Take 5 with "How to Cheat"

Amber Sealey, director

As we gear up for the Oxford Film Festival 2012 to be held at the Malco Studio Theater on Feb. 9-12, 2012 and also at the Lyric Theater on Saturday, Feb. 11 as part of the Oxford Music Festival line-up where we will show music films, videos and a panel on music + film, we thought we might introduce you to some of the people behind the movies we can't wait to show you. For the full schedule and description of the films, visit www.oxfordfilmfest.com.

Meet Take 5 filmmaker, Amber Sealey, director, writer, producer and actor in “How to Cheat.”

Q. 1: In 140 characters or less, describe your movie and why someone should see it.

A: How to Cheat is about an everyman who is struggling.. with his life, his wife, his sense of self.. and he decides the way to make his life better is to stop being the kind of guy who does the "right" thing and do the "wrong" thing for once and see if that makes him happy. I think we've all wondered what it would be like to walk on the dark side once or twice...

Q. 2: Biggest lesson learned in getting the film made? Best part in getting the film made?

A: Uh.. biggest lesson learned? Don't have a baby right in the middle of editing! Best part? We've gotten such great reactions from audiences and that feels really good. Also just finishing a film, any film, feels like a huge accomplishment!

Q. 3: Tell us about you. What is your movie making background?

A: Well I'm mostly an actor. I came to filmmaking via devised (or improvised) theatre, creating theatre pieces from scratch. And that led to performance art with video accompaniment, which led to making a short, which led to features...

Q. 4: What's your dream distribution plan for the film?

A: I'd love to have a small theatrical run to generate interest in this self-distribtution idea that I have... it's still in the percolating phase but we'll see...

Q. 5: What does the future hold in store for your film and for you?

A: We have a few more festivals to go to, and then it's time to start getting serious with the distribution. I think this movie, even though it's quite low-budget, is very accessible thematically to a wider audience so I hope to reach them somehow. For me, I have a few other projects I'm working on so we'll see which one comes to the surface first.