became Napoleon), who thoughtfully tosses action figures out the bus window on a string and helps friend Gael (the character that became Pedro) find some hair (the film's title is Spanish for "wig"), both scenes that are repeated in the feature. Almost a scrappy, extended trailer for the feature, the tone of the short is great, quick and fun, a perfect intro to the long version. The short played Slamdance and the team went on to make the feature for $400,000, selling it to Fox Searchlight at its Sundance premiere. Big box office and clever merchandise later, a comedy classic was born. There is even a festival every year in Preston to celebrate the film.

Why didn’t Peluca play Sundance, where the feature exploded? Producer Jeremy Coon told mealthough they were from Utah, they just didn’t think it would get in and did not submit a tape. It worked out in the long run.

Slide 3: From Gowanus, Brooklyn to Half Nelson

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck wrote the script for Half Nelson as a feature, but with a lack of resources the duo made the story as a short film first. Gowanus, Brooklyn was titled after the area where they lived, and the 20-minute film ended up winning Best Short at Sundance in 2004. Forced to do the short version first proved fortunate, as local open auditions discovered Shareeka Epps for the role of 13-year-old Drey, a teen who learns more than she should about adults as she befriends crack-addicted history teacher and basketball coach Dan (Matt