The story starts last August when Robert Mattoso, then a 19-year-old student at Pacific University in Forest Grove, approached Gary Hubbard, owner of the Forest Theatre, a second-run movie house in the Washington County town.

Mattoso, a film buff, wondered if he could use Hubbard's refurbished theater to showcase short films. Hubbard agreed, and, in August, Mattoso began producing flyers for the event, which was scheduled for this spring.

One of the flyers found its way to Brand Name Productions, which Rowatt and Reyes established in Forest Grove two years ago. The pair invited Mattoso to their office, and the three held several meetings planning for the festival.

But then, in early February, Mattoso learned that his partners had registered the name "Forest Grove Short Film and Video Festival LLC," with the Oregon Secretary of State. They informed him that his help was no longer needed. The festival, in short, belonged to them. Both sides lawyered up and exchanged angry letters.

When WW spoke with Reyes, he did not deny that Brand Name Productions had taken control of the festival. However, Reyes maintains that his coup de cinéma was necessary to produce a festival that raises the profile of the Portland film industry, rather than showcase one man's movie tastes. "Our viewpoint is that we're trying to promote the film and video industry on a wide scale and not to benefit one person," he says.

While Rowatt and Reyes outfoxed their young partner, they made one miscalculation. Hubbard, the theater owner, wanted nothing to do with them. They managed to find a home for the festival 25 miles east, at the Clinton Street Theater in Southeast Portland, where the films will show May 10-16.

Meanwhile, Mattoso got busy soliciting more films and will fire up the projector for the Forest Theater Short Film Festival on May 8 and 9.

Hubbard, for one is glad he didn't give up. "Robert's a great young kid who had an idea, and these people [Rowatt and Reyes] did everything they could to take it away," Hubbard says.