Salvador Aguilar Estrada, a 2022 Script to Screen - Advanced Television and Film program graduate, wrote and directed his film, Check on a Mate as a final assignment in his directing class at the School of Communications, Media, Arts and Design. While he had the idea for the film for a while, he says it was “sitting in the drawer” waiting for the right moment; that moment finally arrived in class when students were pitching their ideas. From that point, the film was written and directed by Salvador. It has received outstanding festival buzz, including Best Fiction Short Film at the ÍCARO Film Festival and is an official selection at the San Diego Latino Film Festival in California.
But what led Salvador to create this film? Salvador says it all started with him and his partner having the Canadian dream. “We wanted to come to Canada for better professional opportunities and life in general. We decided that our best course of action would be to come, one as a student and the other on a work permit. We then decided which of us had the best profile to be accepted into a postgraduate program. My BA in Digital Filmmaking from Middlesex University and my studies in the Netherlands gave me an edge,” he explains.
“We looked for a program that had it all and didn't just focus on one area but could give you a comprehensive understanding of how the rapidly growing film industry works here in Toronto. My mom always says, ‘don't go to bed without learning something new every day.’ In this sense, I like being a perpetual student. I knew I would get my money's worth in knowledge once I read the [Script to Screen program] description, and I wasn't wrong,” he adds.
While in the program, Salvador picked up several key lessons, including receiving some insightful advice on professional standards from instructors. “I don't want to single out anyone because they all play their part, but I guess in terms of preparation, one sentence that stood out to me was from my audio teacher who advised us to always be prepared for the worst-case scenario equipment-wise because you never know when it might fail. So, in terms of microphones, he said, ‘If you have 2, you have one, and if you have one, you have none’.”
CREATING CHECK ON A MATE: A Q&A WITH THE DIRECTOR
Watch Salvador’s film, Check on a Mate.
Q. WHAT FIRST SPARKED YOUR INTEREST IN FILM?
I've always been fascinated by how you can trigger an emotion in someone by telling a story. The ability to create entire universes and have people gather in a dark room to be transported by your stories into those universes is the closest thing to real magic. For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed being transported to those worlds by movies. When I realized that I was capable of creating my own, that's when I found my calling.
It was hard at first because… well, it's always hard to tell your parents that you want to be an artist without a good answer to the question: “How are you going to live from that?” Nowadays, it's not that difficult, but keep in mind that in Honduras, the film industry was barely a thing back then, but when they saw my first short film, they believed in me and supported me ever since. Having the support of my entire family – that’s what keeps me going.
You can check out Salvador’s showreel of his past work here.
Q. HOW DID CHECK ON A MATE FIRST COME ABOUT, AND WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE FILM?
"Check on a mate" was the final assignment for the Directing II class at Centennial College. As for the story, the inspiration came from the fact that my father, a diplomat, often had to live abroad, and it was not always possible to go with him, so we used to play chess together over the Internet. Back then, Windows and Yahoo Messenger were a thing, and you could play mini-games online. My father lived alone for years, and after work every night, he would sit at his computer and log into Messenger, waiting for me to do the same. Sometimes I didn’t, but he would always be there, waiting, hoping to spend some quality time with me.
Although it was a while ago, we had it easy because technology made it easy to stay in touch and play, but I started to wonder what it would be like to have to wait for the postal mail to get through. A person, far from his loved ones, alone, waiting for someone to write him back. That is how the story came about.
Q. WHAT WAS THE PROCESS LIKE WRITING AND DIRECTING THE FILM? ANY FAVOURITE MEMORIES WHEN FILMING?
In Directing II we had to pitch our ideas to the whole class. I was not going to pitch “Check on a mate” because I thought it was too difficult to find an old actor, and in terms of locations, it seemed unfeasible. So, I had a "one location/ one actor" pitch all set up. However, I started listening to my classmates' pitches and they were pretty ambitious, so I decided to go for it. At first, I was a little scared that I wouldn't be able to deliver a quality assignment, but after selecting a great team, things started to work out. Good pre-production work, an engaging story, talented actors and an amazing crew – I couldn't ask for more.
During production, as a director, I always apply the following philosophy: You're supposed to be surrounded by people who love what they do and love filmmaking and storytelling. Otherwise, they wouldn't be there. If that's the case, let them enjoy themselves while doing their job, which they love. Making movies is a passion, and there is no place for stress, tension and a bad mood. It's a zen approach and I try to create camaraderie between cast and crew. I had a blast directing this movie because of that. We had fun while creating a quality short film.
Q. WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS WHEN YOU FOUND OUT YOUR FILM RECEIVED BEST FICTION SHORT FILM AT THE ÍCARO FILM FESTIVA?
It was amazing; I didn't expect it at all. I received an email the day before the ceremony to have a Zoom chat with the festival organizers. I saw that there were only a few of us on the zoom call, and it seemed strange to me because I know that Ícaro is quite a big festival with many submissions. Then it hit me. We received the news and they asked us not to tell anyone because during the ceremony the next day they would make it official. They offered to pay me for the trip to the ceremony in Guatemala but there wasn't enough time, plus I was still waiting for my post-graduation work permit. I had my family watch the ceremony via Facebook live without telling them I won. They were pretty excited about it. I'm still waiting for my statuette.
Salvador is submitting the film to other festivals in Canada and Europe, but as for future projects, he says he would love to be back on set as soon as possible. He currently shares his time teaching French and audio post-production, in addition to working on commercial videos for the Alliance Française. He also has been the editor of a documentary about the Yorkville music scene in the '60s and '70s produced by Paul Koidis, so he continues to remain within the creative industry on an ongoing basis.
Congratulations, Salvador, on such an incredible film and the achievements you have obtained thus far. Check on a Mate is outstanding!
Article by: Alexandra Few
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