Bachelor of Creative Arts student William Gauthier has enjoyed a very successful stint on the festival circuit with his very first short film, Each Other, over the last year.
Since its completion in June 2023, Each Other has been selected to 16 festivals in 8 countries around the world, garnering 12 nominations and bringing home two awards – including Best Drama Short Film at the Inside Film Festival in Ukraine, and Best First Time Filmmaker for Gauthier at the Swedish International Film Festival.
“I couldn’t be prouder of us, our entire team, for what we achieved together with (Each Other). It may sound cliché, but filmmaking truly is a team sport,” said Gauthier, who wrote and directed the film during his time in the Film Production program at Yorkville affiliate, Toronto Film School (TFS).
“Initially, Each Other was only meant to exist in the context of being my thesis film at TFS. Then, I took the decision, supported by my co-producers (and TFS classmates) Alyssa Duncan and Matt Dionne, to treat it as a professional short film in every way, from start to finish. It was a lot of work, especially working with ACTRA, but it paid off.”
The end result was an award-winning 12-minute film that follows a young man named Logan who, after realizing his younger brother Jesse’s 15th birthday has been spoiled by their father, takes it upon himself to sneak him out to a party to spend time with his boyfriend.
“Behind all these efforts, the bond and reciprocal love shared by the brothers proves to benefit Logan as much as it does Jesse and proves to be its own reward in an otherwise harsher time in both of their lives,” Gauthier said of the film, a piece of fiction that tackles topics he himself is familiar with as both a queer man and the eldest brother in his family.
Inspired by a similar feature film script Gauthier continues to work on, Each Other’s other festival nominations include: Best Director at Toronto Indie Shorts; Best Canadian Short Film at Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival; Best Ensemble Cast (for Jordan Kronis and Gage Graham-Arbuthnot) at Symbiotic Film Festival; Best Short Drama at Swedish International Film Festival; Best Short Drama finalist at Anatolia International Film Festival; finalist at the KINO Short Film Fest; and Best Drama, Best Director, Best Director Debut, and Best Color Editing (Ralph Pineda) at the Snow Leopard Film Festival.
Gauthier credits his time at both TFS and Yorkville University for helping him make long-lasting connections with classmates and instructors he’s confident he’ll continue to work with into the future.
“The best part about Toronto Film School is the immediate opportunity to meet the people who can become your collaborators for decades to come,” he said.
“Each Other is a testament to what passionate professionals can achieve together before even graduating. With now just a few months left to my time at Yorkville University, I can’t wait to see what the future brings.”
