Right of Way Films and Blumhouse Productions helped Chazelle turn 15 pages of his original screenplay into a short film starring Johnny Simmons as Neiman and J. K. Simmons ( no relation ) as Fletcher . The 18-minute short film received acclaim after debuting at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival , winning the short film Jury Award for fiction , which attracted investors to produce the complete version of the script . The feature-length film was financed for $ 3.3 million by Bold Films
2013 Sundance Film Festival
2013 Sundance Film Festival
Whiplash (2014 film)