The Spirit of Independence: Oscar-nominated Indie Films

A very cool event going down this Wednesday night. Directors from the Oscar-nominated The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone, and Rabbit Hole will speak candidly about their crafts.

Here's a glimpse of the talk 2 weeks ago given by the Oscar-winning director of The Exorcist and The French Connection.

Film Independent's Filmmaker Forum - overview

As a Project:Involve fellow at Film Independent, I attended its Filmmaker Forum this weekend at the DGA, the walls of which are decorated with photos of directors I admire. At the event, I spoke to John August (writer of Corpse Bride and Big Fish), producer of Juno, COO of Lionsgate, top agents, trailblazers of digital media, and socially conscious docu-filmmakers. I also heard producers of The Last Emperor and Little Miss Sunshine speak.

Unexpectedly, I ran into my directing teacher at UCLA, an ex-co-worker who's a wonderful line producer, and my high school classmate who's a smart, knowledgeable casting director of Inglourious Basterds. How funny? What a small world!

(photo courtesy of Lisa Stacilauska, fellow P:I comrade)

Behind the scene photos of my latest short plus photos from my awesome directing class

This summer, I took an amazing directing class at UCLA Extension with a bunch of talented students and a teacher who loves to teach. Every student must put on a scene in class using professional actors. I took the extra step of filming the scene (from The Fast and the Furious) outside of class as did a few other students.

photos

Werner Herzog-scariest professor ever??

Digital video camera, $500. Weekend seminar, $1,450. Getting abused/inspired by legendary director Werner Herzog? Priceless.

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