How Filmmaker Adam Elliott Wrote the Short Film ‘A Best Man’

Orchestrating a wedding is complex and often expensive, so creating one for a low-budget short film might seem overwhelming. Yet, filmmaker Adam Elliott and director Dylan Tuccillo have demonstrated with “A Best Man” that it’s not only feasible but can also be remarkably convincing. We caught up with the best man himself, Adam Elliott, to learn how they achieved this feat.

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1. Can you tell us what The Best Man is about in your own words?

Adam Elliott: A Best Man is a story that takes place on the morning of a wedding. It’s a story about three best friends, the bride, the groom, and the best man. I play the best man. And it’s just about how this sort of love triangle presents itself on this very consequential day in the lives of these three best friends. And something unexpected happens at that wedding. And to say more would give it away. But in a nutshell, that’s what A Best Man is about.

2. What was your inspiration behind the story of the film?

Adam Elliott: This project is one that I received my first filmmaking grant for. It was about a week before the deadline for the script submission, and I didn’t have anything written. So I was speaking with our director, Dylan Tuccillo, and trying to come up with a script that we could submit. I thought, yeah, maybe I’ll try writing something and I was completely blocked.

I had no idea what I would write. So I was looking around my apartment one day for inspiration, and I saw a save the date for a wedding on my fridge. I thought, oh, that would be cool if maybe I make a short film about a wedding. How hard could that be? What I learned is that it’s very hard to make an independent short film that also looks like a wedding and I’m still slightly traumatized.

3. Did you take any inspiration from famous fictional characters or notable real-life figures when developing and layering your performance?

Adam Elliott: I was inspired by my own life experience because I have been invited to many weddings, especially throughout my 30s. A lot of my friends are getting married, but I can’t always afford to go to the wedding. You never want to say that to the people because it’s kind of embarrassing to say you’re too broke to go to the wedding. So you come up with all these excuses like oh, it’s a family thing or it’s a work thing and it’s so lame. So I thought if I could write and produce this movie and act well enough in the role of the best man, and enough of my friends saw the film, then they would stop inviting me to their weddings.

4. What was your favorite scene or moment to film?

Adam Elliott: I really love the scene where Josh is looking at himself in the mirror with all the blood on his face and he’s rehearsing what he’s going to say to the cops. That was a scene that was not in the script and we improvised to shoot that on the day. It was a lot of fun.

5. Between writing, producing, and acting, what role brings you the most fulfillment?

Adam Elliott: I went to school for acting and I always wanted to be an actor. But, since I’ve started making these short films in a variety of roles like acting, writing, producing, and even directing. Now I just love all aspects of the process of filmmaking, and especially getting to work with my team. It’s all fun. I don’t have a favorite.

6. If you could re-cast yourself in any existing film, what role would you want and why?

Adam Elliott: If I could recast myself in any role, it would definitely be Wilson from Castaway. I feel like that’s such a well-rounded performance. When you’re acting in a scene with Tom Hanks and he’s cursing at you and throwing you all over the place, you just gotta roll with it. That’s what Wilson did. I mean, I haven’t seen Wilson in anything recently, but this is a crazy business. I think he’s going to bounce back.

ABOUT ‘A BEST MAN’

On his best friend’s wedding day, Josh proves a best man can only do so much to make sure everything goes smoothly for the bride and groom.

Watch A Best Man for free on Reveel