Auteur

It's not often that you see a short whose subject easily lends itself to possible expansion into a feature film. Auteur is one of those gems.

Starting with a well-written script from Alex Simon, confident direction by Kevin Abrams and anchored with a strong performance from Beau Clark, Auteur takes its viewers inside the morally ambiguous world of Hollywood film-making. A landscape where the denizens will pimp their mothers if they think it'll get them a greenlight. Aspiring writer/director Eric Pelham finds out the hard way what happens when one is on the receiving end of the conscience-free chicanery in which he traffics. Kudos to the filmmakers. I look forward to their future endeavors.

An excellent satirical comedy with Hitchcockian details. A first rate screen play, fine acting and smooth direction.It sends up Hollywood foibles brilliantly and with a marvelously tongue-in-cheek quality.This film could easily be expanded into a full length feature. The dialogue is witty and the plot twists are unpredictable, thus holding the viewer's attention.The FBI agents who doubled as phony producers were particularly hilarious; and the leading actor's deadpan delivery was exactly right for the character. What's more this film should be reasonably inexpensive to expand and therefore of interest to some major producers.

Wow--I couldn't believe a short was this well-produced and performed. I have actually KNOWN these characters, people who are just like them, in my time in the industry. There are no heroes and villains, just flawed souls trying to make their ambitions come true in a 'hightened reality' of course. Great cast. Yes, I think it should be a feature, too. Give us more like this--plain stories about things that people really do to each other without commenting on the characters or their motives or telling us what we should think. The director and crew was great and the production style entertaining. I am guessing they didn't have a lot of money to work with, but it looks expensive and artistic.

It's about time someone does a crackerjack satire on Hollywood and all its BS, and this film delivers in spades! I saw this at a festival in Denver a few months back, and just re-watched the DVD that the filmmaker was nice enough to give me. Not only did I enjoy it every bit as much as the first viewing, I picked up on a lot of great bits I missed the first time out. This is not viewing for for those with low IQs, folks: it's smart stuff! "Auteur" tells the story of one real smarmy, self-important jerk named Eric (Beau Clark, who's an awesome actor that has "star" written all over him), a video pirate who's the best in the biz. He's so good, in fact, that he thinks he's the real deal: an auteur, a dyed-in-the-wool, honest-to-God genius filmmaker up there with Chaplin, Cassavetes, and Spielberg. Eric has a hot girlfriend, but he's bored with her, and obsessed with making his own film. When two shady businessmen, Mitch and Tony, offer him big bucks to videotape top secret screenings of new Hollywood blockbusters, Eric thinks he's found his golden goose. But all isn't as it seems...

Great acting, directing, writing, cinematography, editing, I mean everything about this flick f'in rocks! I found it tough to believe that it was a grad student film from the legendary AFI in Los Angeles. If this is what these guys do as students...

Calling Steven Spielberg! Give these kids a deal! 10 out of 10.

I have always been a skeptic when it comes to student films that walk the fine line between dark comedy and social satire. "Auteur" is truly a breath of fresh air in a time when just about anyone who can press a record button decides that they have the right or privilege to become a filmmaker.

Superbly written by Alex Simon, this film could not have come at a more relevant time in the turbulent history of the film industry. Films about film-making are nothing new, but what makes this one special is that it succeeds at every level, outlining a somewhat complex premise and resolution with relative ease and fun.

I should have been confused, but instead I was engaged. Great job!