Animator on “Toy Story 2,” “Monsters Inc.,” “Cars,” speaks at Fort Smith Film Festival

August 23, 2024

BECCA MARTIN-BROWN

bmartin@nwaonline.com

Matthew Luhn was 19 years old and a student at the California Institute of the Arts when he got what he laughingly calls a “bizarre” job offer. How would he like to be an animator on the hit TV series “The Simpsons”?

It took “a little bit of talent and a little bit of being in the right place at the right time, when people were starting to get interested in animation again” to launch Luhn’s career, he said. Since then, he’s risen in the ranks to story artist and then story supervisor, which are both part of the team that creates the plot of an animated film, on movies like “Toy Story 2,” “Monsters Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” “Cars,” “Ratatouille” and “UP.”

He’s also a “story doctor,” called in to fix films that aren’t working, and an educator, whose mission is to “teach others how they too can become better storytellers in the world of entertainment and business.”

That’s what’s bringing him to the Fort Smith International Film Festival Aug. 22-24 as keynote speaker.

“I think no matter what job anybody has, the ability to be a good storyteller and to be somebody that can get people’s attention is definitely a really valuable tool,” Luhn said. “So I’m going to talk about my experience in the industry but then also share some helpful techniques of how to be a better storyteller.”

Luhn will have an eclectic audience. This year’s festival, the fourth since its founding by Brandon Chase Goldsmith, will screen “a record number of 201 films that will feature 80 Arkansas and Oklahoma filmmakers along with 20 Indigenous movies,” Goldsmith said. Plus, he adds, “name a part of the world, and we probably have a film from there. We will screen movies from over 30 countries,” among them Australia, Botswana, Brazil, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Ukraine and more.

Goldsmith said the festival will offer not just feature-length narrative and documentary films but also short films that are 8 to 17 minutes long.

“I think no matter what job anybody has, the ability to be a good storyteller and to be somebody that can get people’s attention is definitely a really valuable tool,” Matthew Luhn says. “So I’m going to talk about my experience in the industry but then also share some helpful techniques of how to be a better storyteller.”
(Courtesy Photo/Matthew Luhn)

“Stop in and watch a couple quick comedies or dramas, swing by to catch a few action and animation shorts, then end your day with sci-fi and thrillers,” he enthused. “We will also have episode pilots, so you could see a new show before it hits the streaming services.”

The first three annual events attracted 1,213 film submissions from more than 75 countries, nations and tribes. In spite of the festival’s success, Goldsmith said this year is, in some ways, like starting over.

“In a sense we are returning to the roots of our first year, screening films in seven locations across the River Valley,” he said. “This year is all about partnerships.”

There will be films shown at the Fort Smith Museum of History; the Bakery District; Bell Park in Greenwood; and the King Opera House, in addition to the festival’s expanded home venues at TempleLive and The Bricks. In addition, a new High School Film Festival will take place Aug. 24 in partnership with Northside High School.

The first MidAmerica Film Market, a partnership with Porter + Craig Film and Media from Los Angeles, will offer filmmakers a chance to have their work “reviewed by film distributors and buyers,” Goldsmith said. “And filmmakers will have an opportunity to achieve the ultimate goal, selling their film.

“I was surprised by the learning curve,” he admits. “It feels like the first year of the festival, and essentially it is. If creating a movie market was easy, everyone would be doing it. Gaining new knowledge, learning a different system, can be both frustrating and delightful. I find incredible joy in discovering ways to help my fellow filmmakers, because we are all in this together. Making movies is a team sport.”

Luhn comes back to a similar point in talking about his keynote lecture. To succeed as a storyteller, you’ve got to learn “the rules of how good stories are crafted,” he said. “Put them into practice; don’t just read about these techniques, but do them” and “have the persistence of continuing to pick yourself up and keep trying.”