-
How They Did It: Navigating the Turbulent Waters of the Oscar-Nominated Short “Lifeboat”
In 2015 our creative team set out to produce “50 Feet from Syria”—focused on the civilian...
-
How They Did It: Asghar Farhadi Lived in the Country of His Spanish-Speaking Stars to Write and Direct Everybody Knows
Before I went to Spain to make my new film Everybody Knows—a thriller which follows the tumultuous events that ensue when...
-
How They Did It: Working With Students and Screen Vets Alike on an 18-Day Shoot to Make Sarah Q
I’ve been making movies professionally since 1978, when I stepped out of Emerson College in Boston...
-
How They Did It: Directing Actors, Stunt Doubles, Dogs, and Roosters on the Unpredictable Set of Mobile Homes
Shooting a scene in my new film Mobile Homes in which a mobile home falls into a...
-
Heavy Heart, Heavy Art: To Make a Genre Film With Feeling, Embrace Imperfection and Personal Pain and Work With People You Love, Says Mandy Writer-Director Panos Cosmatos
Mandy wouldn’t exist without the influence of my parents. My dad, writer-director George P. Cosmatos (Massacre in Rome,...
-
How They Did It: Casting Unknowns Was Key to Finding the Laughs and Lived-In Feel of Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade
Before I directed my first film, Eighth Grade, I had heard that 90 percent of directing...
-
How They Did It: The Director of Naples ’44 on Blending Adaptation, Documentary, and Fiction
Working on Naples ’44 was definitely one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced in my brief...
-
How They Did It: Tips on Recreating Period, VFX, and Big Action on a Low Budget From the Director of Gangster Land
“A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movie that you didn’t intend...
-
How They Did It: Maddman: The Steve Madden Story Substituted Stale Archival Footage With Dream-Like Animation
eMy ambition was to tell the story of Steve Madden beyond the facts, and get into...
-
How They Did It: Planning a Car Crash Scene? Match Multiple Locations Into One, Says 24 Hours to Live Director
Some of the bigger challenges we had to overcome while filming 24 Hours to Live had...
-
How They Did It: Lucia, Before and After‘s Director Stresses the Importance of Loving Your Set
Catherine Breillat speaks fervently about color and setting in her films, and how they dictate emotion....
-
How They Did It: Making a Film With a Recluse as Your Subject? Forget Plans, Says the Director of Shadowman
In 2009 I met street art pioneer Richard Hambleton and started shooting a film that would...
-
How They Did It: Bombshell Director on Uncovering Hedy Lamarr’s Beautiful, Brilliant Mind
The hardest part of making Bombshell was finding the truth about Hedy Lamarr. Did this gorgeous...
-
How They Did It: Erik Nelson’s Doc A Gray State Required a Descent into the Mind of Madness
David Crowley was a 25-year-old filmmaker in Apple Valley, Minnesota, when he began filming a project...
-
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...
-
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,...
-
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...
-
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,...
-
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...
-
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...
-
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...
Comments