Maxwell Rudd explores Hollywood dreams and disappointments for this week’s Morristown Film Fest
Posted by Nayna Shah on August 18, 2010 · Leave a Comment
By Nayna Shah, MG correspondent
Maxwell Rudd loves movies. It’s Hollywood that makes him queasy.
That’s what he tries to get across in Glutenfolk, his short movie that will be screened Friday at the Third Annual MorristownGreen.com Film Festival.
Max, age 20, previously attended the Institute of Audio Research in New York and is enrolling in Columbia University this January to major in film composition and studies.
Max Rudd, director of 'Glutenfolk,' which will be screened at Friday's Third Annual MorristownGreen.com Film Festival.
What makes the Oakland, NJ, resident a little different from many other filmmakers is that he doesn’t read up on Hollywood gossip or constantly appraise the west coast entertainment scene.
The title Glutenfolk was derived from the word “glutton,” meaning excessive or mindless indulging.
Max explains:
“I knew many people who graduated from film school but were so reluctant to just spend some time and make a small video for fun. I think too many people are so obsessed with making a living and getting paid for what they do that they forget why they are doing it in the first place,” he said.
His film paints a picture of young, struggling, self-destructive film makers, actors and writers in New Jersey.
A scene from 'Glutenfolk,' a short movie by Maxwell Rudd that will be screened Friday at the Third Annual MorristownGreen.com Film Fest.
Throughout the movie, he said, he tried to portray the sinking level of happiness and lack of confidence that accompanies the “Hollywood” attitude.
Along with Max, two of his friends star in the video. Miguel Hernandez, Max’s buddy who attended a film school, played a filmmaker, and Anthony Ralden, an artist, played a struggling artist.
“These guys aren’t professional actors or anything, but I asked them to do this with me because they could completely relate to the script,” said Max.
Because of his passion for music, Max spent a great deal of time creating the sound for the video. But he enjoyed other parts of the process as well. This was his first experience putting sight and sound together, as he mostly focuses on the audio aspect of films.
“Editing and directing were fun,” he said. “But I always like working on a project I can make ‘my own.’ I feel like I’ve always had this attitude where I know I can take a piece of work and put my own spin on it.”
Max often works on the sound for his friends’ videos and admitted that unless he really likes the project he’s working on, it can be brutal to complete. He would love to continue making his own movies, or even collaborate with partners, because such opportunities are rare, he said.
Max said wanted to embrace the fact that he didn’t have experienced actors or expensive equipment, and still achieve the effect he wanted.
He said he’s always had the conviction to let his own personality and ideas take over. In the third grade, he began intensely studying classical violin with a professor at the Manhattan School of Music.
After eight and a half years of that, he recalled, he began to lose his ability to be himself.
“I felt like I was playing music the way someone else wanted to hear it. It was never my own interpretation. Skill-wise, I got where I wanted to be, but it definitely didn’t feel like it should have.”
Today, Max likes creating his own music. After switching from classical to rock to jazz, he has found a new interest in deejay-ing his own electronic music. He has won multiple songwriting awards, as a past member of a jazz band, and he won a film award for best sound design the year he graduated from IAR.
Despite the Hollywood struggles depicted in his film, Max still would like to work in the movie industry – with the right attitude, of course.
“I’ve known a lot of people who have become successful in Hollywood and have a great lifestyle,” he said. “If the energy’s right, that can be me, too.”
Nayna Shah will be a sophomore at Morristown High School this fall. The Third Annual MorristownGreen.com Film Fest kicks off around 6:30 pm on Friday, on the lawn of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown. Admission is free. The popular kids band Boys Nyte will perform, with home-grown movies to follow at dusk. The audience will vote for Best Picture. If it rains, the show will move into the church hall.
