EA: When i was a caseworker in New York City, age 22, I was inspired to make a film about some of my clients as they transitioned from welfare to work.
EA: I loved films for a long time - DO THE RIGHT THING made my stomach flip-flop at age 14- but it wasn’t until I was rejected by the law schools I applied to that I realized I needed to be brave and jump in.
EA: That you need to be entrepreneurial if you’re going to survive as a filmmaker. My parents were both entrepreneurs so their guidance has helped me a great deal over the years.
EA: It’s my baby, I started writing it 7 years ago. Seeing it come to life on the screen is a truly exciting thing.
EA: IFP was a good time, lots of great networking opportunities there. I need to be reminded to leave my fishbowl sometimes and IFP helped me do that.
RL: How did you obtain funding for it?
EA: I begged every producer, friend, family member and wealthy stranger I knew. You have to be shameless about it. I hit up my family the day after Christmas, my brother was appalled. Everybody turns you down and then you beg again a few weeks later. Women have a hard time asking for money on their own behalf, they can do it for others but not for themselves. This is a problem because if you can’t raise money, then you probably can’t make your film. Everybody drags their feet when it comes to hustling for financing but you have to go to the mat for your film or no one else will.
EA: I eavesdrop a lot and scribble notes incessantly. I borrow from the clever things I hear people say. I re-write and re-write and re-write until the darn thing is good.
EA: I like films that move me emotionally. Drop me into someone else’s world, shake me up and let me return to my own life with a little more wisdom and i’m a happy citizen. i love rarified, foreign indies like LILYA 4-EVER and THE COLOR OF PARADISE but SEX IN THE CITY was a pretty fun watch too.
EA: Pureland is my awesome little company that has kept me afloat and happy for many years. The Purelanders are the folks that make the magic happen.
EA: It’s competitive but rewarding if you stick it out. Find your niche and build a network of good folks around you.
EA: The distribution of ALL OF US and post-production of TOE TO TOE.
EA: Paying the bills.
EA: I love both and I think you have to be good at both to get off the ground as a filmmaker. I guess directing is ‘more fun’ in a lot of ways but producers are the ones who make the whole thing happen.
EA: I’d like to keep doing what I’m doing with less all-nighters and more moolah. I’m also always trying to get less attached to the outcome of a given film and enjoy the process more. You can’t control how a film is perceived but you can refine your experience of making films. If I can keep creating feminist, meaningful, sexy, uplifting, harrowing, provoking work, and share it with an audience, than I’m all good. I guess I’d also like to figure out how to have less conflict during the filmmaking process itself. That said, if you don’t think your film is worth a few tussles, you probably shouldn’t be making it.
