Artist's movie makes debut at Sundance Film Festival

By Patrick Quigley

"Always ask for more than you get" is one of John Dilley's principles and perhaps the maxim for how he lives his life.

To see the bespectacled man sauntering down Geary Boulevard in blue jeans and a plaid shirt on a sunny spring day, you might think he was a student or someone on his way to negotiate the plastic squares on a computer keyboard in an office, somewhere in the Richmond vicinity. His conservative looks, however, do little to reflect the inner workings of his mind - there is a lot more to the man than meets the naked eye.

Dilley is a native of Oakland, the 23-year-old, elder brother of twin sisters and graduate of San Francisco State University. He also jokes that he is currently homeless and in dire need of somewhere to live!

Dilley is the man behind a 10-minute movie shot in the Dogpatch and Potrero Hill neighborhoods of San Francisco. He says "Little Failures" is a film about "being an awkward teenager." It's a 16mm narrative about "a 15-year-old skater girl who develops a fascination for an older guy she sees across the street."

The movie was written, directed and edited by Dilley and for his tireless efforts, the film premiered in January at the most distinguished showcase for independent movies in the United States; the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Dilley is currently couch surfing from one Richmond District friend's sofa to another. His current residential status is not due to drug abuse, financial difficulties or circumstances beyond his control - he's simply looking for somewhere comfortable to live within walking distance of his favorite Richmond haunts.

As a student, he lived near San Francisco State University and was originally hesitant to relocate to the Richmond. Within two months, however, the area had him captivated and he is now "completely enamored with the neighborhood." These days the young filmmaker can be found sipping a pint at the Nag's Head, an Irish pub on Geary, owned by a Korean couple and frequented by residents of the diverse neighborhood. He also hangs out at the Java Cat and Royal Ground cafŽs, scribbling down thoughts and watching the world outside glide by as he ponders future filmmaking projects.

For entertainment, he visits independent movie theaters, such as the Red Vic, Castro, Roxie and Four Star, which he calls one of the "hidden treasures of the Richmond District."

John Dilley lives for film. Not only is he a filmmaker and film aficionado, he is also the house manager at the Film Arts Foundation, a non-profit resource for filmmakers. The group helped John realize his movie-making dream and sent him to the Sundance festival. Creatively, Dilley enjoys experimental films and tends to admire filmmakers such as Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch, who "manage to exist on the fringe and make quirky atypical films."

Dilley's ultimate dream is to be "able to make films and not have to have a day job." Dilley may be a rising artist diving deep into experimental filmmaking, but he's also a practical man. He said if he had a million dollars he'd pay back his parents for all the money he's borrowed over the years, then he would make a film - and probably go into debt with his parents again.