On a night in late February, a crowd gathered at a coffee shop in downtown Sacramento to sit back and watch community-made short films.
This was one of the monthly short film screenings hosted by the nonprofit Modest Film Society where people can submit and show their films based on the month’s topic.
Jeff Fong is the man behind the community aimed to connect film fanatics in Sacramento. In addition to his role in the society, he is also the founder of the video production team The Film Squad.
At 16-years-old, Fong knew film was the ultimate medium to tell his story. As a storyteller, Fong said the act of sitting in front of the big screen and watching movies he’s created is the best way for people to hear his story. He said he believes people are able to know right away if a medium fits them or not the same way he knew film was for him
Fong said the idea of making a film came to him one day, when he was in the movie theater with some friends, trying to tell them a story, but they weren’t paying attention to his stories when told verbally. That’s when he said he realized, instead of telling a story verbally, he could use film as a medium to grab people’s attention.
Fong said he appreciated his parents’ support when he began pursuing film, especially with his background as a half Chinese and half Italian.
“My parents were rebellious themselves, so they did not go against me for pursuing film,” Fong said.
After gaining experience with the industry in Southern California, he decided to move back to Sacramento, pursuing video production and filmmaking where he grew up.
The society began around two years ago when a friend asked Fong if there was an existing organization of filmmakers in Sacramento.
It was then when Fong said he realized there was a lack of community and resources for filmmakers within the area. Knowing many people within the film field who would benefit from connection, he sought. to bring everyone together under one roof.
Fong said the film industry tends to have a lot of ego, and he wanted the “Modest” in Modest Film Society to say that’s not always the case.
“Modest is the opposite of ego, that’s what this community is about,” Fong said. “That’s why everything is free here. No competition.”
Location is significant to Modest Film Society, since Sacramento is a smaller city compared to other film industry hotspots such as Los Angeles or New York.
“Everyone is only there for themselves, I had a lot of bad experiences,” Fong said, referring to his time spent in LA. “I wanted to come back home. I want to show filmmakers that you don’t need to leave. You can be here and find a community.”
Nathaniel McInnes, an attendee at Modest Film Society, said he spent a brief time working in Hollywood and noticed that the ego there was palpable.
“There’s a lot of glamour on stage, it’s also messy and ugly,” McInnes said. “People that I met told me about some horror stories. Sacramento doesn’t need any of those Hollywood egos. It needs a name for itself.”
McInnes said he enjoyed his first Modest Film Society meeting and appreciated how the work there is created from the desire to create something that’s more important than any technical aspect.
“I’m usually overly critical of things, but watching all the films that were presented, it gives me a reminder that it’s more about the passion and the heart,” McInnes said.
Tommy Phan, a local filmmaker whose works get featured at Modest Film Society, said that he’s a representation of what the society tries to achieve. Beside the connections gained from the society, he also produces extra work just for the monthly screenings.
“I grew as a filmmaker because every single month, I started to make one short film just for the Modest submission,” Phan said. “My mission was, if anything at all, Modest Film Society will always have at least one film of mine to screen.”
Bendon Wu, an attendee at Modest Film Society said it surprised him to see so many filmmakers in Sacramento.
“Seeing film creators in Sacramento come together, collaborate, and share their point of view and represent it on the actual screen was amazing,” Wu said.
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Another project Fong has is 52 SAGA, a personal venture started last year in 2024, where Fong will make a short film every single week for a year. Each week, he rolls dice to pick out 2 keywords from 104 keywords that friends give to him.
Based on those two words, he will speed-write a script within an hour, shoot, produce and release it within a week. Fong is on week 52, his final week of the project.
The ultimate goal of this project is for Fong to truly make films for himself. Fong said instead of pressuring himself to do big things, he wants to focus on smaller things.
“[I started the project] to remember why I love making films in the first place, doing it for fun, doing it with friends, learning and engaging myself as creative,” Fong said.
More information about Modest Film Society and how people can submit their film to the monthly screening can be found here.
