By Gregg Shapiro

Contributing Writer

Over the years, GLBT short films that have played the festival circuit have been expanded into feature-length movies with varying degrees of success. Angela Robinson’s “D.E.B.S.,” for instance, lost something in the transition. But with Tom Gustafson’s “Fairies,” a short film that left audiences craving more, the end result, “Were The World Mine,” pays off in every way imaginable.

Timothy (Tanner Cohen) is a gay kid at a private school, living with a single mother, Donna (Judy McLane), who is struggling to make ends meet. When Timothy is cast as Puck in a school production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” by drama teacher Ms. Tebbit (Wendy Robie), his life undergoes a major change. Whipping up Puck’s love potion, Timothy suddenly finds himself in a position to make his world a much more loving place. I spoke with Gustafson shortly before “Were The World Mine” played the Chicago International Film Festival.

Gregg Shapiro: “Fairies” received a warm reception at a number of GLBT film festivals when it was shown. What was your reaction to that?

Tom Gustafson: First, I’m really proud of “Fairies.” I’m happy that I got the chance to go back and revisit that story and expand it. But I was really proud of the short and it was well received. It played about a hundred festivals and, as we were traveling around to the festivals, it was the audience, as well as the programmers, who kind of tipped us off to the fact that people wanted to see more. When we made “Fairies,” we thought it was done. That was the idea it. It was kind of a one-joke short film. It wasn’t until we were about halfway through with our festival run that we started thinking about the idea of expanding it. At first, we were actually approached by one of the gay cable channels to possibly make it into some sort of series. When we started playing with that idea, my partner (Cory Krueckeberg) and I said no, first it has to be a feature film.

GS: What was involved in expanding the story?

TG: We immediately went back to the text of “Midsummer (Night’s Dream)” and said, if we’re going to expand this short, how can we do it in a smart way? Obviously, we trusted Shakespeare on that. We tried to use his story and his characters as the basis and inspiration for all of the expansion.

GS: What role has Shakespeare played in your life?

TG: Growing up in Illinois, and I think it’s probably all over the country, you were “forced” to read Shakespeare. As a high school student, I didn’t have an appreciation for it. It was one of those things that I kind of dreaded, which is so funny to look back on now. How rich his stories are from everything to the way they’re presented with the gender-bending presentation— there is so much in the stories that is relevant to today. Whether it’s about the outsider or gender and I think that’s why it seemed like such a great fit for our story. Not only is it about a high school student who is forced to do Shakespeare, but it also opens up this whole new world.

GS: With that in mind, do you have hopes that “Were The World Mine” will reach an audience beyond adults or gay adults to the considerable young adult and teen audiences?

TG: We definitely hope (for that). One thing that we’ve been doing with all of the festivals that we’ve been playing at is pushing them to invite youth to the screenings. Some festivals have been absolutely amazing with it. In Vancouver, they did two separate screenings for youth. They did this whole youth variety show after our screening that was kind of inspired by Shakespeare and by the film. We definitely want it to play to youth. It’s a way for them to see Shakespeare in a different light. It’s an alternative to that “High School Musical” stuff that’s out there (laughs).

GS: Absolutely. I’m glad that you mentioned the “musical” aspect of it, because the expansion of the music in “Were The World Mine” is considerable. What can you tell me about the role of music in the movie?

TG: Music is its own character in the film. The music is not just his escape, but it becomes his reality. We wanted to play with how music can transform that – from fantasy to reality. For the expansion, the first thing that we did was go back to the Chicago musicians that we had for “Fairies,” Tim Sandusky and Jessica Fogle. Then we looked at the script and asked, where can musical numbers really move the story forward? Not just “show tunes,” but where can we put it that it would really do something for the story. We tried to have that be the driving force for the music.

GS: “Were The World Mine” also made me think about how movies and movie musicals functioned as escapism during troubled times in the past, and can do so again now with this senseless war and the looming depression.

TG: When we started making this film, we wanted to make a feel-good, optimistic film. There’s a lot of gay film out there that is so depressing, especially for gay youth. Definitely, our short film was all about the bullied kid. When we started making the expansion (we decided that) Timothy doesn’t have to just be this bullied kid. He could be completely comfortable with who he is and let’s make it more of a celebration. We tried to keep the spirit of that in it. That’s why I think that audiences at the festivals have embraced it. It is an optimistic story. Some people may say that that’s its biggest fault. But I think people want to see something feel-good and optimistic (laughs).

GS: Are there any plans for a soundtrack of the movie to be released?

TG: Yes, it comes out on November 11 on PS Classics. This is going to be the label’s first movie soundtrack.

GS: How much of Tom is in Timothy?

TG: In the short film, it definitely was. And I’m the first to say that the short film was autobiographical. There were characters in “Fairies” and scenes that were pulled right out of my growing up in a small town. But I think that the one change that we made to Timothy that I hope people will see is that he is very comfortable in who he is at the very beginning of the film. Sure, he might get picked on, but he can see further ahead. I feel like it’s changed so much from what our original Timothy was; which was more like me (laughs). Timothy’s much cooler than I was (laughs).

GS: You’ve mentioned Cory a couple of times. In addition to “Were The World Mine,” you are scheduled to work with him on another film.

TG: Yes, he just wrote a screenplay called “Mariachi Gringo,” which is very music-driven. It’s about a guy in a dead-end, boring life who decides to give it all up and go to Mexico to follow his dream of becoming a Mariachi singer. There will be lots of Mariachi music.

GS: What is about your working relationship that makes it such a success?

TG: Well, we’re partners. We’ve been together for about 10 years, which I guess makes it both an amazing partnership and a challenging one (laughs). I think there’s nobody else that I would want to work with so closely. He knows exactly what I’m thinking and I know what he’s thinking. So far it’s worked well (laughs).

GS: “Were The World Mine” was filmed in Chicago. What is the significance of that locale?

TG: “Fairies” was shot in Chicago and when we decided to do the feature, Chicago was the first place we wanted to go back to. Of course, you romanticize your experience when you make a film. It’s kind of hell when you’re actually making it. Because we had such great support from not only the film community in Chicago, but we had lived in Chicago for many years and all of our friends were behind the short. We knew that “Were The World Mine” was going to be a challenge because of the budget and Chicago was the one place that we knew that we would have as much support as we needed to make it. Plus, Chicago has an amazing tax incentive program. Looking at all the logistics of making the film—we rented a house where we all lived and where we shot. You can’t really do that—definitely not in New York City, and there are not many places (where you can). That seemed like an option in Chicago.

GS: “Were The World Mine” has played at mainstream and GLBT festivals. Would you say that the audience reactions have been the same across the board?

TG: Yes. I was actually just talking about this at the Woodstock Film Festival. At the mainstream festivals there is a wider mix of people that come out, which is really exciting; men and women. At the gay film festivals, we’re playing to a lot of men (laughs). So, I think that the really exciting part about playing the mainstream festivals—and there are still tons of gay people in the audience—we get to see a more mixed male/female crowd. I definitely don’t think (this movie) is meant for just gay men (laughs).

“Were the World Mine” plays Oct. 24 and Oct. 26. Visit chicagofilmfestival.com for details.