interview
Six foot plus, Nick DeRuve looks a movie star. And although he’s done some acting, it’s on the other side of camera, as a screenwriter and director, that the young filmmaker is intent on making his mark. It’s been a long road for DeRuve, from Schenectady, in upstate New York, to LA, and longer still to Toronto, where his movie The Runaway was recently screened.
Director Lee Kirk is just about to release his sophomore effort, Ordinary World. The film is about an former rockstar, played by Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, reflecting on the “path not taken”- of committing to his rock-god dreams, instead of settling down in the suburbs and raising a family. Alistair Ryder spoke to the filmmaker about the autobiographical nature of the film and how his love of music helped bring the screenplay to life.
On Thursday, September 22, Blair Witch writer Simon Barrett is hosting the very first Dinner With Dames (DWD). Organised by Jenna Payne in collaboration with Cinefemme, it’s an opportunity for a group of up-and-coming women filmmakers to enter a dialogue about diversity issues and obstacles women face in the entertainment industry, while enjoying a meal. High level industry players are invited to every dinner, in an attempt to break down the barriers of access, help demolish the myths about female filmmakers and to promote more conscious hiring practices in Hollywood.
A while ago, I had the pleasure to be introduced to Lulu Wang. Before I got to watch her first feature film Posthumous, I got to watch her short Touch (watch Touch here). While watching that, I knew I was in for something great with her first feature.
Up-and-coming filmmaker John Carchietta has co-directed and produced several thrillers like Late Fee and The Hills Run Red. He is one of those true horror fans who really knows his stuff. But recently Carchietta proved that he can tackle multiple genres with the debut of his first solo project, a queer romantic thriller called Teenage Cocktail.
Bluestocking Film Series is an an exclusive showcase for provocative, well-produced films that feature complex female protagonists driving the narrative and leading the action. Moreover, all films submitted to the series must feature a female protagonist, and must pass the Bechdel-Wallace Test. It’s the first ever U.
I was lucky enough to get the chance to interview The Hard Stop’s director, George Amponsah, producer, Dionne Walker and co-star Marcus Knox-Hooke, recently, before watching a screening of the film followed by an audience Q&A with Amponsah, Walker, Knox-Hooke and co-star Kurtis Henville. It was one of the most moving and insightful experiences I’ve had for a long time, and I’m still unravelling the many thoughts and feelings both the film and our conversation inspired. The IMDB description of the film The Hard Stop explains:
With the DVD/Blu-Ray release of The Invitation, I was able to snag a quick interview with the film’s director, Karyn Kusama. Taking place in a Beverly Hills mansion in L.A over the course of an evening.
Last week, I had the pleasure to talk with Emily Best, who founded the company called Seed&Spark, a crowdfunded film studio. Seed&Spark helps independent filmmakers crowdfund their films, produce them and distribute them. In their own words:
We spoke with David Farrier about his weird but great documentary Tickled, how he pitched it and how about how the post-production was.
A while ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of the members of the legendary band Green Jelly, Matt Groopie. I had originally planned on speaking with Matt about the small Canadian tour that Green Jelly had taken in the beginning of May, but my plans changed quickly after experiencing what I considered to be one of the most entertaining live shows I had ever seen. That being said, I should make it clear that I’ve been to hundreds of shows and concerts.
Varda Bar-Kar’s latest documentary Big Voice follows the lives of a Santa Monica school choir over the course of a year, under the instruction of their inspirational yet no-nonsense teacher. Mr Huls, teacher extraordinaire, is an intriguing character – full of passion and with motivation to make the choir bigger and better than ever before. Whilst Mr Huls is certainly the driving force in the documentary, it is Bar-Kar’s interviews with the students which are arguably most interesting.
In this third episode of The Power of Film, I spoke with the lovely Samantha Shada. She is a director, hosts the screening series Seeking Our Story, and she works at one of the big studios – a busy lady who has a lot of unique insights into the world of film! We spoke about a lot, from film in general and symbolism in film, the status quo of the studio system (and, very interesting, the current state of film marketing) to film preservation.
PJ Woodside and her partner, Steve Hudgins at Big Biting Pig Productions in Madisonville, KY are creating quite a stir in the independent horror scene. They’ve put out a film a year for the last decade. Their most recent film, Frances Stein, was recently released on Amazon Prime and has been getting a steady stream of five star reviews.
I’m incredibly proud to bring to you the very first episode of the all new Film Inquiry podcast, THE POWER OF FILM. In an episode of The Power of Film, I, Manon de Reeper (Editor in Chief of Film Inquiry) will be interviewing someone active in the film industry; filmmakers, directors, producers, actors, screenwriters… You name it!