"The Grandmother" (1970, 33 minutes). After the success of "The Alphabet", one of Lynch's friends, Bushnell Keeler, recommended that he check out the American Film Institute. Keeler's brother-in-law had been involved in setting up the AFI. Lynch submitted "The Alphabet", and wrote a script for a short film entitled "The Grandmother". He sent the script and a print of "The Alphabet" to the AFI in Washington. Lynch got a call from George Stevens Jr. and Tony Vellani at the AFI, who wanted to know if Lynch could make "The Grandmother" for $5,000 (it eventually cost $7,200).