Mathew Bonta

He is the filmmaker of Mute Dollar Baby film.

SKSM: Tell us about yourself, who is Mathew Bonta and what do you do or have you done?

Mathew Bonta: Well, I would call myself a filmmaker. An independant filmmaker. I work a regular day job that pays for the movies I make. I’ve been making movies since high school, a life long movie fanatic. I’ve always watched everything I could get my hands on, read everything I could get my hands on and prior to making movies I’ve always enjoyed writing and creating in that way. I’ve acted a little bit on the stage, nothing major, just local productions, but for the last ten plus years I’ve been mostly making my own feature films, I have six that I claim as my feature films with plenty of short films made, before, after and inbetween.

SKSM: When did you know you wanted to become a filmmaker?

Mathew Bonta: After acting in high school, I saw it as a way to write and create my own works that could be performed and filming it was kind of something that was being done by everyone on home video cameras at the time.

SKSM: When did you make Mute? Can you tell me a little about the production? How much did it cost? How long did it take to film it?

Mathew Bonta: I made Mute this year, 2024, spent the first half of the year, spring mostly, filming it, it only took a couple of weekends, we have a reasonably sized filmmaking community in Reno, nothing professional, we all mostly try to make what we can inbetween responsabilities, but everyone takes it seriously and we are all always looking for our next thing to be making.

The production is fairly simple, late 2023 I put in for the dollar baby program and was lucky enough to get in before it got shut down, probably one of the last official Dollar Babies before it closed at the tail end of 2023. I’ve always wanted to adapt King, a favorite author of mine starting in my middle school years and still to this day. Mute seemed like the most accessable for a film on my budget, which is to say NO budget, to answer your next question. With each film project we buy new things we need and equipment or props or costumes, they tend to get ported over to whatever we make next. It took about 5 or 6 days spread over a few months to get filmed.

SKSM: How come you picked Mute to develop into a movie?

Mathew Bonta: I skimmed the list of available Dollar baby short stories and Mute seemed like it would be relatively easy to produce.

SKSM: What do you think it is about the story that attracts people so much?

Mathew Bonta: Well, I have no idea how attractive this particular story is in the Stephen King canon, I think maybe every story on the Dollar Baby list are actually lesser attractive stories which is why they are available to be made my students and indie filmmakers, is because they have never been optioned by a studio or otherwise.

But I have seen a number of other filmmakers tackle Mute and probably for the same reason, easy to make, no real effects needed, few characters, few locations, mostly dialogue.

SKSM: Can you tell us about your experience on this film? Was everything planned ahead or did some things change during filming?

Mathew Bonta: It was a really fun experience. I worked with my regular team of cast and crew, and got to meet another local actor I was a fan of from his stage work here in Reno. Everything was planned and went smooth, I did have to recast one role due to availablility, but the whole experience was great. I have no complaints.

SKSM: You are the director, the producer and the scriptwriter, how did you experience that?

Mathew Bonta: That’s how it’s always been, over 20 years ago in high school until now, from short films to feature films, I have always been the writer, the director, the producer and on occassion I am the cinematographer and I’ll jump into a small role here and there as needed. I usually wear all the hats, that is the way it goes when working independently without any kind of budget.

SKSM: Did you make any changes from the original story? How do you think (or would you like) the audience to react about this?

Mathew Bonta: I aged down the characters about 10 years or so to accomodate the actors in the roles. I honestly don’t think audiences will really care or notice. The film itself is almost like watching a play, it’s mostly dialogue. The music was changed to a band that I know and was able to get permission from to use their music.

SKSM: Were any movie fragments cut out that you now miss?

Mathew Bonta: We wanted to film a couple of cut aways to Cowboy Bob, we never got the chance to film them due to time constraints, so I ended up using stock footage for that. It would have been fun to have shot those, but we made the movie at a casual pace rather than creating a definitive filming schedule.

SKSM: Can you share with us any significant moment or memories that happened on set?

Mathew Bonta: Honsetly, I just had fun making a movie with my friends. Nothing crazy or significant happened, it was a pretty chill shoot.

SKSM: What has been the most difficult experience during filming?

Mathew Bonta:  Just trying to schedule actors for filming at the same time. Everyone working day jobs and having families and other responsibilities makes it tough to get everyone needed together at the same time and drags filming out until availability opens up. Like everyone production, this is the most frustrating thing.

SKSM: Do you plan to screen the movie at a particular festival?

Mathew Bonta: There was a Dollar Baby Festival I was hoping to submit to, it was around prior to starting production and then it seems to have gone away, unfortunately, so now I’m just submitting to any festival that looks like a good fit for the film.

SKSM: What “good or bad” reviews have you received on your film?

Mathew Bonta: No one has seen the film yet! I feel bad for my actors who have been waiting to see the movie they worked on, but Mute and another King adaptation I made and some shorts of mine, it’s been a busy year for short films, will all premiere locally together.

SKSM: What experience has Mute left on you?

Mathew Bonta: How easy it is, now was, to be a part of the Dollar Baby program, it’s a huge bummer that it ended right as I realized how easy and fun it would have been to keep going.

SKSM: How do you like to describe yourself as a director?

100%, but I like to describe myself as a filmmaker, with write and producer along with director being under that same umbrella, I have yet to Direct anything that I haven’t written.

SKSM: How did you find out that King sold the movie rights to some of his stories for just $1? Was it just a wild guess or did you know it before you sent him the check?

Mathew Bonta: Well, he takes actual currency as a symbolic gesture, I don’t believe he would have accepted a check, but not 100% sure about that. I’ve known about it for years, probably since it was available, in high school and beyond I read up on Stephen King as much as I could and everytime I finished a new book of his I would do research about it and no doubt I discovered Dollar Babies along the way.

SKSM: Are you a Stephen King fan? If so, which are your favorite works and adaptations?

Mathew Bonta: ‘Salem’s Lot was the first book of his that I read and I consider it my all time favorite, but I think he’s an incredible writer and things like The Stand and IT are incredible masterpieces, regardless of how anyone feels about the endings. Roadwork is another book of his that I really enjoyed. I just love his prose and have read most of everything he’s done, he practically writes them fast than I can get them read.

SKSM: Did you have any personal contact with King during the making of the movie? Has he seen it (and if so, what did he think about it)?

Mathew Bonta: No contact, I sent the movie to him per the instructions in the Dollar Baby contract, I can only assume that he’s watched it or at least added it to his pile of movies to watch.

SKSM: Tell us about your other films. What project are you most proud of with the final result?

Mathew Bonta: It’s like asking someone to choose their favorite child! Godsalt is the movie I feel has the deepest and strongest writing as well as the strongest final product. Midnight Bloodshed is a Friday the 13th fan film I made that I am very proud of and helped me fulfill as lifelong dream of wanting to make a Friday the 13th fan film.

SKSM: What are you working on nowadays?

Mathew Bonta: Currently I am working on a short Christmas film, days away from beginning to film that and I am writing a feature length script based in the Giallo genre.

SKSM: What one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

Mathew Bonta: Nothing that I can think of, I’m a pretty open guy, mostly people at my day job are surprised when they find out that I make movies.

SKSM: What is in the top 5 on your bucket list? (Everything is possible and nothing is too strange)

Mathew Bonta: Something I’d like to do before I die… I’d just be happy to be able to keep making films and turning that into a career is the top of the list. I know that’s not really in the spirit of the question being asked, but we live in a very modern age where it’s a lot easier to scratch items off your bucket list. I’ve traveled to Japan and vacationed there for a few days, that was something I’ve always wanted to. Really, I’d like to work with some of my favorite actors, which may seem corny or lame, but movies are what I love doing, I get to spend time with my friends and work at the same time, being able to do that forever is all I really want.

SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything you want to say to the fans that read this interview?

Mathew Bonta: Be opened minded when watching films and give everything a shot. Don’t go into a no budget film and expect a movie on par with a 200 million budgeted epic action film that appeals to everyone, maintain the proper expectation for everything. I know my films won’t be liked for everyone, I have never had the amount of time or money to make what I want, but I did the best I could with what I had and I’m proud of the finished product and if you take something away to discuss then that’s all I could hope for.

SKSM: Would you like to add anything else?

Mathew Bonta: I think that’s it.