Larry Morgan talks with Sy Rosen at the Cambria Film Festival’s opening night gala.
The 2025 Cambria Film Festival is honoring Sy Rosen, a producer and writer living in Los Angeles who started his career writing for the television series The Bob Newhart Show. He went on to write and produce many TV shows, write a play, and now has turned to making films.
Three of Rosen’s short films are being shown during the festival, with one, Death Pays Flora a Visit, in competition. All three films revolve around aging—or, in his words, “The joys and horrors of getting older.”
He started talking about aging when he penned a play called Robert De Niro Is Older Than Me, a one-man show with three people that used his relationship with his mom and her fight against Alzheimer’s to tie the whole piece together. He mines that relationship as well in the films being shown at the festival.
“All my films are based on real-life experiences,” he says. “I would visit my mom in her assisted living facility.” He made his first short, The Matchmaker, in 2018. His second short, Little Victories, won an audience award at the Cambria Film Festival in 2020.
I like people speculating on what they would do if they had one day left.” — Sy Rosen
In his third, Death Pays Flora a Visit, the character of his mother Flora (played by Mimi Kennedy) makes a deal with Death (played by Eric Roberts) in an attempt to outwit him. Rosen says he likes the theme of confronting death.
“I like people speculating on what they would do if they had one day left,” he says. “Some people want revenge, some people want to go to Paris for the day.”
Rosen knows he is fortunate to have the Hollywood connections to reach out to vintage actors to populate his films. “They love to work,” he says. “We were lucky to get Barbara Bain [for The Matchmaker]. She likes to work, she was wonderful. It was a joy to be with them all.” Other recognizable names in the three films include Rhea Perlman, Robert Romanus, Matt Walsh, Sy Richardson, and Lila Garrett.
For aspiring filmmakers, he thinks making short films is a good way to get noticed. But for those who don’t have Hollywood connections, he says festivals are a good way to go. “You’re meeting other filmmakers,” he says. The most important thing, however, is having a good story. “For me, it’s to tell a story—beginning, middle, and end—and if possible, a second-act twist.” And, perhaps most importantly, “If people can identify with what I’m writing, if it can hit on something—that works for me the best.”
You can see Rosen’s short films—and a trailer for his next one, Little Matchmakers—and meet Rosen and actors Mimi Kennedy, Eric Roberts, and Eliza Roberts during a tribute and Q&A on Friday, February 7 at 4 p.m. in the Cambria Center for the Arts Theatre. Festival passes and individual tickets are still available.
Editor’s Note: Read Thomas Patchell’s review of Sy Rosen’s three short films here.