Interview Padrick Ritch

Below is my interview with Padrick Ritch, the filmmaker behind Limbus.

Enjoy :)

 

What is the current project you are working on?

A: Currently, I am one week out on the start of production of my thesis film for my MFA from Boston University. It’s a 15-minute to 20 minute short that mixes narrative and surrealism.

Did you always want to be a filmmaker?

A: No, at first I wanted to be a professional basketball player, but I stopped growing after the ninth grade.

What inspired you to become filmmaker?

A: I don’t know that it was ever one thing. Film or digital cinema is a unique medium of entertainment and art that combines everything from writing and photography to animation and sound / audio production.Really, it a combination of a bunch of things that I have always been interested in and film lets me explore all of these at once… That and Star Wars.

What is the best thing about being one?

A: The gap that separates the end of production and the beginning of post production. It’s the one moment when you feel you have accomplished something huge, and there is a lot of excitement you feeling not yet started to edit.

 What is the worst thing about being one?

A: Pre-production…$$$$$$$$$$$$

What is the estimated number of projects you have worked on?

A: 35-40.

Who is your favorite filmmaker?

A: It depends in what mood I am in: Kazan, Lynch, Hawks, and many more on any given day, but Gondry is one of the few I am always in the mood for.

How has your life changed since you became a filmmaker?

A: It really hasn’t. I mean the best life-changing event has been meeting my fiancé. The real question should be how her life has changed since dating one.

What is one piece of advice you can give to someone who also wants to make it in the movie business?

A: Have thick skin. I don’t mean that sarcastically and with any type of cynicism, but we live and work in an industry where we all put incredible amounts of effort, passion, and love into films and there is always going tobe people who don’t like it… And generally those people will tell you this.Also, it’s just like anything else in life in that you are going fail far more than you succeed, but you have to live for the success and not sweat the lesser ones.

What are some of your favorite American films? Foreign films Television shows?

A: The long Goodbye. Amilee. Tosh.0.

How would you describe your film education?

A: It’s what you put into it in my experience. If you are generally interested in something then you are going to want to learn about it. For me, I do this because I love it, so for the most part it doesn’t seem like work to me.

How would you describe the film "scene" where you live?

A: Boston is great. We have big budget films, independent films, and schools like Boston University and Emerson, who have great programs.

How has social media changed the independent film industry?

A: It’s changed how many people can know about your film and is in the midst of revolutionizing distribution. The problem is more with the festivals. If you want to screen the festival circuit, then you have to hold your film off the Internet.

What is the casting process like?

A: One of the best and worst parts of filmmaking. It’s great getting to look at a group of talented actors and find the ones that fit your film. At the same time it’s also the most judgmental part of filmmaking.

How does independent film differ from the mainstream?

A: I mean I could go on about this for a while, but at the end of the day we all want to tell stories and entertain people to some extent. I guess the one thing I would say is that I tend to look at experimental and avant garde filmmakers as some of the few “indies.” Stan Brakhage is one of my all time favorites.

You could go back in time and see any classic film being made. Which film would it be?

A: Cleopatra… and I want to see all seven years of production!

You could be any animal. Which would you be?

A: Are dinosaurs acceptable? Stegosaurs.

You could have any super power. What would it be?

A: To teleport anywhere.

What is your opinion on movie remakes?

A: Why make something again? Sequels are no better.

 

Thank you Padrick for a great interview. Good luck with your thesis. Keep me posted on your future projects.