Sundance Film Festival 2015
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“Inexpensive Garbage and Free, Filthy Snow”: Ten Thousand Saints | Directors Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? Ten Thousand Saints is a period film set primarily in New York’s East Village in 1988. Unfortunately for us, that neighborhood today is nearly unrecognizable from the one we sought to dramatize. As New Yorkers, it was important to us that the movie looked authentic, despite our limited, indie film budget. What kept us up at night was figuring out a way to represent a world of tent cities, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015 -
“Being Brave Doesn’t Mean You Aren’t Scared”: Unexpected | Director Kris Swanberg
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? I talk about fear all the time with my son, Jude. He’s little still, and he gets scared a lot. Things are scary for a little guy. Dogs can be the same size as you, for instance, and they can be pretty scary. Or going underwater and, you know, not being able to breathe – also pretty scary. So I comfort him and let him be scared. He’ll grow […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015 -
“Your Vision or Idea Must Have Stamina”: The Visit | Director Michael Madsen
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? I suppose that fear, a very strong term, when it comes to filmmaking, is if the film you try to make will turn out to be crap. The problem is to keep fresh your own initial fascination and trust that this will also be interesting for other people – simply because you find it interesting. And your idea or vision must have stamina, as when a film — as […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015 -
“I Look Forward to Finding More Fears to Address”: Z For Zachariah | Director Craig Zobel
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? Trying to name what fear I’ve confronted in making Z For Zachariah is difficult. I am starting to think the entire work of making films is just chock-full of fears to be faced. In my previous film, Compliance, I was honestly afraid of the subject matter; it was a fraught, dark, true story that needed a thought-out approach. But in making that film, I found that those fears created […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015 -
“Did I Waste Everyone’s Time?”: Songs My Brothers Taught Me | Director Chloé Zhao
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? My biggest fear making Songs was the fact that life doesn’t wait around for us to capture it. We worked with mostly non-actors who are from Pine Ridge. The casting process was endless. However, because it takes time for a narrative film to go into production, we started losing our cast to different life circumstances. That fear forced me to go ahead and make the film without the intended […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015 -
“The Worst Four Letter Word that Torments My Favorite Four Letter Word: Hope”: Seoul Searching | Director Benson Lee
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? FEAR. The worst four letter word that torments my favorite four letter word: HOPE. I have lots of fears for different stages of my film but I will focus on the primary ones. The biggest fear I had during the entire process of making my film were actually two things. The first is the most common one that most filmmakers have which is the fear that your film doesn’t […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015 -
“I Want to Direct Films, But Can I Actually Do It?”: Christmas, Again | Director Charles Poekel
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? The biggest fear I had to confront, which I suppose is every first-time director’s fear, was the issue of confidence–simply, “Can I do this?” Can I follow my instincts and make something that actually makes sense, and people find engaging? I’ve wanted to direct films since I was in middle school, and I’ve directed plenty of weird mediocre low-budget films that I was never really proud of. So in […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015 -
“In Dreams I am Completely Helpless as a Director”: A Walk in the Woods | Director Ken Kwapis
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? Like many directors, writers, and actors, I have a persistent fear of being “found out,” of being exposed as a faker, a phony. The logical side of my brain knows differently: I’m well aware that I have certain skills — a modicum of talent, even! But in my dreams, I often find myself directing a film or television show with absolutely no clue what I’m doing. A recurrent nightmare […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015 -
“Everyone was Armed in a Nearly Ghost-Town”: Welcome to Leith | Directors Michael Beach Nichols and Christopher K. Walker
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? I’m not sure that fear is ever completely absent from documentary filmmaking, but I think that’s part of what makes it so appealing to those who pursue it. Fear of not finding a story, fear of shuttered access, fear of not finding an audience, fear of not being able to pay rent, and on and on – it’s an emotionally bumpy ride where overcoming all your fears can lead […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015 -
“Working Hard, Hustling, Getting Rejected but Picking Yourself Up Again”: Zipper | Director Mora Stephens
What fear — whether it’s personal, or one related to the development, financing, production or distribution of your film — did you have to confront and conquer in the making of your movie? The single greatest fear that has kept me up at night was the fear that I would NOT make Zipper, that I might come close and ultimately not get the chance to direct it. I’ve spent the last 6 years of my life getting this movie made and every second of it was worth it, but heading into it when it starts out as just this little ephemeral thing, […]
by Filmmaker Staff on Jan 29, 2015
