John Badham, the director behind classic films including “Saturday Night Fever,” “Blue Thunder” and “War Games,” offers an engaging insight on directing films, with rich anecdotes from his illustrious career on this episode of “The Online Movie Show.”
It is the dream of millions to become a major player in Hollywood, but only a relatively few lucky souls are able to secure power positions in the film capital. On today’s show, Phil Hall gets a unique perspective on how to succeed in Hollywood from Summer Helene, executive vice president of California Pictures at Paramount and an award-winning film and television producer. This is a brutally honest and deeply funny program – take time to listen to this!
Carl Haber is a prominent independent filmmaker whose latest project is the launch of the Rome International Film School (RIFS). In this exclusive interview, Mr. Haber details the inspiration for creating the school and his plans on educating the next generation of filmmakers.
If you’ve been following Director Steven C. Miller since “Automaton Transfusion” like we have, it’s been a treat to see him become one of the best genre directors working today. He offered up one of the most entertaining slashers of 2012 the remake of “Silent Night, Deadly Night” entitled “Silent Night” and directed one of our top 10 of 2012 “The Aggression Scale.” In 2013, Mr. Miller is still bringing in his horror movies the way he wants with his latest “Under the Bed.” Director Miller was kind enough to spare some time for an interview.
Richard Zanuck is a man who spent most of his life living under the shadow of his father Darryl F. Zanuck, and what is most peculiar and quite riveting about Richard Zanuck’s story is that rather than trying to step out of his dad’s shadow, he embraced his father’s status and used it to his advantage. Often times we hear of someone chastising their own status as a wealthy successor, but Richard Zanuck used this fact as a means of bettering himself, and carving his own niche in the Hollywood business.
Peter Dukes and his comrades at Dreamseekers Productions have been giving genre fans some unique short films for many years, and most recently they delved in to the werewolf sub-genre with their short film “The Beast” co-starring Bill Obsert Jr. In the midst of directing his latest short film “Little Reaper,” director Peter Dukes took time out for an interview and discuss his love for film, his methodology, and his plans for “Little Reaper,” a short film about the grim reaper’s rebellious young daughter.
The crown jewel of the Film Craft Series is of course the volume entitled “Directing.” While every aspect of filmmaking takes work, time, and dedication, directing is essentially the most difficult aspect of making a film. Whenever a movie fails or succeeds the filmmaker is blamed. And whenever an acclaimed actor decides they want to direct it not only becomes a big deal, but it makes it impossible for other directors to step up and achieve acclaim. Which is not to say actors can’t direct, as the book “Film Craft” interviews many noted and incredible directors, all of whom have their own experiences in the field.
As with the previous books in the series, “Directing” is about the hard work and utter pressure it takes to be a director. Lensing a project and achieving some sense of success or artistic satisfaction is tough, and often times it requires massive sacrifice and stress for an artist to express themselves on film. Author Mike Goodridge is able to garner some truly excellent insight in to the directorial process from some very big name auteur. Engrossing and detailed, “Directing” lends readers an intelligent exploration in to movie making that all movie buffs will relish and aspiring filmmakers will treasure.