What is the current project you are working on?
I'm working on two projects, actually. One is in Post-production. The other is in Pre-production.
I'm in the middle of the final edit of Cowboy Christmas, a feature-length documentary about professional rodeo cowboys. A crew and I went on the road for three weeks to follow 4 steer wrestlers to figure out why these guys do what they do . . . why the rodeo is so important to them. Why they continue to do it (one of the cowboys is 52) and what do they hope to achieve?
The other project is a short narrative, The Secret Ingredients of Pancakes. It’s about the moment of falling in love. Or, at least, the moment when a man allows himself to fall in love.
And I'm going to shoot an experimental piece later in the summer, Nudes Descending a Staircase #1, which will be part of an installation with two other Nudes . . .
I guess that's three, not two, projects. And I won't go to four but I am going to shoot another experimental short called Bless Me, Father, this summer also. But I guess these last two are in Pre-pre-production.
Did you always want to be a filmmaker?
Hmm. Did I? I have been fascinated with film since I was a child but I think I first wanted to act in films and TV before I decided that I wanted to make films (and even TV.) I became fascinated with non-mainstream film early on, and especially in the stories that were told and how they were being told. At one point, I decided I wanted to write for film, and then, I decided I couldn't give up the stuff I had written to someone else, and I had to direct it myself. (Btw, I've been acting a lot in the past few years, in student films made at Southern Illinois University, where I teach.)
What inspired you to become filmmaker?
I loved, loved, loved to read when I was a kid, even into high school. So, I was always being transported through words to other places, into other people's lives. Early on, when I went to the movies, it kind of mimicked that solitary experience of reading a book. Sure, you're in a room full of people, but it's dark and you're alone with images on the screen. I loved the idea of writing, but it was seeing stories coming alive on the screen that inspired me. And so many different kinds of stories. So, it was the stories, at the movies, and the telling of those stories that inspired me to become a filmmaker . . . although these days, I call it a mediamaker. I haven't shot film in years and years.
What is the best thing about being one?
Being able to create your own reality.
What is the worst thing about being one?
Finding the money to make your work.
What is the estimated number of projects you have worked on?
30 something . . . from films, TV, documentaries, experimental work.
Who is is your favorite filmmaker?
It's not that simple to say one is a favorite. Here's a list, and I'll try to keep it short, of people whose work has touched me, emotionally and/or psychically: Francois Truffaut, Sidney Lumet, Robert Altman, Alan Rudolph, Joseph Mankiewicz, Krystof Kieslowski, Pedro Almodovar, Michael Haeneke, Ernie Gehr.
How has your life changed since you became a filmmaker?
I'm sure my life has changed, but I'm not sure how . . . I think it would have changed had I decided to be a cab driver, but I don't know what that change would be either. Our lives change, in different ways, depending on the choices we make, and that's every choice we make. I think we can only speculate on way things could have been, if we had made a different choice.
What are some of your favorite American films? Foreign films? Television shows?
These are in no particular order . . . after their category. And tomorrow, I'll think of others.
American films: Badlands, All About Eve, Choose Me, Dog Day Afternoon, Howard’s End, Short Cuts, The Stunt Man, Body Heat, A Walk on the Moon, Auntie Mame, Bonnie and Clyde, Bringing Up Baby, Roman Holiday, Prince of the City, The English Patient, Deep Cover
Foreign(-language) Films: Jules et Jim, Code Unknown, Breathless, 8 1/2, All About My Mother, Live Flesh (Carne Tremula), Pather Pachali, The Passion of Joan of Arc (silent, but foreign), The 400 Blows, Day for Night, Wild Reeds
Television: The Decalogue (presented in US as film but originally TV), Lost, Raising Hope, 30 Rock, Parks and Rec, Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy (yes, I said it.)
How would you describe your film education?
I watched movies. And then, I went to grad school for an MFA in Film/Video Production at Northwestern University. It was a wonderful mix of Production, Theory and Criticism, and History. Loved it.
How would you describe the film "scene" where you live?
I teach at a university where there is a Cinema-Photography department, and a Radio-TV department. That's our scene . . . we're in a rural setting, basically, so it is the university that provides the non-mainstream films. We don't have theatres that show foreign films or indies. But we also live in an era where all those films are available on our computers, aren't they?
How has social media changed the independent film industry?
Helped tremendously in getting work out there, if it's short enough, but also helps tremendously in promoting a film. Getting it seen. Getting support and advice from other filmmakers.
What is the casting process like?
I love casting. I love auditioning. I love seeing what actors bring to the script that I think I know inside and out. And, inevitably, I am surprised at what the actors find in the words, what they will put into the words, and how they make the work better. You'd think I wouldn't be surprised by this, but I always am, and delightfully so.
How does independent film differ from the mainstream?
Better stories, more depth, more human, and humane.
You could go back in time and see any classic film being made. Which film would it be?
All About Eve.
You could be any animal. Which would you be?
A leopard . . . and be in Bringing Up Baby.
You could have any super power. What would it be?
I'm stealing this from someone else who was featured on this site. And it's a superpower I'd never thought of. Sleeplessness. As much as I love to sleep (perchance to dream), I'd love it if I didn't have to. Imagine how much more you'd get done without sleep. So, yes, sleeplessness.
What is your opinion on movie remakes?
I waver on remakes. I'm usually like, boo, bad, and, most importantly, why? But then, a friend mentioned to me that in theatre, plays are often re-staged in new productions, why can't films be re-staged, too. There is a small flaw in this argument, in that theater is ephemeral. When the run is over, that production evaporates, except in the memories of those who saw it. So, it makes sense that there are new productions. On the other hand, what is brought to those new productions, something contemporary, something new, a keener insight, new technologies . . . something. And so, why can't film remakes have the same opportunities? But as I said, I waver on this subject.
Thanks for doing the interview H.D. Keep me posted on the other projects your working on. In the meantime, readers can check out photos from Cowboy Christmas below.
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