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Filmmaker Interviews: The End of the Road The last of our filmmakers talk to us about their films.
What
initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made? 5
films. I studied media science but had enough and grabbed a camera Did
you go to film school? If so, where? Film
and TV science at the University of Amsterdam Please
describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. 7 Years is a documentary film about the situation of gay and
lesbian people in Kenya. They face many problems expressing themselves and
leading a normal life. Where
did the idea for your film come from? I
lived in Nairobi for 10 months and came in touch with some lesbian and gay
people, their stories triggered me and made me start this project. The
most recent film I saw in a theatre was: Death Proof The
last DVD I watched was: Control
Please introduce yourself: Filmmaker, writer-director,
editor, NYC, originally from Memphis TN. What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? How many films have you made? I made my first short when I was
13 years old called Murder in Broad Daylight it was a horror spoof. I haven't stopped making movies
since. I have directed dozens of short films, 4 features, and edited 7
features. Did you go to film school? If
so, where? I went to undergrad film school at
Georgia State in Atlanta. I received my masters at SVA where I made my first
feature, Summer Thunder. Please describe your film in
1-2 short sentences. The Houseboy is an intimate film about troubled Ricky, the third in a
relationship with two long-time boyfriends, who spirals into a sex crazed depression
when he finds out the couple is about to replace him. During Ricky’s journey we are given a raw, graphic, but
sometimes surprisingly humorous look at a drug-infused, loveless world of
anonymous sex. Where did the idea for your
film come from? (pick one?) After my second film, Send in
the Clown failed to find an audience I
came up with a concept that was sure get some attention: Hot 20-something year
old gay men having sex. The story came out of that concept and my frustration
with the festivals and the marketing of gay films. What was the biggest challenge
you faced in making your film? There were really no challenges. I
wrote the film in a month then shot the film with my boyfriend in our apartment
in Astoria during Christmas holidays. He and I were the only crew. He produced,
shot and lit the film while I directed. We had cute young half nude boys
running around in our apartment simulating sex while we barked orders at them.
It was a lovely experience. What was the most satisfying
aspect in making your film? The audiences response and
conversations that the film brings up about anonymous sex and crystal meth use. Who or what are some of the
creative influences that have had the biggest impact on you? Every moment of my life has an
impact on me. The negative experiences impact me more and inspire me more than
the positive ones. I use those experiences and try to weave compelling stories
out of them. The first film I have memories
of watching as a child was: The Wizard of Oz. The first film sequence that gave me nightmares for years
- The whale fetus coming out in Orca. The first LGBT film I ever saw
was: Torch Song Trilogy My top three all-time favorite
films are: Rosemary's Baby, The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant, Serial Mom The one LGBT film that has had
the biggest impact on me is: Starrbooty. I was the editor - I worked on it for over a year and I
still keep daily quoting the movie in my head and thinking it is some classic
film and then I remember it is just RuPaul and Candis Cayne bickering.
Please introduce yourself: Fernando Sanchez, Spanish national based in Dublin, Ireland.
The opportunity of sharing the way in which I see the
world. Summervalley North is my first short film as Director. I did go to cinema school in Madrid (Spain) Please describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. A flamboyant gay man escapes the reality of his rough
surroundings by living to a beautiful soundtrack. While the adults in the area
sneer at him, the kids torment him. All but one, who seems to follow him
fascinated. Will this one child
rise above the mob? What was the biggest challenge you faced in making your
film? Very little (own) funds and having to produce and direct at
the same time. Who or what are some of the creative influences that have
had the biggest impact on you? Saint Pedro Almodovar The first film I have memories of watching as a child
was: E.T. The Extra-Terrestial by Spielberg
Please
introduce yourself: I'm
Joe E. Jeffreys and I teach theatre history and lesbian and gay performance
studies courses at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. I've lived in NYC for 20 some
years. What
initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many films have you made? Dorian:
a picture is my first real film. Coming to film as a performance
historian, I am entranced with the way archival footage gives us glimpses of a
past we never could experience otherwise. Live performance vanishes but film or
video can capture some part of it and preserve it for future generations to
see. Did
you go to film school? If so, where? I
did not go to film school but I teach (in the Drama Dept) at NYU Tisch School
of the Arts, which also has one of the country's top flim programs. In fact
without the help of two NYU film students, Lorry O-Brien and Seth S. Hauer, who
edited the audio and video elements of the documentary, the Dorian project
would not have come together. Please
describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. Dorian:
a picture explores the nightclub and film
career of a retired New York City female impersonator who began working in the
late 1950s. It's an experimental short documentary with structuralist and
meta-filmic aspects. Where
did the idea for your film come from? Rick
Colantino aka Dorian showed me some remarkable footage of himself in drag over
the years and told me stories about how the footage came to be. I knew the
footage and his stories about it had to be brought together as a short film. 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
continuing to explore the world of NYC drag as caught on film or tape and
putting together a program of footage that captures its drag scene over the
years. I call it Drag Show Video Verité.
Seth and I first put one together in 2007 for the New York Public Library for
the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. The
first film I have memories of watching as a child was: The Wizard of Oz
Please introduce yourself: I am Arthur Ian, a beginning
filmmaker from Los Angeles. This is my first film. My previous background was
in social sciences, linguistics and international relations. I am a graduate of
Stanford University. What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? How many films have you made? Film was always one of my favorite
art forms. This is my first film. I am planning to make two more documentaries
later this year. Please describe your film in
1-2 short sentences. “Looking for Romeo” explores the
phenomenon of male prostitution by telling the stories of hustlers and their
clients. From Nice to Prague, from Montreal to Los Angeles and Paris, young
escorts and “Jons” share their experiences in a series of candid interviews. Challenging stereotypes and common
beliefs, they tell shocking stories of love and hate, control and abuse,
despair and hope. Without providing simple answers, the film invites the viewer
to ponder human condition through the lives of its characters. Where did the idea for your
film come from? I witnessed a group of Romanian
teenage boys prostituting themselves in Nice, France, year after year. In the
end I decided to talk to one of them and began filming their daily lives. From
these initial interviews the film developed and grew into a much bigger
project, with more interviews in Prague, Paris, New York, Montreal, Miami and
Los Angeles, giving me many different perspectives and stories. What was the biggest challenge
you faced in making your film? This was my fist film and it was
self-financed. It was extremely difficult to approach the subject and interview
hustlers and their clients, given the sensitive nature of the issue. I had very
little experience and no formal education in film. It took about two years to
create all the footage and interviews. Most of the footage was taken by myself,
with little experience and knowledge of the camera, in rather “seedy”
conditions. The footage was very difficult to work with and many errors had to
be fixed in post-production. What was the most satisfying
aspect in making your film? Hearing from one of the hustlers
who called me to tell me that he quit. The first film I have memories
of watching as a child was: Elusive Revengers with three young and handsome Red rebels taking on the
White Army. I was about 7 so I did not yet realize that Communism was not a
good thing. The most recent film I saw in a
theatre was: Forgetting Sarah Marshall The last DVD I watched was: Art School Confidential
Please introduce yourself: Hanifah Walidah musician,
filmmaker and actor based in Brooklyn Olive Demetrius filmmaker based in
Brooklyn What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? HW: To be able to put images to
the music in my head OD: The beauty of propaganda
films. All that skill and artistry for sedition. Just sexy. How many films have you made? HW: This is our first feature. OD: I have worked on another
documentary called Bringing Venezuela Back. and a few experimental films. Did you go to film school? If
so, where? HW: Nope OD: I studied film at Hunter
college. Please describe your film in
1-2 short sentences. 30 women of color across
sexualities in one house for two days in an attempt to make a historic music
video. But the history was made when the cameras were pointed behind the
scenes. Where did the idea for your
film come from? We didn't intend for the entire
cast and crew of the music video shoot to be entirely made of women of color across
sexualities. But we knew it needed to be documented. SO we asked a couple of
friends to record as if their were flies on the wall. We had no idea the
amazing footage captured until we looked at the raw tapes months later. What was the most satisfying
aspect in making your film? The most satisfying aspect of
making U People was creating such a compassionate and well-rounded archive of
our generation. Who or what are some of the
creative influences that have had the biggest impact on you? OD: Marlon Riggs, Tongues
Untied because it was one of the first gay
films that I saw that artistically explored identity politics. HW: The WIz. The Wiz was the first production that allowed me to dream in
color. My top three all-time favorite
films are: OD: M, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Ma Vie en Rose The most recent film I saw in a
theatre was: The Son of Rambow
Please introduce yourself: Professor of Anthropology/Women's
Studies (Start at NYU in fall) Cambridge, MA (Harvard) What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? How many films have you made? I have always been a film fanatic,
but I trained at-risk youth in video production in Oakland, California and
discovered the power story telling through film. When I started my year of
fieldwork in Havana's same-sex enclaves, I was overwhelmed with the extent to
which Cuba's queer community had been transformed by the rise of prostitution.
This is my first film. Did you go to film school? If
so, where? As of June, I'll have a PhD with
an emphasis in Visual Anthropology from Harvard University. Please describe your film in
1-2 short sentences. Luchando chronicles the everyday struggles of four sex workers in
Havana's gay underground--two men, a lesbian, and a transgender woman as they
set out to resolve their touching, and at-times humorous, predicaments. Where did the idea for your
film come from? In the 1990s, after the fall of
the Socialist Bloc, Cuba opened to foreign tourism for the first time since the
1959 revolution. Gay tourists began to flood Havana's same-sex enclaves and
this led to the rise of same-sex prostitution. I was at an underground gay
party in Cuba in 2001 when the police busted up the party and sent everyone
running. (It's not illegal to be gay in Cuba, but private parties that charge
entrance fees are illegal because private enterprise is prohibited under
socialism). Everyone in Havana's gay community was complaining about all of the
straight hustlers attracting police or gossiping about which of the hustlers
they had fallen in love with. Sex work had become a centerpiece of Cuba's gay
community in a way I wanted to understand more deeply. What was the biggest challenge
you faced in making your film? Shooting was illegal in Cuba, and
I had to hide the camera while shooting on the street. I was detained during my
final weeks in Cuba, but was released with my camera and tapes. 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 project draws on my
personal family history as mixed-blood Cherokee to explore the Cherokee
government's recent decision to exclude Freedman, or the descendents of slaves
who worked for Cherokee slave holders. It's a mix of poetic ethnography and
autobiography to explore authenticity and belonging. The US government is
threatening to cut all of the tribe's federal funding because of the decision,
which would devastate a lot of folks. I think it's a tremendous misunderstanding
of Cherokee history. The first film I have memories
of watching as a child was: Carrie, my babysitter let me watch it while my mom was on a date.
I couldn't sleep for days. The first LGBT film I ever saw
was: Kiss of the Spider Woman when I was a kid. I doubt I understood it. The most recent film I saw in a
theatre was: The Visitor, a few days ago.
Please introduce yourself: Jennifer Brooke and Beatrice Alda
are both full-time filmmakers who are based in Sag Harbor, New York. What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? How many films have you made? Alda: I was initially attracted to filmmaking through acting. In my 20’s, I turned my attention
behind the camera and attended NYU film school (graduate program). My first films (including Appearing
Live) were in film school. Jennifer Brooke wrote and then directed
well-known TV commercials for the first fifteen years of her career. Brooke: My first short film The Bed premiered at Outfest. Together Brooke and Alda have a company, Forever Films, Inc.
which has made commercials and hundreds of longer format films. Out Late is our first feature. Please describe your film in
1-2 short sentences. Out Late tells the story of five individuals who came out as gay,
lesbian, or transgender as senior citizens. Where did the idea for your
film come from? The idea came from an evening when
we were hanging out with a friend from high school. He was talking about his mother, a woman who is in her 70s,
has not been in a relationship for over 30 years, and who is unhappy at her
core. We all conjectured that
perhaps she is really gay, and has never come out – and then we all
talked about what it might be like, to be near the end of your life and for the
first time declaring your sexuality.
The idea became one of a handful of ideas we had pitched to a gay
network. They liked this idea. Then they lost their funding. So we decided to make the film
ourselves. What was the most satisfying
aspect in making your film? The most satisfying aspect in
making our film was witnessing, and capturing for others to witness, the utter
joy of 83-year-old Elaine dancing all night with the sheer freedom and abandon
of finally being able to live life on her own terms. The first film I have memories
of watching as a child was: BROOKE: The Graduate and Ben
Hur ALDA: The Wizard of Oz The first LGBT film I ever saw
was: BROOKE: Making Love ALDA: Dog Day Afternoon My top three all-time favorite
films are: BROOKE: The Graduate, The Big Eden, Betty Blue ALDA: The Graduate, Lost
in America, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s
Nest
Please introduce yourself: Your
name, occupation if not a full-time filmmaker, and where you are based. Ron Davis is based in NY and is
the Vice President of Special & International Sales for Sterling
Publishing. Stewart Halpern is
based in LA and Co-Producer on How I Met Your Mother. What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? How many films have you made? Ron Davis- A love for
story-telling. This is his first film Stewart Halpern-This is his second
film, including award-winning, When Boys Fly. Stewart wanted to make films since he was 13. It was just a passion that he and his
dad enjoyed. Did you go to film school? If
so, where? Ron Davis attended the New York Film Academy in NYC. Stewart Halpern graduated from Syracuse
University's Newhouse School, Please describe your film in
1-2 short sentences. Pageant follows the lives of five men as they strive for the title
of Miss Gay America. Where did the idea for your
film come from? Ron Davis participated in the 1989
Miss Gay America New York State preliminary pageant and wanted to break down
the stereotypes of that segment of the gay population. What was the most satisfying
aspect in making your film? The most satisfying was
experiencing it with an audience for the first time and watching them connect
with the character. 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? Ron Davis is working on a
documentary about special needs girls. The first film I have memories
of watching as a child was: Wizard of Oz The first LGBT film I ever saw
was: Making Love My top three all-time favorite
films are: Terms of Endearment, The Color Purple,
Dances With Wolves The most recent film I saw in a
theatre was: Young at Heart The last DVD I watched was: The Savages
Please introduce yourself: My name is Dave Quantic. I'm a full time filmmaker
based in Los Angeles. What initially attracted you to filmmaking? How many
films have you made?
Did you go to film school? If so, where? I went to UCLA's graduate film school. Graduated in
2004. Please describe your film in 1-2 short sentences. Dish is a short documentary about gay men who are obsessed
with Oprah. What was the biggest challenge you faced in making your
film? I had this idea to animate the interviews in a unique way.
Unfortunately, I had no idea how much work it would be. It was a
challenge to articulate the ideas in my head to my special effects animator. Who or what are some of the creative influences that have had the
biggest impact on you? I'm a big Spielberg geek like
almost anyone from my generation. Hitchcock is very special to my heart.
I decided once to go see a re-release of Vertigo at the Ziegfield in New York City. The
experience basically convinced me to apply to film school, though, now, I am
focusing mostly on making comedies. The one LGBT film that has had the biggest impact on me is: Todd Haynes’ Safe The last DVD I watched was: John Waters' A Dirty Shame
Please introduce yourself: I work for Thomson Reuters in the
Media Group. Filmmaking is my
passion, but is my second job at this point! What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? How many films have you made? Being able to create a visual
medium for raising awareness about social and political issues. Did you go to film school? If
so, where? I studied Broadcast Journalism at
Boston University, but always loved the creativity behind filmmaking. Strict Journalism was always confined
to WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY and WHEN? Please describe your film in
1-2 short sentences. In Sickness and In Health chronicles the lives of three same-sex couples fighting to
marry the partners they love-and tragically, one couple's heart breaks as its
dream dies at the cruel hands of ALS. Where did the idea for your
film come from? My best friend’s mom was on the
cover of the newspaper back in 2002. The headline read - "Marilyn Maneely
and Diane Marini are suing the state of NJ for the right to Marry." I
picked up my camera at that point not knowing the story that would take place
in front of me. What was the biggest challenge
you faced in making your film? Having to make a decision to keep
filming when my best friends mom was diagnosed with ALS. Being so close to the
family made it hard for me to continue filming through this tragedy. Who or what are some of the
creative influences that have had the biggest impact on you? Every documentary film that I
watch influences my life. They constantly teach me about new things as well as
educate me on new ways to make the film more enjoyable for the audience. The most recent film I saw in a
theatre was: Under the Same Moon The last DVD I watched was: Manufactured Landscapes
Please introduce yourself: I am a professor at Seattle
University and the Art Institute of Seattle. What initially attracted you to
filmmaking? How many films have you made? I have always been a fan of film.
As a child, I staged puppet and marionette shows and filmed them. The day I
knew I wanted to do something film related was the day I came back from Star
Wars. Did you go to film school? If
so, where? Never. I am surrounded by artists, filmmakers and musicians. Th Posted by Basil on 11 June 2008
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