A Filmmaker's Journey
Writer, Director, and Producer - an account of my transformation from businessman to making short films to AFI graduate and now feature filmmaker. Here I share my journey and my thoughts.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Morning Latte - DONE SHOOTING!!!
We wrapped shooting our thesis film, Morning Latte, a black comedy about the devil in a coffee shop... and a few other insane characters. It was an incredible thrill to finally have it all come together. We all worked so hard to get this baby together. Our amazing designer Rachel Payne built the coffee shop on a soundstage. The thrill of making movies is addictive. I'm glad I have another film lined up to start shooting in less than three months. That is my feature, Captain Abu Raed. I can't wait!!!
Saturday, January 06, 2007
A Meeting on an Airplane
So I'm sitting near the back of the airplane flying from LA to New York, and I pull out my favorite screenwriting magazine, "Creative Screenwriting". And next to me is this older gentleman. He looks at the magazine and starts chatting. "You're a writer?" I say yeah, filmmaker... and we start talking. And for the next five hours, I discover that I'm sitting next to the wonderful filmmaker, Robert M. Young. At 82, the man is tenured. Among his credits are TV shows like "Battlestar Gallactica" and "Young Indiana Jones", documentaries like "Nothing But a Man", and feature films like "Triumph of the Spirit" and "Dominic and Eugene". We talked for almost the entire five hours. I was blown away by this man's experience. He's traveled the world making movies. Lived with the Eskimos for six months, lived in the sea for six years, traveled from China to the African wilderness making documentaries about the world. And here was little me, blown away by how humble and gracious this man was. He's even given seminars at AFI back in the day, and also worked with my hero, Michael Kamen on one of his films.
What continues to inspire me the most is how humble so many of the filmmakers I've met over these last couple of years are. The more accomplished they are, the more down to earth they seem to be. And I love that. That's all.