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One morning in December 2023, six Syracuse University Matchbox Films members drove to New York City to shoot their short film “ACE,” co-written by junior Jaden Vann and senior Audrey Weisburd. For less than two days, the group traversed locations from Times Square to Astoria, filming for nearly 16 hours.

“We had so many people that were interested in the production of it and helping us figure out costumes and how everything was going to look,” Matchbox Films head of visuals Mia Ignazio said. “It was definitely a layer of love.”

Matchbox Films is SU’s first independent production art-house organization. Started in fall 2023, the club aims to create a collaborative environment for students passionate about filmmaking by cultivating creative and artistic freedom. It’s currently accepting fall 2024 applications.

Senior Sophia Lucina, the club’s executive producer, came up with the idea. She approached Weisburd with Matchbox Films and began the process of creating it. Eventually, Ignazio and Kyra Zabretsky head of production and a senior majoring in television, radio and film, joined the team.

Weisburd and Zabretsky previously headed Eavesdrop, a smaller screenwriting and filming group during their freshman and sophomore years.

However, they wanted to expand Eavesdrop to a broader audience and wanted to join a community film space. They merged a “book club for movies,” idea, Weisburd said, and the group of four grew into Matchbox Films.

“We wanted everybody to be able to come in, feel like they could go onto a film set and know what they’re doing, or at least have the understanding of what questions to ask and where they need to be in that,” Zabretsky said.

Before attending SU, Weisburd and Zabretsky were introduced to the film industry in different ways that led them to pursue film. Zabretzky is from Freeland, Pennsylvania, two hours north of Philadelphia. She attended a STEM magnet school, an experience she described as a “complete 180º of production,” eventually pursuing film when starting at SU. She had to quickly learn the industry, and wished an organization like Matchbox existed during her freshman and sophomore years.

Weisburd knew she wanted to study film and creative writing in college. She’d experimented with television, radio and film her entire life and has written various short stories.

“I fell in love with movies before college and I just realized that it is the most transformative and all encompassing art form to me,” Weisburd said. “You have the beautiful language that I loved about poetry with psychological character studies with music with visual elements of photography.”

Matchbox invites all students to join the organization. Zabretsky said the club houses a variety of members, from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and College of Visual and Performing Arts students to chemistry majors.

Ignazio said Matchbox has been a stable activity in her life. She said for those involved, it does not feel like work, but rather a time to create with people whom she shares similar interests. Anyone who joins Matchbox can decide the degree of their involvement. Ignazio said that while it’s been a learning curve, she feels like she’s found her balance with the organization.

Matchbox’s process of producing films is nearly an academic year long, doing one major project a semester and editing it the next semester. Weisburd runs the screenwriting department, hosting weekly writers meetings. She begins with a “pitch table” where screenwriters offer short films from which three are selected to be developed. The group is then divided into writer teams.

The goal for production is to get 12-to-15 page scripts that can be filmed in a weekend. The developed script is brought to the Matchbox e-board. If the four feel the script is possible to create, it becomes “green lit.”

From there, Zabretsky encourages current SU students to apply for open positions. For more advanced positions — producer, director of photography, gaffer director, editor, production designer — she may find people to “Matchbox Certify.” In this case, she runs a workshop to teach potential department heads about that position.

Matchbox spends roughly two months on pre-production. Zabretsky said they take their time and are thorough with each step, including fundraising via donations.

Zabretsky said Matchbox also creates shorter projects with fewer people and can be shot in a day. Last year, she led a 48-hour film challenge where 24 hours were dedicated to writing and then the next 24 hours were for filming.

Vann recalled the first time the e-board read his pitch for “ACE.” He knew he wanted it to be a story about “love on a hard day,” filmed in black-and-white with an “old-school” feel, he said. He wrote the first script alone, then Weisburd helped with the final product.

Though a sport management major, Vann always dreamed of writing a script and making a movie. Now, he said he’s glad to say that is an accomplishment.

“I’ve never properly written a script or worked on a film before,” Vann said. “But I think that they accepted that when they wanted to use my script and work with me, that was really special from the beginning.”

Lucina said she and the other Matchbox founders are excited to root themselves deeper in the SU community. Since last year, the organization’s applicant pool has nearly doubled, so there is room to add to the family they’ve built. She looks forward to Matchbox becoming a place of constant inspiration for herself and others, even after she graduates this spring.

“We’re all trying to learn about ourselves and our talents and Matchbox is a place for that discovery to happen,” Lucina said.

DISCLAIMER: Sophia Lucina worked as an Asst. Digital Editor in fall 2023. She did not influence the editorial content of this article.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Matchbox Films’ founders and Mia Ignazio’s role. The founders are Sophia Lucina, Kyra Zabretsky, Mia Ignazio and Audrey Weisburd and Ignazio’s role is head of art and design. The Daily Orange regrets these errors.

Published on September 12, 2024 at 1:03 am