 2009 Golden Hammer Award for “being such an inspiring force in the industry.” In 2011, Fessenden was inducted into the “Fangoria Hall of Fame” and was honored by the UK’s Total Film as an Icon of Horror during the Frightfest Film Festival.
James Felix McKenney, Producer – James Felix McKenney is a New York based, DIY filmmaker whose odd little feature films include Automatons, Satan Hates You and Hypothermia. He’s also been known to make toys, comics, oddly shaped candy, and other nonsense.
James Siewert, Director of Photography – At the age of 13 James Siewert made his first film, in which the camera enters the main character’s eye. Now at 26 he has directed 3 more films where camera enters various bodily orifices. Along the way certain useful skills were acquired: how to build stuff, how to light stuff, and how to narrowly avoid a psychotic break during a week of shooting overnights. His main goal in life is to be able to keep making weird movies that some people care about.
David Catalano (AKA D.Catalano), Composer – Composer, Producer and FiveSe7enCollective Artist, D.Catalano exists between the realms of Twin Peaks, and rhythmic hip hop themes. Drawing from personal memories of being raised in Metropolitan New York, he maintains an appreciation of the modern world and the skyscrapers that help to create the neglected shadows they cast.
Chris Skotchdopole, Editor – A writer, director and producer living in New York City. He works with Glass Eye Pix, an independent production outfit led by director Larry Fessenden. A 2010 graduate of SVA, his most recent short, THE EGG AND THE HATCHET is still touring festivals. Chris is currently developing a feature with Larry Fessenden, CRUMB CATCHER. He is the cinematographer for Fessenden’s current project, DEPRAVED.
Skotchdopole recently served as co-producer on Jenn Wexler’s punk thriller, THE RANGER, starring Chloe Levine and Jeremy Holm. Previously, he worked as associate producer on Mickey Keating’s DARLING (SXSW) and Rob Mockler’s film LIKE ME (SXSW), starring Addison Timlin. He has produced several music videos and shorts for Glass Eye, including James Siewert’s THE PAST INSIDE THE PRESENT (Slamdance, Florida Film Festival, Fantastic Fest).
