I am a world citizen born in Iran & residing in Los Angeles for the biggest portion of my life – pursuing my dreams & passion for acting and story telling which by default has lead me to become a musician & a filmmaker.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
I’ve made two short films so far and both were sprung about by a sense of urgency and a need to speak about my humanity. To say something I felt deeply about at the time & had to share with others. And it had to be made through an abstract medium like film.
-Do you think that cinema can bring change to society?
Absolutely. Cinema throughout its history and from its inception has been a political and social platform to effectively share real opinions or fictional magical type of story tellings that spark genius and movement in others.
It is one of the most important tools in bringing change to society and connecting us as people.
-What would you change in the world?
Inequality and injustice which comes from all kinds of ism’s such as sexism, racism, classism, ageism etc etc..
The most dangerous thing is when good intended people are divided because of their sex, race, age and even political views.
We now more than ever as a world need to unite.
The past two and half years has proven that on a global scale.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I think with technological advances and visual capabilities like 3D screenings and such that there will be films you could partake in as in feel you are physically in each scene and stuff like that ..
Wild animations & who knows even actual aliens starring in movies!
But I also think there will always be an art house movement to preserve the classic movie theater experience. The deep character driven stories and films & film makers like “John Cassavetes” addressing an intimate honest look into peoples lives.
A world where there will still be 35MM films and projectors with packed theaters..
As I mentioned I am a dreamer and like John Lennon said I know “I’m not the only one”.
I have been making films and telling stories since I was a young teen. Over the years I have gained experience in many different aspects of filmmaking. Much of my career was spent working as a writer-director, most notably on entertainment films for Disney Theme Parks, such as Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disneyland. My first big project for Disney was the Circle-Vision production of “Wonders of China” for EPCOT, the first of many. I have also directed a feature film and worked in episodic television as a director. The last few years I have mainly worked in computer animation and visual effects.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
There is no question that I was influenced by the 16mm home movies my father took of our family on vacation. I desperately wanted my own camera so that I could tell stories of my own and I worked hard to earn enough money to purchase a very simple 8mm camera. While this camera couldn’t focus or zoom, by my second camera I knew exactly what I wanted and needed. The lesson was to make the best of what you have, to experiment, to find other ways to accomplish what you wish to create. Growing up in the 1960s and 70s, I was very much influenced by European films much more so than American movies and it was a real thrill to eventually have an opportunity to meet and work with some of the directors and stars I’d long admired. These days I find inspiration everywhere. There is so much good work going on in cinema right now, despite the limits of the pandemic, that I feel this era will be looked upon in history as a very special time.
Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
Generally I think cinema is a reflection of society and its changes, not necessarily bringing about change by itself. The real strength of cinema is in holding up a mirror to who we are. The recognition and realization that perhaps we are not who we think we are is what fosters real change.
-What would you change in the world?
Unlike the 1960s, one feels powerless to effect change by oneself these days. It’s not a despair that change cannot happen, but a sadness that society has broken down along tribal lines, making meaningless the previous divisions and boundaries. Change is coming and it isn’t necessarily for the better, but my small part in it is the same as it has always been: to entertain and create a little pleasure for audiences in my storytelling.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I have worked with a lot of modern and sophisticated camera and projection systems over the years but I have never felt that technology itself is an answer to anything. At the end of the day, or the end of the century, audiences crave the darkness of a communal room where we tell human stories that reflect our world and which inspire and entertain us. It doesn’t matter if the story is about robots – projected as flickering images on a bed sheet or inside an augmented reality headset – we recognize ourselves in their desires and dilemmas. Humans are at our best at problem-solving and most storytelling throughout the ages has been about that very subject. When we see others, human or human-like, struggling to find solutions, it gives us hope for resolving our own problems.
-Who is Maria Pronin? I’m a film director from Russia, filming music videos, features, documentaries and commercials. Actually In the past I’m also a ballet dancer and a journalist.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
I think that it was rather not an inspiration, but an unconscious need. My parents had many friends, and they in their turn had many children, and I was the oldest among them, and I had to figure out how to entertain them when they came to visit us, rather frequently. Since I have been dancing for as long as I can remember, I started doing plays and musicals with them. All summer we prepared the play, my cousin wrote the script, we made scenery, sewed costumes, and at the end of the summer we put on a show on the volleyball court. I didn’t know that I was a director, it’s just that everyone called me that, аnd one day I told my mother: «I think I want to be a director”. But she answered: “Masha, it’s difficult to be a woman director, you won’t earn any respect or money,” my dad died, and I decided that I need a serious profession. I did not know what I wanted, but I studied well and entered the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University. After graduation, I still did not know what to do, and I had to remember what I did all day long, for which no one paid me money and I was happy. In general, this is what I’m doing now (although sometimes after all producers pay me), directing is something that helps me to be alive, and it inspires me.
-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
I think yes, but these are not radical changes. But they are still very important for the cultural level of a society which is being brought up on a good, important cinema, can make these changes on its own. Through cinema we live out many emotions, many lives and experiences, and we can determine for ourselves with the help of a director and screenwriter, what we would like to see in our own lives and what – not. It’s like a dream, after which you wake up and understand that this is what you’ll never do, and sometimes you wake up and understand that this is your dream life and you want to strive for it.
-What would you change in the world?
It seems to me that there is a lot of hate in the world. People in completely different countries, regardless of the standard of living, on a subconscious level are afraid to be alone and not to survive. So they unite against each other, bull the weak and different. I would like the world to be kinder, I dream about the world where people understand themselves and their inner world better, and not live like blind kittens. With my films, I would like to talk more about insights with people, to give people a better understanding of themselves and ability to make choices based on the best part of their personality. I’m dreaming about peace!
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I can’t say what will happen to me next week, and you ask me for a forecast for 100 years! I don’t know, but I’m sure it will be something we couldn’t even imagine.
I am a young man currently studying film at Clayton State University in Morrow, GA. I have always aspired to become a writer, director, actor, and producer. Ever since I was a young boy, it has always been a passion of mine to tell thought provoking stories that will leave the audience with something to think about. As a night owl, I tend to stay up pretty late because my brain is always fishing for some creative ideas for new stories. I tend to feel more creative at night. I always thought that film would be a way for me to express certain messages about the world we live in such a way that I never could in person with anyone.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker
I have been into film since a very young age (six years old to be exact). The early part of my childhood was a little rough. I was told that I had Asperger’s Syndrome, which made it hard for me to socially connect with people and communicate effectively in a sense that people could understand. I even had to ride on the bus with Special Ed students because I was seen as different from other kids. Instead, I always resorted to using my imagination to communicate, and that imagination was based on shows and movies I watched at the time. As a kid, I used to always have these wild imaginations of escaping my reality and inserting myself into these different [film] worlds. I have always wanted to express my thoughts and views on the world in ways that I never could in real life, and film to me has always been the appropriate medium to use to accomplish such feat. Whenever I would see the names of different people working on a film in the credits, I would always tell myself that one day my name will be scrolling up on the screen.
–Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
I definitely believe that cinema is one of the best ways to bring a change in society because you every film has a symptomatic meaning to it in a sense that it can either get the audience to question reality, bend it, or just simply accept it. I believe cinema is a way to bring people together and allow for people to connect with real-life issues that can be seen conveyed by fictional, or even nonfictional, characters. Poison, for instance, is one of those films that takes a coin and flips it to the other side that is not looked at much. In this case, we have the male protagonist, Darnell (portrayed by Corey Davis), who has been abused and tormented by his sadistic girlfriend, Donna, who pledges to make sure he never “forgets” about her. Normally in everyday society, we are preconditioned to be more sympathetic towards a woman being abused by a man as opposed to the other way around, and I wanted to bring into fruition a subject matter that is not talked about much, you know, flip the other side of that coin I mentioned earlier.
Color also plays as an important element in this as it serves as a double entendre: one side of the coin illustrating the bipolar disorder that Donna has and the politics behind abuse and the double standards that surround them. In other words, how it is easier to accept a woman’s cry for help and negate a man’s problems in the process. The film touches on the hardships of not just abuse, but the effects toxic masculinity may have on a man, preconditioning him to “suck it up” and be tough, leave the emotions and the cries for help at the door. Those situations are what make Poisonunique and interesting to explore. That is the power of cinema: allowing moviegoers and everyday people to challenge and look at everyday society from a different perspective, and when we all learn from each other’s different perspectives, that can definitely bring forth a change.
–What would you change in the world?
There are two things I would change in the world. Firstly, I would change the ways in how human beings get heavily influenced by the power of the media to believe in false rhetorics and biases. I want my future films to inspire people to look at certain issues in a different sense and develop their own interpretations and assertions from what they have been exposed to rather than forcing or brainwashing them to believe in what the masses believe in. Secondly, I would change the science of social interactions people have with one another. In other words, how we as people treat other. I would want racism to end and promote peace, love, unity, respect, and kindness worldwide.
Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
After bring in a worldwide pandemic for two years now, I can honestly say that I see the film industry in a recovery stage, striving to pick itself back up from lack of congregation in theaters, the high demand for content on streaming platforms, and the threat of box office failures generating low performances. We are living in a digital era, which means the cinematic experience we once had in the past is gradually faltering, causing people to want to enjoy entertainment within the confines of their own homes rather than going out on a journey to be immersed with big-screen entertainment. Technological innovations will definitely become more advance to the point where our homes will become theaters in of themselves. I am not saying the industry will be pulling on its last leg. I am saying, however, that cinema will advance itself while trying to recover from traditional cinematic methods to make a film that we will diminish the true purpose of going to the theaters: to congregate and share a cinematic experience with one another based on a common taste we have in this medium that is so-called cinema.
All my life my biggest desire was to either contribute a great performance in a film that later became a classic or to make great films that would become classics. I’ve been a right brain & left brain person throughout life – I am a career software developer (a few years at NASA) but at the same time always a lover of film and acting. My college degree was in Computer Science with a minor in Film Study. I will always continue in filmmaking & acting to hopefully be successful enough that it becomes my final chapter and make that classic film that will be studied in school later. Contact me. Let’s make that classic film together!
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
This may seem so bizarre but when I was 6 years old I was changing channels on the TV and came across the PBS channel Friday night Classic Film Series. The film was Fellini’s “La Strada”. Again I was 6 years old but I had never seen any film like “La Strada”. And every Friday I would watch films like “The Cabinet of Dr Caligari”, “M”, “The 400 Blows”, “La Belle et Le Bete”, and “Mon Oncle”. At 6 years old I was hooked on great films!!! Throughout my life I would prefer great writing in great films and tend to ignore the light entertainment films. These days I tend to follow the steps of a “film auteur” – I write the screenplay with the sole intention of making a film from my writing. Even with my first film which was a Western but with a Rashomon and Hitchcock twist, my film partner Gerry Olert and I made the film with a no money budget and we won 17 awards around the globe. Because I credit my start of loving film and filmmaking to “La Strada” it is a great honor and thrill to me for my film “Heart Cycles” to win at the Fellini tribute festival 8 1/2 .
A few of my favorite films – “Le Enfants du Paradis”, “Joyeux Noel”, “Citizen Kane”, “The 3rd Man”, “The Seven Samurai”, and of course “La Strada”.
-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
Absolutly..for better or worse. Film and media have always been very powerful for change. Froom films that change society’s daily fashion. To documentaries that enlighten the viewer. To great films that stay in your mind for years. To films like “Triumph des Willens” to change the views of a country.
-What would you change in the world?
As you ask above about the cinema bringing a change, my previous film “SENIOR DISCOUNT’d” is a docu-drama I made to raise awareness about our current society ignoring people especially in business after they pass a certain age. “SENIOR DISCOUT’d” was made to show how the world sees someone differently once they are considered “old”. I hope that “SENIOR DISCOUNT’d” in some way will change that stigma.
On a lighter note, one of the many reasons I made “Heart Cycles” was to show that an older person can also be a male romantic lead in a big film.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
There is constant change. Silent movies shot on film to then talkies. Then more recently from film to digital. And now with the Internet – streaming films from any source to any type of “screen”. There used to be a definite separation between the Oscars for film and the Emmys for television. Now that television has morphed into streaming films there is not so much a distinction. An also with the Internet digital age communications the Oscars do not distinguish between a US made film and a “foreign” film. What is next? Hard to say but I still enjoy seeing a very well written very well acted film on a huge screen in a dark quiet comfortable theater.
I’m a young screenwriter and filmmaker graduated from La Fémis, a cinema school in Paris in 2021. I have also studied 2D animation and stop motion at Atelier de Sèvres, and computing and microelectronics at Mines de Saint- Etienne, a french engineering school. I have directed several short-films, the last one, King Max is about self-acceptance and Drag King community.
Currently, I’m developing a documentary about a young person who’s looking for his indemnity and I’m writing King Max as a feature film.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
I have always loved filming and telling stories. I discovered cinema by practicing. Since my childhood, I film or animate stories, often alone. Quickly, I brought my family and friends to take part in my short films. And when I understood that the cinema could help people and myself too, I decided to be a filmmaker. –
–Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
For me, the cinema is political and as a director you have a mission.
Indeed, you can change mentality of people by giving portrayal and visibility for discriminated and invisibility communities. And for concerned people, you can help them to feel not alone. And this is very necessary. Portrayal in movies can save lives.
–What would you change in the world?
I dream of a society where you can be who you want and who you are without discrimination, violence, judgment. Just a society where you can be yourself.
–Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I don’t really know but I hope there will be more female directors or more queer directors. I hope the cinema will be more diversified. Diversified by the subjects it deals with but also by the people who create it. And I hope people will keep in mind that cinema is essential and it could save people.
I am passionate about storytelling, nature and music. In recent years I have written, directed and produced 3 documentary films, which have given me experience, great colleagues and some awards. Besides, I have written several more scripts, in this case, for fiction. I am looking forward to finding production to direct my first fiction feature film soon.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
What led me to become a filmmaker is my interest in telling stories that people can identify with. I think we are full of stories: the ones we live, the ones we are told, the ones we read. And movies are a wonderful way to connect various arts that I love (such as literature and music) in order to put them at the service of stories, characters, emotions. In truth, cinema is more powerful than we believe. If we think about the global pandemic that we have just suffered, in the end everyone, no matter the place we’re from, ended up taking refuge in stories, in one way or another, in order to cope with isolation and uncertainty a little better.
–Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
Yes, as I said before, cinema is a powerful weapon to think, consider situations, change your mind, empathize, get to know other cultures and, thanks to that, realize that in the end, in the most essential things, all human beings are very alike and we look for similar things to feel better. It doesn’t matter if you were born in India, Italy, USA or Spain, to mention a few places. Therefore, through movies we can generate a change, as do writers, doctors, scientists or environmental activists.
– What would you change in the world?
Without a doubt, one of the issues that worries me the most is climate change. I think it is the biggest problem that humanity has and it is our great failure as a species. We have believed that the world and its resources belonged to us, that we are not part of a whole, with the rest of the animals and species. Therefore, we are irreversibly destroying a beautiful place.
It is incredible that we are able to create things as beautiful as movies or music and have so much destructive power as well. It also drives me crazy injustices and inequalities. And that it is so easy for some people to do evil without being penalized.
–Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I am not sure. I believe that the platforms are very important and allow us a greater offer to choose from, while creating many more jobs in our industry. But I would not like at all that the cinemas disappeared. The experience of going to the cinema, of enjoying a collective moment, in complete darkness, without cuts as if it were a dream, with a good screen and sound, is an experience that generations within 100 years should definitely live. That is how I fell in love with this art. For me it is a total dream experience, it is very exciting and there is no enough comfortable place in any house that can compare to the experience of stopping your life for a couple of hours to live a dream in a place built by and for it.
A 23 year old aspiring cinematographer/photographer from Japan and Pakistan. I’ve had the pleasure of having lived in 4 countries, all of which exposed me to incredibly rich cultures that have ultimately influenced many of my creative endeavors.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
I’ve had many creative influences over the years, but there are a few in particular such as my film professor in high school and the many films I watched that I can credit for inspiring me to pursue film. My base has always been in photography, but film seemed to be a more versatile medium for me to communicate stories while still being able to integrate my logistical knowledge of photography. Directors such as Wong-Kar-Wai and cinematographers such as Rina Yang and Christopher Doyle are some figures that I can definitely credit as well for largely inspiring my creative approach to cinematography.
–Do you think the cinema can bring a change in society?
I think that film is a beautiful merge of many powerful mediums. It consists of elements of music production, photography, and narrative writing. All of which have to be balanced perfectly to incite certain emotions in the viewer, or to start conversations about issues in society as a whole. I think that there have been many directors that have used their personal experiences to highlight larger issues within society, and when these projects are executed honestly, I see that they can greatly influence the way people think, and how comfortable they may feel addressing certain topics. So yes, I do believe cinema has the potential to significantly impact society.
–What would you change in the world?
One goal that I have that I want to achieve through film is to begin as many conversations as possible. I want to avoid making statements through my projects, and instead create discourse about a variety of topics and issues that may affect far more people than we realize. Although the thought of impacting the world in some way frightens me, I know that I can potentially impact people just as other directors have impacted me.
–Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
Very difficult to say of course, but judging by the speed that technology is advancing, I can definitely see people using some kind of virtual reality tech to completely immerse themselves in films. Although this may seem kind of worrying, I can imagine it being a more impactful experience for the viewers. My only hope is that we don’t lose the classic experience of going to a traditional movie theater and enjoying a film with friends and family. My fear is that the cinema experience will slowly fade just as the act of reading physical books has slowly faded with the rise of iPads and audiobooks.
I am 22 years old and living in New York City where I study history at Columbia University. I work as a DJ and event organizer, and I have a deep passion for journalism and the written word.
– What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
I have always been interested in the idea of telling stories, since before I even knew it; whether it is through pictures, stories, poems or videos. Filmmaking to me is the best way to tell a story since it combines every artistic medium and serves as a total sensory bombardment of a specific idea. My partner in this project, Yoshi, came to me with a desire to make a short film on a specific story about young men and mental health, and I immediately said yes coming on as a writer first. I have no intention of looking back.
–Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
I believe that Ideas represent freedom ; they are intangible, hard to trace, hard to protect against, and serve as propellors of action. Film, being one of the most effective ways of getting out an idea, does have the ability to change a large portion of society’s minds about either an issue or a general culture.. Truly deep, emotional and challenging films do have the ability to bring a change in society, but it’s a question of whether society wants to change, so it has to be pushed.
–What would you change in the world?
What would I change in the world?! I guess there is a lot. There is so much pain, suffering and injustice that people experience everywhere, much more acutely in the undeveloped world so I don’t want to compare that kind of physical suffering to what I am talking about here in the west. But, from my experience of first-world countries, the most serious problem, having overcome much of the primary human problems of finding basic shelter and getting food, is the competitive nature of society, augmented by social media, which means we are constantly comparing ourselves to others, trying to outdo them, and rarely feeling happy and comfortable with ourselves. I wish everyone would never again feel like they are being left behind, and be happy where they are and doing things for others, myself included.
–Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
In the next 100 years, I don’t even know where the world will be at let alone the film industry. Based on the current state of things, taking the Marvel obsession for example, it seems like only the fast-paced attention-grabbing films will be successful. So, the future film industry could be a soulless, fast-paced big-budget math equation, or ninety minutes worth of forty second vertical videos to be watched on an iPhone before bed. That being said, I do believe in a kind of artistic resistance to that profit-oriented model that will never die.
Oh God, it’s a very existential question. um, I guess you can say a dreamer. I mean, that’s all anyone is really, being a storyteller and wanting to be one professionally means that you have to keep dreaming. Some people say that dreams are our brains getting rid of useless things, I don’t think so, dreams for me are the stories that I haven’t told yet. So, yeah, a dreamer.
–What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
What inspired me to get into filmmaking was that, I remember when I was younger, before I could read, I learned how to work the remote. Even though I was really young my parents allowed me to watch the extended cut of Lord of the Rings, and the DVDs had extra discs, so, not knowing any better and not being able to read the disc, I just put it into the player and I hit the first thing that came up. It turned out to be the behind the scenes of The Lord of the Rings. Since then I’ve been obsessed with the filmmaking process and have been wanting to make films ever since.
–Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
I do think cinema can bring a change to society as much as it is a reflection of society. You look at the movies in the early 2,000’s and compare them to films today and they are very much a reflection of the time they were made in. I do think movies also can change a person for the better after watching a certain movie, because that film can speak to them. If a film teaches a good lesson, who knows, maybe that film has influenced a future leader. My hope is that it changes things in smaller ways, by that I mean that if one person has left the cinema with a better attitude than the one they had going in, or if it influences them and speaks to a person and helps them become a better person. Then that person has become a better person for society.
–What would you change in the world?
What would I change in the world? I don’t know, it’s a tough question, and as a filmmaker, sometimes you feel as if the world is on your shoulders, because I think every storyteller can attest to this, we see so much. We tell stories of triumph, heartache, joy etc… My thinking is that you can only change the world after reflecting and changing yourself. If more people valued their worth and their wellbeing instead of focusing on what everyone else is doing, then maybe, just maybe the world would be a better place. It’s like what Tolkien said “If the world valued good food, above hoarded gold, it would be a much merrier place.”
–Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I think the film industry is changing for the better, now, where will it be in 100 years? I have no idea to be honest. I do think that the tools for filmmaking are becoming more accessible by the day and in 100 years it will be so easy for young filmmakers to achieve high quality shots or vfx to rival that of studio films on not even half the budget, but way less.
