Written & Directed by MATTHEW ROLLINS
Produced by MATTHEW ROLLINS & BEN TUROK
Mysterious goo drips from an awkward young man’s luggage while visiting his overbearing parents for dinner.
ABOUT THE FILM
Ooze premiered at the film at Ridgewood Off-Kilter Film Festival in Queens, NY. This is it’s online premiere.
ABOUT THE FILMmaker
Matthew Rollins is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker, sound designer, and composer from Santa Barbara, CA. He is a graduate of the film program at Emerson College.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW
Welcome to our Short of the Week series. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your filmmaking background?
I’m Matthew Rollins and I’m a 23 year-old filmmaker and sound designer based in Brooklyn. I grew up in Santa Barbara, CA and focused mostly on making experimental electronic music and hosting a radio show at UCSB’s radio station in high school. I’ve always loved movies, but I feel like I really discovered my taste in them during my time at Emerson College. There, I’d do post-production sound and scoring for my friends’ work. Eventually, that led to me wanting to make films of my own that put an emphasis on sound design as a key player in the storytelling.
My first short, Whiskey Throttle, had no dialogue and the sound was re-created entirely after the shoot. Ooze is kind of a development on that, where we use the dialogue in a rhythmic way that ties into the whole soundscape of the film to create this unsettling atmosphere.
Tell us about the genesis of Ooze? Where did the idea come from and why did you choose to pursue this film to make?
Ooze came from the idea of wanting to make a monster movie inspired by practical effects-heavy 80s movies. Leaning into the fact that we were working with a very limited budget, it resulted in this elusive ooze. We also wanted to lean into, and exaggerate, the humor of movies like that, and the humor in family dynamics in general. This film came out of the feeling of the time when I was writing it—about to graduate college and anxious about the future, and connecting that to the fear of disappointment and distance from parents—something I know a lot of people my age go through.
What were some of the main obstacles you experienced when making of Ooze and how did you overcome them?
Ooze was a run-n-gun project, so there were little hurdles at every step of the way, but that’s expected. For example, having to get all the shots we need before getting kicked out of the train station or having to keep an eye out for the train conductor while pouring a vat of ooze onto Gus, our actor. Otherwise, it was fairly smooth.
Ooze is a bit abstract, but very visceral. Does the symbolism in the film hold a specific meaning for you, or did you leave it intentionally open-ended to allow audiences to draw their own interpretations?
The ooze, to me, is this growing, living material (or monster) that holds our guilt, anxieties, pressures, etc. Everything. Something that we all have to control, maintain, and deal with. The film is a cautionary tale about a young man who could not control his ooze. He gets lost in the ooze. I did intentionally keep it abstract, though, just like the very nature of the ooze. Everybody’s got their own ooze with a different recipe, a different concoction of anxieties and pressures. I hope this film gives people a chance to reflect on their personal ooze.
Tell us about the journey of getting your film to audiences.
This is the journey! I’m on it! I’m submitting the film to everyone that might want it. It’s a weird film so it’s not going to be for everyone. Nonetheless, it’s fun to cast a wide net and see what happens. Hopefully some people resonate with it.
What advice or hacks would you give to other short filmmakers?
I’m still figuring out what I’m doing! One thing I’d say is that when you have an idea that you’re excited about, get some people on board and get the ball rolling. It’s a lot easier to get it done when other people are relying on you.
What do you think is the biggest challenge short filmmakers face trying to break into the industry?
It’s purely an uphill battle, but it’s a pretty fun one. It seems like people need validation to like stuff a lot of the time. More people will pay attention to your film if names they know are attached to it. So maybe one of the most challenging things, for me at least, is that initial push.
Any film recommendations that we should add to our watchlist?
As it relates to Ooze, I’d definitely say Videodrome (and most other Cronenberg films) is at the top of the list. The comedy side of the film can be traced back to the feeling of flipping to Adult Swim on accident as a young child—things like Tim & Eric. Their movie, Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, is an essential watch. The last one I’d say is Eraserhead. The energy and use of sound design in that film is something I’ll always be inspired by. That inspiration was definitely put to use with Ooze.