Sijo James DeMile
Photo by Billy Plummer
Nikon FE, Kodak Tri-X 400, +2 stops

I blame Robert Rodriguez for hyping the mythos of the do-it-all filmmaker. Sure, Robert Rodriguez does all the top-line jobs on his films but frankly, have you seen them? In my humble opinion, his films would turn out better if he spread it around a little. Whenever I see a filmmaker who is the writer-director-producer-production designer-cinematographer-editor-composer on a film, I typically think one of two things is happening: Either the poor guy had no money or friends and somehow figured out how to get his movie made anyway, or he’s a raving megalomaniac control-freak.

To have a career as a filmmaker you need to create great content. But you also have to keep doing it. One film or series does not make a career. When I look back on the many talented filmmakers I’ve known over the past decade or so, I can see a clear pattern. Many were talented, many had stories to tell, but the quality that best predicted how well a colleague would succeed—that is make films, find audiences, and repeat the process—was their ability to attract a team of talented and connected cohorts to help them bring projects to fruition well and quickly. On the other hand, the many talented filmmakers I’ve known who did not have this quality are either still working to finish that first or second project, or disillusioned with “The Industry” because they couldn’t get their projects off the ground. If your projects aren’t going forward, maybe you don’t have enough people involved.

The Emotions - “Blind Alley”
1972 UNTOUCHED

Dan Lauria on playing “Lombardi”
Fordham University December 5, 2010

“The difference is Mr. Power is an actor and you all became critics.”

Pain: Stanley Patz, Etan’s father, watched over the search from the family’s home half a block away

Julie Patz said at the time: ‘We have his belongings all over the house. To put them away, it seems to us and to our children that he’s gone and he’s not coming back.’

Convinced that Ramos is guilty of the crime, Stan Patz sends him a copy of the missing child poster twice a year with the words ‘What have you done with my little boy’ written on the back.