How They Did It

  • Movie News

How They Did It: Filming at Religious Sites Is Even More Challenging Than You Think, Says Holy Air Director

Themes that inspire Middle Eastern film also emerge in the making of it. To understand the filming of religious sites…

7 years ago
  • How They Did It

How They Did It: Shooting Mr. Roosevelt in 16MM Was Masochistic, But Paid Off, Says Its First-Time Director

When I turned in the feature script I had written and planned to star and direct, I think a few people…

7 years ago
  • How They Did It

How They Did It: The Producer of Destination Unknown Spent Over a Decade Collecting Interviews With Holocaust Survivors

Despite being clad in all-weather gear, I remained chilled to the bone on an early morning visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau back…

7 years ago
  • How They Did It

How They Did It: Maya Dardel Shot on a Hermit’s Property to Add Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars in Production Design

Co-directors Zachary Cotler and Magdalena Zyzak share behind-the-scenes stories on the production design and cinematography of Maya Dardel, shooting in confined spaces,…

7 years ago
  • How They Did It

How They Did It: First-Time Director Ana Asensio Split Most Beautiful Island Into Two Stylistically Distinct Halves

Making Most Beautiful Island was my first time writing a script and directing a film. Up to this point in…

7 years ago
  • How They Did It

How They Did It: This Director Over-Prepared in Order to Get Novitiate Shot Before a Hard Deadline

The greatest challenge for me in shooting Novitiate was the limited amount of days we had—28, to be exact—to pull off…

7 years ago
  • How They Did It

How They Did It: This Director’s New Doc About Legendary Acting Coach Larry Moss Demystifies the Acting Process

Film has been associated with magic since its inception. Even as a child, the interaction and connection between everyone involved…

7 years ago
  • How They Did It

How They Did It: Directing a Rape Scene in an Exploitation Film… Without Exploiting Your Female Protagonist

I usually don’t shy away from work that makes me uncomfortable. No matter how much it scares me, I push…

7 years ago
  • How They Did It

How They Did It: Shooting A South Florida Short Film, "Chasing Titles Vol. 1," In Nasty Weather With AK-47s

As the writer, producer and director of "Chasing Titles Vol. 1," I had a very clear vision of how everything…

7 years ago
  • How They Did It

How They Did It: To Shoot The Mutineer in 35mm, the Director Took a Scalpel to His Ultra-Low Budget

In 2012, I wrote down the first idea I had for The Mutineer, with the intention of shooting it the…

7 years ago