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Filmmaker Interviews!! Over the next few days, we'll be featuring interviews from this year's films' directors! Here's the first batch!
Please introduce yourself: What
initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made? I've always loved telling stories. I started out as a
playwright, and then screenwriter. I finally came to realize that to
truly tell the story that I wanted to tell, I needed to direct as well.
I've now made two short films, and Tru Loved is my second feature. Please
describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. Recently relocated from San Francisco to conservative
suburbia by her lesbian mothers, Tru struggles like all teens to fit in and
find love, but her quest is complicated by sexual politics, closed minds, and
closeted friends as she seeks to establish her school's first Gay-Straight
Alliance. Tru Loved is a movie about the importance of living an
authentic life, and learning to be true to your best self.
My partner (in life and in business), the producer of Tru
Loved, Antonio Brown, and I are gay parents of a teenager. Many of the
families we know are gay families. But I wasn't seeing our lives
reflected on movie screens. I wanted to create a family film about our
kind of families.
The biggest challenge in independent filmmaking is always
that there's not more time, and there's not more money. But these
challenges can sometimes lead to creative solutions to difficult problems. What
was the most satisfying aspect in making your film? Watching the nuances that talented actors bring to the
material -- and thereby discovering new aspects to a story that I created!
We've actually got several projects in various stages of
development. In general, I think I'm best at romantic comedy. But
in life I'm also a big Science Fiction geek, so it would be wonderful someday
to work on a big SciFi movie. I happen to have a script I've written if
anyone has a few million dollars sitting around... The
first film I have memories of watching as a child was: I was completely obsessed with Oliver! In
retrospect, I realize I had a crush on Mark Lester (who played Oliver).
All About Eve, Funny Girl, Sunset Blvd. Are
those gay enough for you? The
most recent film I saw in a theatre was: Iron
Man
Please
introduce yourself: Born
in Kfar Save, Israel. After finishing his three years service in the Israeli
Defense Force in 1997, I completed my studies at Camera Obscura art school
where graduated with distinction, in 2000. Several short scripts that I wrote soon garnered interest
and ultimately received grants from esteemed organizations such as the Eli
Gelfand Fund, the America Israel Cultural Foundation, the Yehoshua Rabinovits
Fund for Arts and the Snunit fund of channel 2. With the encouragement of
notable directors Keren Yedaya and Tomer Heiman, I set out to direct his next
script, Good Boys (Yeladim
Tovim). Much to my delight, the completed
film has become a festival darling and has afforded me the opportunity to
travel and speak to audiences worldwide. The Museum of Modern Art, in New York,
showcased Good Boys in a gay film retrospective event in July 2006, where it
was the only film in the series to screen twice for sold-out audiences. In
June, 2006 I co-founded, The First LGBT Film Festival in Tel Aviv. With a need
for this genre of film festival, our huge successes far exceed all
expectations. The festival now celebrates its third year. What
initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made? I
was attracted to cinema from the day I was born… I made only one movie before -
Good Boys. Did
you go to film school? If so, where? Camera
Obscura art school – Tel Aviv Please
describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. A
romantic sexy, gay-lesbian comedy made in Israel. I just want that people from
our community will believe in love. Where
did the idea for your film come from? After
Good Boys that was very depressing
people saw me as a realistic director and I just wanted to do some thing
different that will be funny and special and in the same time will force people
to think about there life. What
was the biggest challenge you faced in making your film? The
set of my previous movie Good Boys was
very intimate, for me Antarctica
was a different world and I needed to work with a lot of people. Who
or what are some of the creative influences that have had the biggest impact on
you?
First
of all romantic comedies. I decided that I want to make a romantic comedy but
in my own way, the Hochner way with lot's of crazy sex scene, dark humor and to
tell in one breath gay and lesbian stories. So we have lots of realistic
feeling during the movie and in the same time Tel-Aviv look really beautiful in
this movie. Very different from my first one. Are
you working on a new film yet? If so, give us a brief description. If not, is
there a genre or subject you are interested in exploring in your next project? My
next big project is TLVFest – Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival
that will take place during 24-28 June 2008. I'm the festival director and I'm
starting to watch movies for 2009 film festival. I have a few movies on the
way, I hope to shoot till the end of this year or early 2009. My third feature
that going to be very, very, very different from Antarctica. The
first film I have memories of watching as a child was: Fantasia The
first LGBT film I ever saw was: I
think it was My Own Private Idaho and
after it The Wedding Banquet. Please introduce yourself: Brittany Blockman, Brooklyn, NY
and New Orleans, LA Josephine Decker, Brooklyn, NY What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? How many films have you made? BB: In the
summer of 2002, I arrived at a San Francisco AIDS Hospice to make my first
film—a documentary on end-of-life care and the dying process—as
part of my medical anthropology senior thesis for Princeton University. I was attracted to making documentaries
because of the healing capacities of film—both for the subjects of the
film and for the audience. I saw
film as a way to witness social suffering and a medium to provoke social change
and discussion. JD: I had a zen moment during
college – while trying to figure out how to meld my interests in music,
writing and fashion design… An avid cartoon (and especially Pixar) fan, I was
watching Monsters Inc with my roommate, and halfway through – while I was
cracking up like a 9-year-old – she said to me, "You have to do this
with your life!" From then on, I knew that filmmaking was the medium for
me – the only one that would hold all my creative interests and challenge
me so completely. BB: Bi the Way is my first feature film, but I have made 3 other
films—The Looking Glass House (a documentary on a San Francisco AIDS hospice), Naked Princeton (a
mockumentary about a secret nudist society at Princeton University), and Dia De Los Muertos (short
16mm film noir). JD: I worked in television for a few years before embarking on Bi The Way, my first feature project. I helped produce documentaries for places like The Discovery
Times Channel and A&E while producing my own short films and cartoons on
the side. Did you go to film school? If so,
where? BB: I went to the MFA program in film at NYU's Tisch School of
the Arts for a year and went on a leave of absence to make this Bi the Way. JD: Nope! No school for me. Please describe your film in 1-2
short sentences. For young people today, dating a
girl one week and a guy the next is no big deal. Journeying through the changing sexual landscape of America,
BI THE WAY follows five members of this emerging "whatever
generation," while investigating the latest scientific, social, and
roadside reports on bisexuality. Where did the idea for your film
come from? As an medical anthropologist
interested in emerging social trends, I set out to make Bi the Way in order to discover what young people are actually doing
and thinking, amidst the media buzz and academic contradictions surrounding
bisexuality. I wanted to find out
if the purported rise in bisexuality amongst young people and mainstream TV
points to another bisexual chic moment or whether it is indicative of a real
paradigm shift in the way youth view their sexualities. What was the most satisfying
aspect in making your film? BB: Seeing the project from start to finish and being able to
finally present it and start a dialogue has been a dream come true. But the day-to-day process of
production—the journey around America connecting with diverse strangers
in the least-expected places, working with our filmmaking team, overcoming the
everyday challenges in creative ways—was immensely satisfying in and of
itself. JD: I know myself so much better now than when we started the
project. From swingers parties to stolen equipment to friend disasters to car
break-downs to missing footage, you really start to understand yourself and you
become better able to control your reactions. Learning to stay calm and collected and rational in the face
of all the god-knows-what's that come with filmmaking: that is a great great gift,
and I am so grateful that Bi The Way gave me the chance to do so much growing.
I am so thrilled now to see audiences get to grow and question and learn
because of our film as well! The first film I have memories of
watching as a child was: BB: Tootsie. Appropriate
right? JD: Dumbo.
Please introduce yourself: My name is Gabriel Schael. When I am not writing, I work
the family business: a tour company that specializes in Gay and Lesbian Travel
to Spain. I divide my time between
New York and Los Angeles. What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many
films have you made? My passion for movies began the first time I saw the
opening scene of Jaws at an
impressionable young age. I decided to begin making films because I wasn’t
seeing the genres I love represented in queer cinema (sci-fi, horror and
suspense). “Corrosion” is my first short film. Did you go to film school? If so, where? I took a few local film intro classes at the LACC. But I
received my cinema education by watching hundreds and hundreds of movies in all
genres by the great masters and the not so great. Producing and Directing
“Corrosion” was my film school. Please describe your film in 1-2 short sentences Corrosion is a
sci-fi/supernatural mystery that tells the story of an urban gay couple who
suddenly find themselves alone in a city where the population has mysteriously
disappeared. Where did the idea for your film come from? I wrote this script one afternoon on a cloudy day. I’ve
always had a love for the black and white Twilight Zone episodes and most end-of-the-world scenario fiction.
I wanted to film an eerie, creepy tale with a twist ending. The first LGBT film I ever saw was: Maurice My top three all-time favorite films are: Impossible to answer but here’s three off the top of my
head. My flavors of the week: Trainspotting,
Cinema Paradiso and Poltergeist.
Please introduce yourself: My name is Laurent Paulista, I am
both bresilian and french and I live in Paris. I am film director and
scriptwriter but to earn my living, I am in charge of a company of theatre for
children on bets. What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? How many films have you made? I always wanted to make films, to
tell stories. Testify and make of the hired cinema. I draw inspiration in most
cases from my emotional circle and from the society in which I live. Engagement
Rings is my first short film. But I have
already accomplished several experimental short films. Please describe your film in
1-2 short sentences. Two hands which embrace, it is
enough to disturb more than one. What was the biggest challenge
you faced in making your film? I wanted to send a message short
and simplified over instants of the life of a couple, a couple who live a daily
life as all couples : the privacy
of each, its instants, his gestures of love, participation, its amicable
relations, his questionings, his black holes ; a couple seen in another way by
the others, by neighbourhood ; a couple weakened by discrimination and even
risks of violence. All that with a lot of virtuousness, feelings, unsaid. The first film I have memories
of watching as a child was: Cat People – Paul Schrader The first LGBT film I ever saw
was: Probably a porno film. The most recent film I saw in a
theatre was: Cloverfield (I love this film!) The last DVD I watched was: Marie-Antoinette - Sofia Coppola (for the tenth time)
Please
introduce yourself: I
am a filmmaker who has a day job as an Assistant Producer in a small marketing
and advertising company in Hollywood.
I live in a cute LA neighborhood called Atwater Village. What
initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made? I
went to Oberlin College for my undergraduate degree. I studied Theater and
Studio Art. I was attracted to
both of those disciplines because of an interest in storytelling. At the time I went to Oberlin they did
not have a film program, but you could take a digital video class within the
Art Department. That's where I made
my first film (er...video, I guess); it was a short interpretation of a Chekhov
short story using rudimentary paper puppets. A year after graduating, I found myself in the MFA
Film Directing program at CalArts.
I made several short films there.
Meadowlark is my first feature. Did
you go to film school? If so, where? I
graduated from the MFA Film Directing Program at California Institute of the
Arts. Please
describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. Meadowlark
is an autobiographical documentary that deals with events that happened in
Billings, MT in 1993. That summer,
at age twelve, I began an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 21 year-old
man, I was ordained with the priesthood in the Mormon faith, and my brother was
stabbed to death. What
was the biggest challenge you faced in making your film? In
the last portion of the film I speak with Frank Fuhrmann, the man who murdered
my brother. This was obviously an
emotionally draining experience. I prepared to meet Frank for nearly a year as
part of the Victim-Offender Dialogue Program, but nothing could have fully
readied me to see him face to face for the first time. We spoke for about 4 hours. It was very difficult to relive our
conversation weeks later when I had to listen to the dialogue over and over
while editing the film. The entire
process was ultimately very rewarding. Are
you working on a new film yet? If so, give us a brief description. If not, is there a genre or subject you
are interested in exploring in your next project? Over
the last year or so, I have been developing a film about Mormon Fundamentalists
and the practice of plural marriage.
It's an interesting topic for a gay person to explore. Gays and polygamists are at odds
regarding a number of social issues, but many polygamists simply desire the
right to lawfully enter into consenting relationships with other adults as they
deem appropriate, which is a desire that I think gay people can understand. The
first film I have memories of watching as a child was: My
family had around 5 VHS tapes that we watched over and over. I can't count how many times I have
seen Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Monster
Squad, and Good Morning, Vietnam. The
first film I saw in a theater was Driving Miss Daisy. I was
8 years old and I insisted that my mom and grandma take me with them to see
it. They told me I was probably
too young to enjoy the film, but I desperately wanted to seem grown up and I
went with them anyway. I can't
remember if I liked it or not. The
first LGBT film I ever saw was: I
don't know if it counts, but I had an unhealthy adolescent obsession with the Wizard
of Oz... As far as specifically LGBT films go, I grew up in Montana
and Oklahoma, so I was interested in ANYTHING that had a gay character. Luckily my mom had an older gay friend
who introduced me to movies like Lust in the Dust (starring Divine) and Mahogany, as well as 90's queer classics like Priscilla
Queen of the Desert and Beautiful
Thing. I remember being SO excited to see films with drag queens
and cute gay boys. The
most recent film I saw in a theatre was: Iron
Man.
Any gay guy who likes daddies must see this film. The
last DVD I watched was: The Golden Girls,
Season 5. My boyfriend owns the
entire series.
Please introduce yourself: Jeanne Dielman by
Chantal Akerman, Winter Light by
Ingmar Bergman, Breaking The Waves
by Lars von Trier. Import Export by
Ulrich Seidl Paranoid Park by Gus
Van Sant
Please
introduce yourself: I'm
a filmmaker based in NYC. What
initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made? I
have an insatiable love for and obsession with good stories, and I have always
done art (drawing, painting, photography). My undergraduate degree was in
studio art, and I've always loved writing as well, so film is the perfect combo
of those loves. You Belong to
Me is my first feature. I have made three
previous short films, all of which received distribution in some way or
another: Smear (a tortured teen
drama), Stefan's Silver Bell (a
contemporary fairy tale), and SuperStore (Clea Lewis plays a mother whose daughter disappears in a Costco). Did
you go to film school? If so, where? Yes,
I received my MFA in film from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
I came to New York from San Francisco where I was living at the time, for the
film program, and I've been here ever since. Please
describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. You
Belong to Me is a psychological thriller
about Jeffrey, a young New York architect, who is obsessed with a hot French
guy he's been seeing. When he moves into the French guy's building, he becomes
the object of obsession for his eccentric landlady. It's a strange and dark and fun tale about obsession. Where
did the idea for your film come from? Deep
in my twisted mind! At NYU, I had to do video exercises about a character I had
created for my directing professor, Boris Frumin, and I did one about a young
guy who was new to New York who gets drawn into the strange and bizarre world
of this woman's apartment and can't get out. It was dark, and eerie, and
everyone in class was into it, but no one knew what it was about. So after lots
of writing and therapy ;), this is what was born. What
was the biggest challenge you faced in making your film? I
had some close calls with some independent producers but I never got to the
starting line. Finally I realized that I didn't want my whole creative life to
be about this one film, so I decided to make it any way I could. So, reaching
that decision and then figuring out how to raise the (very small) budget
myself. What
was the most satisfying aspect in making your film? Getting
to be on set with the crew and the actors was so much fun! It is a real intense
high. After spending 6 or 7 years writing the script and trying to get it made,
it was a dream come true. Are
you working on a new film yet? If so, give us a brief description. If not, is
there a genre or subject you are interested in exploring in your next project? I'm
getting ready for the release of You Belong to Me now, which is being released
by Wolfe on DVD and Warner Pay Per View on June 10, and I'm working on another
gay thriller, which I'll call "Gaytal Attraction" for now. I didn't write it, but hopefully I'll
be directing it later this year. I'm also writing a couple of scripts that
aren't gay-themed, comedies, which I am pushing to finish very soon so I can
send them out. And then there are a few books that I want to adapt too,
including one about a teenage girl vampire. It's totally hot! The
first film I have memories of watching as a child was: Singing
in the Rain, which I saw in Portland,
Oregon, my hometown, with my sister, when I think I was 7 or so. I was blown
away. Hello homo! The
first LGBT film I ever saw was: Scary,
I don't remember the first one. But Hair
is also one of my all time favorites and there was enough subtext and skin to
make me really happy. Please introduce yourself:
Please introduce yourself: Vince Marcello. Full time director/writer based in Los
Angeles What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many
films have you made? Please describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. Where did the idea for your film come from? What was the biggest challenge you faced in making your
film? What was the most satisfying aspect in making your film? My top three all-time favorite films are: The one LGBT film that has had the biggest impact on me
is:
Please
introduce yourself: I
am a filmmaker living in New York City. As silly as it sounds, watching movies is what inspired me
to want to be a filmmaker. I have made a bunch of short films, namely Unlocked, which was an official selection at the 2007 Tribeca
Film Festival. Now, I am in production for my narrative debut, Breaking
Upwards, a quirky New York love story about
a couple who intricately strategize their break up. Did
you go to film school? If so, where? I didn't go to film school, I went to drama school at NYU
Tisch School of the Arts. Please describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. My film explores the life of Richard Berkowitz, a
controversial gay S&M sex worker from the 1980s, who helped to invent the
idea for "safe sex" as we know it today. Where
did the idea for your film come from? A book written by Richard Berkowitz called, Stayin'
Alive: The Invention of Safe Sex.
Who
or what are some of the creative influences that have had the biggest impact on
you? I am inspired and influenced by everything I see. I
cannot name any person or thing more than another. Are
you working on a new film yet? If so, give us a brief description. If not, is
there a genre or subject you are interested in exploring in your next project?
The
first LGBT film I ever saw was: Hedwig and the Angry Inch. My
top three all-time favorite films are: Oy. Right now, I would have to say: Manhattan, Being There, and Reds.
Posted by Basil on 29 May 2008
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