Tell us about your latest projects presented in the Bay Area.
In my current project, I explore and shape contrasting energies that form the eroticized body, using video and photography. As a result, the viewer is taken on a subjective journey through the erotic dreamscape of the body, passing through varying streams of consciousness in pursuit of the ultimate erotic desire – the orgasm, metaphorically seen as “chasing the light.”
The video comprises several vignette videos that transcend the erotic imagination from the subconscious world of dreams into the conscious world of being. The video centers on the contradiction and paradox of the erotic experience, which brings about tension and thus finds its release through the transgression of opposing energies that clash and ignite each other into a kaleidoscope of light and color. The sounds of breathing navigate the labyrinth of the subconscious dream world, yet simultaneously, one is acutely aware of being in the present conscious world; one is lost and found, invisible and visible. The paradox of the erotic experience.
The photographic component is composed of varying stills from the film that have been manipulated and molded into submission via the subconscious and the erotic imagination, into the conscious world. Images are printed onto the surface of textured, porous paper, whereby the conscious and subconscious – the visible and the invisible – merge and enter into a state of secretion, leaving tattooed traces, or printed images, of the erotic experience.
Who inspires you when you create a work of art?
When I am in the process of creating art or filming, I often find myself deeply immersed in my own creative flow. However, before I begin, I typically listen to music and explore various artworks and films for inspiration. While working on my current project, I was listening to Björk, PJ Harvey and the slits ,as their music embodies both rawness and surrealism as well as being sexy as hell. Film wise I found myself influenced by The Innocents directed by Jack Clayton, Fellini’s 8 ½ and Antonioni’s Blow – Up. Recently, I’ve been exploring a Gothic phase, which has led me to study the works of Joel-Peter Witkin, John Everett Millais’s “Ophelia,” and the art of the German surrealist Hans Bellmer.
What is Art in 2026?
Art needs to be challenged to evolve, and the importance of technologies, such as AI, is important to its survival as we enter the second quarter of the 21st Century. However, I fear that technology may overshadow the fundamental element of all art: human consciousness and one’s subjective experience of existence.
What projects are you currently working on?
I am working on eroticism as a philosophy, in particular focusing on the spiritual element of eroticism. For example, the conscious erotic experience is absorbed into the body and connects to the unconscious components of said body, detonating a combustion that results in the orgasm. As the orgasm filters through one’s consciousness and unconscious, the soul gathers the residues of the event, such as memory and identity – the spiritual essence of a living being – and turns the experience into deep feelings of emotion. Eroticism is a cognitive conduit that channels sexual love-eros via art, into a philosophy based on lived experiences.
What’s your impression of WILD FILMMAKER, the largest community of Indie Film Producers in the world?
WILD FILMMAKER is the contemporary epitome of Neorealism, returning to the social and human roots of filmmaking. Back in the 1940s/1950s, Neo Neorealism was a film movement about making things’ real, ie, characterized by a focus on the lives of the poor and working class, a documentary-like style using real locations, non-professional actors, and a rejection of studio glamour, giving filmmaking a human face and sensitivity. WILD FILMMAKER demonstrates that everyone can be a filmmaker, whether it’s with a camera phone or a traditional camera. It opens filmmaking up to everyone, not just the elite of Hollywood and other film industry centers. Again, just like before, it takes filmmaking out of the studio and onto the streets, utilizing elements of social engagement with actors, regardless of their level of professionalism, and imbuing it with a human sensibility, where anything and everything is possible.
I recall one late summer evening in 2022, when I spoke with Michele Dioma about his idea of creating a space for all independent filmmakers. I remember his passion and unwavering commitment to bringing filmmaking back into the hands of the people, and in a short space of time, he did it. I am very proud of him and WILD FILMMAKER.
Together We Create 4 Kids is a national, multi-city literacy and community impact tour rooted in the belief that storytelling, education, and collaboration have the power to transform lives. Designed to uplift children, families, authors, educators, and purpose-driven leaders, the tour is more than a series of events it is a living movement committed to access, service, and generational change.
Each city stop is intentionally structured as a two-day experience. Day One centers on adult empowerment, featuring authors, speakers, educators, panels, workshops, and vendors who are building purpose-driven organizations and businesses. Day Two is fully dedicated to children and families through a community giveback that provides books, bookbags, clothing, shoes, hygiene products, and educational resources directly into the hands of youth.
What makes Together We Create 4 Kids unique is its ecosystem approach. Every participant authors, speakers, vendors, partners, and community leaders is viewed as a vital voice in the story.
The tour prioritizes collaboration over competition and impact over exposure, ensuring that each city contributes to a larger, connected mission rather than a one-time moment.
The Documentary: Capturing the Story as It Unfolds
Running parallel to the tour is a professionally filmed documentary series that captures the heart of Together We Create 4 Kids in real time.
The documentary is not scripted or staged. Instead, it follows the authentic journey of building a national movement documenting preparation, faith, challenges, breakthroughs, and the human stories that unfold behind the scenes.
Each city becomes an episode, highlighting:
Local leaders and organizations serving their communities
Authors, speakers, and vendors contributing their voices and resources
Children and families impacted by the giveback
The real work, emotion, and intention behind community service
The documentary serves as both a historical archive and a call to action showing what is possible when people unite around purpose, service, and shared vision.
A Platform for Legacy, Not Just Exposure
Together We Create 4 Kids was intentionally built as a platform for legacy, not a moment of visibility. Every author, speaker, vendor, nonprofit, and partner involved is treated as a contributor to a larger story one that honors purpose, service, and long-term impact over short-term attention.
Participants are given space to share who they are, why their work matters, and how their mission connects to the communities they serve. Rather than positioning individuals as background support, the tour recognizes each voice as essential. This philosophy extends across the events, the documentary, and all media connected to the project.
The platform also creates pathways for continued collaboration beyond the tour.
Relationships formed on the Together We Create 4 Kids tour are designed to live on through future projects, storytelling opportunities, and community initiatives. In this way, the tour becomes a foundation helping leaders build something that outlasts a single city, season, or spotlight.
By centering legacy, Together We Create 4 Kids ensures that the work done today carries meaning tomorrow reaching far beyond the stage and into generations to come.
Honoring the Co-Founders: The Heartbeat of the Movement
At the foundation of Together We Create 4 Kids is a group of co-founders whose leadership, character, and commitment shaped the tour long before the first city was announced. These leaders are not simply organizers they are the pillars, strategists, storytellers, and servants who ensure the mission remains rooted in integrity and love.
Dr. Laneice Runnels brings wisdom, consistency, and structure to the movement. Her leadership anchors the tour in excellence and accountability, ensuring that vision and execution remain aligned and impactful.
Dr. Dawn Menge represents the transformative power of storytelling. Her lifelong dedication to literacy, children, and education reinforces the belief that books can open doors, heal hearts, and create lasting change.
Mo Nelson, city leader, embodies authenticity, courage, and emotional intelligence. Her work centers on breaking cycles, empowering individuals, and turning self-awareness into action values deeply embedded in the tour’s purpose.
Dr. Tish Shearer offers strategic insight, faith centered leadership, and balance. She helps bridge vision with sustainability, ensuring that the tour remains both meaningful and operationally sound.
Amber Miller brings connection, compassion, and community centered leadership. Her ability to unify voices and cultivate safe, collaborative spaces strengthens the relational foundation of the movement.
Destinee Brown, visionary, is the architect behind Together We Create 4 Kids. Her belief that storytelling can create access, healing, and opportunity fuels the entire project. She designed the tour not for spotlight, but for legacy creating platforms where children, creators, and communities are seen, supported, and celebrated.
Together, these co-founders form the heartbeat of Together We Create 4 Kids. Their shared leadership ensures the movement remains grounded in purpose, faith, service, and impact proving that when the right people come together, something far greater than an event is created.
A Growing National Vision
As Together We Create 4 Kids
continues to expand across cities, it is building a national network of creators, leaders, and community advocates committed to investing in children, education, and storytelling. The tour, the documentary, and the collaborative ecosystem surrounding it all serve one mission: to leave communities stronger than they were found and to create a legacy that lives far beyond the tour dates.
This is not just a project.
It is a movement.
It is a story being written in real time.
And it is proof that purpose-driven collaboration can shape the future for kids, for families, and for generations to come.
War rages in a Third World country. A glamorous and ambitious news anchor delivers the reports with icy detachment.
Her husband, a photojournalist stationed in the war zone, disappears. An enigmatic diplomat takes charge of the investigation. He summons her to identify a body.
She travels to the heart of darkness. Along the way, excerpts from her missing husband’s recovered diary intertwine with her own journey.
The descent into the underworld becomes the starting point for the characters’ path to self-discovery—far from the comfort of Western affluence and the safety of televised images.
The road to escape from the slaughterhouse leads through the desert.
A metaphysical thriller with anti-war undertones and a psychological game played on the edge of an Ibsenian triangle.
Bleeding memories.Guilt.The glitter of vanity.The red thread running through History.
Elpida Amitsi
She was born in Patras and started her studies at a young age learning piano. He graduated from the Hellenic Conservatory, from the monody class of G. Di Tasso with a degree of "Excellent Pampsifei". She attended seminars with K. Ludwig and continued her studies with J. Modinos. He holds degrees in harmony, counterpoint and fugue. He has participated as a soloist in the National Opera, in the Herodeion, in the Municipal Theater of Piraeus, etc. and has organized solo concerts on Mount Parnassos, the Palace of the Duchess of Plakentia, the Goethe Hall, the Hellenic American Union as well as at festivals and various concert venues. At the Dithyrambos, Ilisia and Fournos Theaters he organized a series of concerts related to contemporary Greek music as well as performances with Negro songs and musicals. Her repertoire includes works of all times (arias, liders, etc.). Most of the performers of works of the 20th century gave special emphasis to Greek composers, presenting works in early performances. He collaborated with the Union of Greek Composers and K.E.S.Y. He created the performances: "Let the strings change", "Greek sound", "Greek composers", "Days of contemporary Greek music", "With exquisite music and with 5 senses for a guide", "Voice of Hope", "The crystal of silence the music cracks ”and“ Greek works ”where he performed contemporary Greek composers of the word music and works in first performance. In the performance "With exquisite music" he performed contemporary Greek music based on poems by K. P. Cavafy. In the musical performances "In anticipation" and "Narratives in black" directed by M. Zografidis, he sang Negro religious songs. In the musical performances "Life-giving water" and "An angel traveler" he sang songs by M. Hadjidakis and in the performance "Get back" rock songs. Songs of Lower Italy performed songs in the play "Zephyrus blew" while in "Lighting the music" with the composer and pianist M. Archontidis he interprets works from the world repertoire of cinema and theater. Created and presented the performances "2 woman's songs" and "Sounds of Images". She has also presented the play "O Simigdalenios" by A. Adamopoulos directed by him, in which she plays 22 roles and has starred in the play by L. Bikas "Thales and Thalia go to the theater" directed by A. Bass. He has been involved in the production and presentation of radio shows on classical music and has taught orthophony and singing at vocational training seminars in the European Union. Created and taught a series of Music Theatrical seminars on the aesthetics and the era of various authors aimed at the emotional expression of their works as well as a series of seminars for actors, singers and performers aimed at recognizing the "inner voice" and its dynamics. body. He has created and presents a series of seminars and performances on "Body-Voice-Reflection-Expression-Interpretation", "Development of psycho-cognitive skills aimed at self-knowledge and successful communication", "Relationships-relationship", "Recognition and manipulation of human voice through the mental and physical state "," Expressive ability, integrity-intention & strength "," Melodrama "," Breaths and vital energy "," Theater in Music and Music in Theater ", in the context of which he presented the performances: "Persians", "Lysistrata", "Of the Moorish and his sister", "Parodies", "Erotic", "Now and then", "A free couple", "Laughing wildly". She teaches song at the ENTECHNON Conservatory.
Created the theatrical group EN-A. She directed the works: "Homo Normalis the model of" normalcy "" in a text inspired by the "Listen Human" by V. Reich, "The little brother" by Marielli Sfakianaki-Manolidou, "The Simigdaleni" by Alexandrou Adamopoulou "PEER GYNT" IBSEN + GRIEG by Erik Ibsen, "Once upon a time a shot" by Giannis Papazoglou, "Did the stranglehold become a lamb?" by Kostas Papapetrou, "Journey in the desert… to the North" by Giannis Papazoglou, She directed the feature films "WAYFARER" scripted by Maria Brilis-Kaloutas and "My grandfather's treasure chest " scripted by Alexandros Adamopoulos and “Voyage in the desert” scripted by Giannis Papazoglou, “Once a gunshot” scripted by Giannis Papazoglou, and “Monique” scripted by Alexandros Adamopoulos. She created the EN-A Theater.
Self-definition is always a delicate gesture. But if I had to summarize who I am, I would say that I am, above all, a poet. A poet who moves between languages.
My work unfolds between cinema, literature, and music, but it is in the audiovisual realm that I find my most intense field of experimentation. For me, cinema is not merely narrative—it is the construction of thought through image. It is rhythm, silence, tension between the real and the imagined. It is the space where aesthetics and politics inevitably collide.
I am the author of published books and a biographical essay on Pier Paolo Pasolini, in which I examine his break with Italian Neorealism and his search for what he called “cinema of poetry.” This concept has profoundly shaped my artistic vision. Like Pasolini, I believe that cinema must abandon the illusion of neutrality and embrace its subjective, lyrical, and ideological condition.
I am also deeply influenced by Glauber Rocha and the radical gesture of Cinema Novo—the idea that form itself is political. Rocha’s urgency, his baroque excess, his refusal of comfort, resonate with my understanding of cinema as an act of confrontation. From Andrei Tarkovsky, I inherited the belief in cinema as sculpture in time—as spiritual investigation through duration. And from Eduardo Coutinho, the courage to confront reality without embellishment, allowing presence and speech to reveal their own dramaturgy.
Beyond cinema, I have collaborated on musical projects and worked in curatorial contexts. I don’t see rigid boundaries between artistic disciplines; I see continuities. Each medium is simply another surface upon which poetic tension can manifest itself.
Being a poet, for me, is not about belonging to a literary genre. It’s an existential stance. It’s the freedom to move between platforms without losing the coherence of an inner vision.If I had to define myself in one sentence:
I am a poet of image and word, committed to transforming contemporary unease into aesthetic experience.
Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?
Yes. I was seven or eight years old when my mother took me to see Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland.
The experience was almost cathartic. I wasn’t just watching a movie—I felt like I had entered another dimension. The colors, the absurd logic, the fluid transformation of reality affected me deeply. I asked my mother to record it on VHS and I watched it obsessively. I memorized every line.
Looking back, I understand that what captivated me wasn’t just the story, but the feeling that cinema could reorganize reality—that it could be dreamlike, irrational, poetic. That moment transformed me into a voracious cinephile. I watch everything—from big box office hits to radical independent films—because I believe that cinema is bigger than categories. What matters is the vision and the intensity. To this day, I remain faithful to this language. Cinema still offers depth. It still allows us to confront silence, vulnerability, and what is fundamentally human. And perhaps that child, sitting in the dark, discovering other worlds through images, is still guiding me.
Tell us about your projects “POEMARIA” and “ALICE, FIVE MINUTES BEFORE SUNSET”.
Let me start with POEMARIA.
POEMARIA is a feature-length documentary that I developed over nine years. It emerged from a long process of listening—researching and filming poets, artists, and ordinary people throughout Brazil whose lives are deeply connected to poetry.
Although filmed primarily in São Paulo, the documentary expands to a broader Brazilian panorama—culturally and emotionally. It combines intimate testimonies about art, society, and personal survival with poetic performances of verses that shaped the lives of each participant.
The film doesn’t treat poetry as an academic form—it treats poetry as a necessity. As resistance. As memories.
What moved me most was its international reception. POEMARIA has already been screened at about thirty festivals and has received several awards, including Best Documentary and Best Director. The film traveled to India, Thailand, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States—proving that something deeply rooted in Brazilian and Lusophone tradition can still resonate universally.
In many ways, the film echoes the documentary humanism of Eduardo Coutinho, while also carrying an underlying belief—inherited from Pasolini and Glauber Rocha—that art is never neutral. Form is always political. Even when it speaks of intimacy.
ALICE, FIVE MINUTES BEFORE SUNSET is a short film I co-directed with Rodrigo Ferraz, written by Ryan Ruiz.
It is a minimalist and poetic work, structured largely through voice-over narration and silence. The film follows a woman walking through São Paulo, and through this simple gesture we explore absence, memory, and inner fracture.
The aesthetic was influenced by Chantal Akerman’s use of duration and space, as well as the emotional restraint present in filmmakers like Sofia Coppola. Silence becomes dramaturgy.
Despite being a completely unbudgeted production, built entirely through artistic collaboration, the film is having a solid run at festivals. It premiered at the Culver City Film Festival in Los Angeles (Amazon Studios), was screened at the Indie Short Fest also in LA where we were finalists, and has already received two awards in India. In just a few months, it has reached about twelve festivals.
This journey reinforces my belief that cinema doesn’t depend on scale—it depends on conviction. At the same time, I am developing a screenplay for a feature film entitled “Hearts in Trance.”
It is an intimate drama set in contemporary Brazil, exploring ideological polarization, political tension, and the fragility of intimacy in an era shaped by spectacle and surveillance. Influenced by the urgency of Glauber Rocha and the political sensuality of Pasolini, the project examines how private relationships become battlegrounds for historical forces.
Winner of the Best Original Screenplay award at the New York Movie Awards and the Best LGBTQIA+ Screenplay award at the Caravan Film Festival in Kolkata, India.
Which director inspires you the most?
It’s difficult for me to name just one director, but if I had to start somewhere, it would be Pier Paolo Pasolini.
He occupies a unique place in my formation—not only as a filmmaker, but as a thinker. It’s no coincidence that I wrote a book about him. Pasolini moved through poetry, literature, philosophy, and journalism before arriving at cinema, and when he did, he transformed film into the ultimate synthesis of his language. This multidisciplinary trajectory resonates deeply with me.
What fascinates me most is not only his aesthetics—the “cinema of poetry”—but his intellectual courage. As early as the 1970s, Pasolini diagnosed what he called a new form of fascism, a new power structure rooted in consumerism, the media, and ideological manipulation. When we revisit him today, he seems almost prophetic. His work remains disturbingly contemporary in a world marked by polarization, extremism, and the erosion of critical thinking—in Brazil, in the United States, in Europe, everywhere. But my influences don’t stop there.
Ingmar Bergman was fundamental in shaping my understanding of intimacy and existential tension. Eduardo Coutinho, one of Brazil’s greatest documentary filmmakers, profoundly influenced my approach in POEMARIA—especially his belief in the power of presence and speech. I’m also inspired by Pedro Almodóvar’s emotional audacity and his ability to blend melodrama with psychological complexity.
If I were allowed, I could cite fifteen directors. Cinema is a constellation of influences.
But Pasolini remains, for me, both an artistic compass and an intellectual provocation—someone who reminds us that cinema should not only be beautiful, but necessary.
What do you hate about the world and what would you change?
What worries me most about the world today is the erosion of empathy.
When empathy disappears, dialogue also disappears. And when dialogue disappears, bridges break. What remains is polarization, intolerance, extremism—the fragmentation we witness globally. Wars, ideological radicalization, the inability to listen—these are symptoms of a deeper disconnection from what is fundamentally human.
Pasolini warned about this decades ago. He spoke of a new form of power—subtle, omnipresent, that shapes consciousness through media and consumer culture. His films, from *Teorema* to *Salò*, were not provocations to shock; they were diagnoses. He understood that when a society loses its moral and emotional imagination, it begins to repeat its darkest cycles.
We live in a paradoxical era: never before have we had so much access to information, so much global connectivity—and yet, we seem increasingly isolated within ideological bubbles. Technology connects us structurally, but empathy connects us ethically. Without it, progress becomes regression.
If I could change something, it would be this:
I would restore the capacity for deep listening—for recognizing the vulnerability of others. Because without this recognition, history tends to regress instead of advance.
And cinema, for me, remains one of the few spaces where empathy can still be practiced—where we are invited to inhabit lives that are not our own.
How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?
In a hundred years, cinema will undoubtedly transform in its form—new technologies, immersive environments, expanded realities, perhaps even dissolving the traditional boundaries between spectator and image. The relationship between screen and spectator may become more fluid, more interactive, perhaps even more individualized.
But I believe its essence will remain intact.
From the first screenings by the Lumière brothers to the radical reinventions of filmmakers like Dziga Vertov, Andrei Tarkovsky, or Agnès Varda, cinema has always been less about machines and more about perception. It’s a way of organizing time, of sculpting memory, of confronting reality. Technologies evolve; the human need to see ourselves reflected does not.
Even in an era increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and algorithmic consumption, cinema will survive if it preserves what made it powerful in the first place: the ability to create interruptions. To slow us down. It forces us to encounter—silence, contradiction, vulnerability.
The format may expand beyond the dark movie theater. The image may become holographic, immersive, decentralized. But as long as there are human beings searching for meaning, cinema—like literature, theater, or music—will reinvent itself around that search.
A hundred years from now, cinema may seem strange.
But if it continues to question who we are, it will still be cinema.
What are your thoughts on WILD FILMMAKER?
I was truly honored by the invitation from WILD FILMMAKER. It’s a respected platform in the international film scene, and seeing the variety of filmmakers who have shared their work and ideas through the magazine, I felt both humbled and grateful to be among them.
As a filmmaker still at the beginning of my feature film journey, this recognition has a special meaning. It suggests that attentive curators are looking beyond established circuits and connecting with emerging voices—especially those from Latin America who propose a more auteur-driven and poetic approach to cinema.
I believe that platforms like WILD FILMMAKER play an important role in connecting different film cultures and expanding dialogue across borders. If Brazilian and Latin American cinema has something urgent and poetic to say, it is through spaces like yours that these voices can resonate globally.
Therefore, I sincerely thank you for the opportunity and wish the magazine continued growth, relevance, and longevity in the international film community. Brazilian kisses and hugs.
I am a father, a grandfather, and a recovering addict. Those experiences motivate my filmmaking – to search for wonder, walk through pain, hope for love, and explore the world with a wide lens. We only have so much time to figure this all out. The days get shorter – not longer.
Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?
I do, It was Jaws – though probably not for the reasons most people cite. Of course, the Indianapolis speech is incredible, but I didn’t fully appreciate what Robert Shaw accomplished there until much later in life. As a kid, when I first watched Jaws, it was the quiet moments that I later realized stayed with me. The evening ocean cinematography – even filtered – still evokes wonder. Those scenes invite your mind to search for what you don’t know. Then the music hits.
Tell us about your project “Vagabond In Red: Iquitos“.
As a recovering addict with decades clean, I’ve experienced a lot of loss and hundreds of deaths. Being part of a 12-step program gave me a good life, and I’m grateful. But each day is a choice – I choose life. Even after working the steps and following suggestions, I’ve still had dark moments and times where I felt I held myself back. I’ve watched friends with decades of sobriety relapse and die.
Over time, treatment has changed. Doctors now often prescribe medication immediately after rehab – something that wasn’t common during the first decades of my recovery. At the same time, many institutions designed to support people with mental health conditions were closed because medications were believed to solve many issues – but addiction hasn’t disappeared. New street drugs seem to have made it worse, and new street drugs will continue to evolve. Homelessness has only grown, and many people struggle to stay on medications, with some even hitting a wall many years later where existing medications no longer seem to be effective.
So – what is the sixth and final episode of Vagabond in Red about? Besides looking at the commonality that a location like the Peruvian jungle shares with the rest of humanity – it really centers on healing trauma. I hope it asks whether there are ways beyond pharmaceutical medicine to address our shared traumas and the broader human condition. Is every prescribed medication the answer? What really is medicine? As a person in recovery, it took a lot of soul searching and decades of research for me to get to the point where I was willing to do some investigative work outside of my own realm of understanding. I walked away believing I did the right thing.
Which director inspires you the most?
Spielberg, obviously – because of Jaws. But I’m also deeply influenced by Tarantino’s use of soundtrack to evoke feeling. Music in film – like in Jaws and others – creates three-dimensional visions in my head. Images drive music choices, and music drives imagery. Then there’s an additional four-dimensional element that hits when making film. My own emotions, past trauma, and inner life, and maybe soul, mixed with the beats, lived experiences, and images, help put my thoughts to film.
What do you dislike about the world, and what would you change?
There’s a lot. But if we could move from inequality toward equality, that would change everything. It would bring hope and reduce the fear that so many people live with. That said, if you want to experience the best the world has to offer, you have to go out and experience it directly. There are wonders far outside our normal scope of lived experience. Get off the couch! Don’t use cruise ships to expand your mind. Take risks.
How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?
I think concerns about AI creating instead of humans are valid. The path I’ve chosen – documenting lived experience – is relatively safe for now. There’s still so much of the world and culture that needs to be documented before it disappears. Cinema won’t disappear, but the way it’s packaged and presented will evolve. I’d be lying if I didn’t say putting on that Apple headset didn’t blow my mind.
What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?
I like what WILD FILMMAKER is doing. It’s making shared ideas and connections more accessible within the filmmaking community. I believe strongly in shared connections. I think both Vagabond in Red and my current project Nunnehi – which uses the Appalachian Basin as a microscope to explore human traumas and connections over the last couple hundred years – hopefully reflect some of what WILD FILMMAKER is accomplishing by touching on connection.
Keep up what you’re doing. We need more voices in the world. Maybe now more than ever.
John Myrick was born in Kansas City, Missouri and raised in El Paso, Texas. After a super brief college football stint at UTEP ended by a knee injury, he found himself on the El Paso set of Walter Hill’s Last Man Standing, where Christopher Walken praised his ability to convincingly lie dead on a cold, icy car in the desert. John took this as a sign, the cinema gods were calling!
He enrolled into the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, making dozens of emotionally shallow short films and attending film festivals. At one screening, his film print literally combusted in the projector. The audience applauded. John cried. Both reactions were correct.
Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?
I was probably exposed to movies a little too young in the 1980’s, thanks to at home cable channels like HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax. One summer it felt like Conan the Barbarian, Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Star Wars, Superman, Jaws, and Animal House were playing on an endless loop. I was just a kid, but I was completely hooked.
In the 1990s, a “guru-type” guy at my local video store told me I had to watch Reservoir Dogs. Back when video store employees had their own curated sections, that recommendation hit hard. The commode story, Tim Roth rehearsing it, then the cut to him performing it in front of the mobsters felt like a flash of brain lightning! That was the moment I realized cinema had a much bigger canvas than I’d imagined, and I was drawn to it.
Tell us about your project “Impacted”.
I walk my two pit-mix rescue dogs, Riggins and Stevie, every morning, usually in Santa Barbara or West Hollywood. One June morning during our signature fog, I was walking them on the beach with almost no visibility. The ocean was completely still and quiet, and it felt like a black-and-white Twilight Zone set. I remember thinking: what if I stumbled onto something strange out here? I was totally alone except for the dogs.
That image stuck with me and became the seed of a short story about a man with a film camera shooting b-roll who captures something unsettling under lonely, low-visibility conditions (The Sanchez Film). From there, the idea expanded into the A-story: a local access TV program called Impacted—”the best cinema appreciation show on local access”—that takes on the restoration of the old black-and-white footage. Thanks to our local sponsors (my real-life SB friends Boss HossBarbeque and Wise Acres Winery and a special nod to Pump and Dump, a parody of a local septic pumping company with Disney-like commercials). Things quickly go off the rails when the intern handling the restoration turns out to be obsessed with horror films and recuts the material to be genuinely terrifying. Since it’s local access, I leaned hard into the low-budget, DIY chaos of it all, which ultimately led to a fun, strange short film that embraces those limitations rather than hiding them.
Which Director inspires you the most?
I’ve been inspired by different directors at different times Milius, Scorsese, Coppola, Tarantino, Peckinpah, Nolan, and more recently PTA and Sean Baker. That said, Christopher Guest had a big subconscious influence on Impacted, especially the love of low-budget chaos and absurd humor.
What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?
Ha – honestly, we don’t need any more profit-obsessed shortsighted CEOs! When is enough enough?! We need more artists, storytellers and original voices. People who make the world more imaginative, thoughtful, hopeful and human. That’s the change I’d like to see.
How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?
I think passionate stories will still be told, hopefully by underdog storytellers 🙂 Formats and technology are evolving fast. Will IMAX-style screens become the new normal? Will our phones shoot an IMAX type image with an app? Hopefully, all these changes open the door for underdog voices with something amazing to say about our shared human journey.
What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?
I’m new to Wild Filmmaker, but I’m really enjoying it! It feels fresh and a great platform for interviews and connecting with like-minded cinema enthusiasts.
I am a sensory illusionist. My technique as a visual artist employs the integration of color, light and texture with many surface variations and includes mixed media. Sculpted Paintings® (my registered brand), uses the texture created by layering canvas on canvas.
The addition of the founding documents of the United States symbolizes the struggle we have endured. The colors that I use in the flag and landscape paintings embodies the beauty and wonder of our spirit and the written words found throughout the work are a testament to the very nature of who we are as a people.
As a filmmaker, Tipping Point has expanded the experience of seeing the images and prose and the impact on the viewer becomes of this moment and our shared experience moving forward.
As an artist, there is an attempt to balance what is stated and what is suggested. I hope to share my work through many mediums, and I aspire to convey personal insight through a universally understood concept.
-Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?
After watching the Ten Fingers of Dr. T., I became intrigued with the story and its effect on my psyche. Later, I realized the memory of that film had a profound influence on my way of thinking as to what is possible in film, by the telling of the story and what is revealed in the imagery.
-Tell us about your project “Tipping Point”.
I am reminded of the story around The Statue of Liberty. Poet and activist Emma Lazarus wrote the poem “The New Colossus”, as a fundraising effort for the pedestal on which to place the statue.
The sonnet was not originally attached to the statue, but subsequently, became the identifying symbol of liberty.
Tipping Point is the culmination of my paintings and poetic prose to initiate a visual conversation around who we are and what we could aspire to as people living in this nation or any nation.
Everyone is searching for the hero to fix our current situation, but a hero isn’t an abstract concept.
It’s you, it’s me, it’s us, together. We are the heroes we have been searching for. We can remedy this situation that is unlike the very nature of who we are.
-Which Director inspires you the most?
My favorite projects include a bit of magic, the spark of creativity, the inclusion of invention of the unique and a sense of elevated style. I do not lean towards stories that have a literal way of viewing the world. I feel that most sophisticated work has grown beyond that way of storytelling.
-What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?
I try to work using my insight and skill and endeavor to create the realization of my vision.
This applies to every medium, even film. Yet, if the message is too distorted it will not be understood.
So, there is a need to be practical regarding the interplay between invention and reality.
-How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?
Our world has become so changed in the past one hundred years; we can only imagine what capabilities might be possible in the future. Surely technological advances will be a factor in what is said and how it is stated. Truly, I hope that we can use technology in positive ways to help all people have wonderful lives, that no one is sick or homeless or hungry. I feel real concern that there is already a battle for resources, but if these concerns are abated, then perhaps many people can use future technologies to create in unimagined ways.
-What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?
Thank you for using your platform, Wild Filmmaker to gather the thoughts and impressions, insights and creative processes of diverse creatives. It is an essential tool in exposing what is happening in the world of constantly evolving filmmaking.
I’m a French-American actor and producer based in Los Angeles. I was born in France, and I’ve been passionate about acting since I was a kid. Today, I’m focused on film and television projects, both in front of and behind the camera. I’m a member of SAG-AFTRA, and I’ve been fortunate to work on a variety of productions, including TV series and independent films. I’m also involved in producing, which allows me to help shape stories from the ground up. At my core, I’m someone who loves storytelling, collaboration, and taking on roles that challenge me. I’m driven, adaptable, and always looking for ways to grow — both as an artist and as a person.
–Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?
Yes, I remember it clearly. I was eleven, sitting in a tiny theater in Orléans. There was a moment in the film when everything went silent, and it felt like the whole room was holding one breath. I’d never felt anything like that. I walked out knowing, deep down, that cinema wasn’t just something I loved — it was where I belonged
-Tell us about your project “FOOLPROOF”.
Foolproof is a mini-series I’m both acting in and producing. It follows two brothers who plan a risky heist to save their father, and the story digs into the moral lines people cross when they’re desperate. For me, the project is about authenticity — keeping the tension real, the emotions grounded, and the characters human. Being involved creatively from the start let me shape a world that feels raw and honest. At its core, Foolproof is a story about family, loyalty, and the price we’re willing to pay for the people we love.
-Which Director inspires you the most?
The director who inspires me most is Denis Villeneuve. There’s a quiet intensity in his work that I connect with — the way he builds tension through atmosphere rather than noise. His films feel alive, almost haunting, and every frame carries purpose. What I admire most is his ability to balance scale and emotion. No matter how big the world is, the human story is always the heartbeat. That’s the kind of storytelling I aspire to.
-What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?
What I dislike most about the world is how quick we are to disconnect from one another. We move fast, we judge fast, and we forget to see the human being in front of us. If I could change one thing, it would be to bring more empathy into everyday life — not in a grand, idealistic way, but in simple moments. Listening before reacting. Trying to understand before assuming. I think the world becomes a very different place when we choose empathy first.
-How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?
A hundred years from now, I think cinema will be even more immersive — maybe blending physical spaces, AI, and storytelling in ways we can’t fully grasp yet. But even with all the technology, I believe the heart of cinema will stay the same: a human story that makes you feel something. So in my mind, the future of cinema is bigger, more interactive, maybe even participatory — but still driven by emotion, truth, and connection. That part never changes.
-What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?
WILD FILMMAKER is inspiring because it champions independent voices and authentic storytelling. It’s a platform that values creativity and merit over budgets or connections, giving filmmakers a real chance to be seen. For me, it aligns perfectly with my approach: raw, human stories that connect with people, not just the market.
A young woman making sense of the world through filmmaking. I direct, write, produce, act, and work in the art department. I have a background in fine arts and have been a performer and an artist in many forms for my entire life. I’ve been a “filmmaker” for 5 years now, and my mission these days is just to write, write, write… write some more, make a feature film, make another, grow, change, build on my skills, and collaborate with great minds. Oh, and I’m from a tiny town in Texas, now based primarily in Los Angeles.
-Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?
Yes. I used to make only still images… I would paint, create large-scale murals, and get hired to shoot photographs at concerts. The moment I fell in love with cinema was the moment I realized that I could expand picture-making to 24 frames per second. That meant more of what I love, and more of creating an immersive experience for the picture viewer. It was about re-imagining what I myself experienced when shooting concerts: an inseparable relationship between the camera, the subject, the action, and the viewer. When making my films, I can re-create and re-interpret the feeling of a time and place and show it to you through my lens of the world. When that is achieved well, and you know you’re experiencing someone else’s dream or reality re-imagined, you just know it. There are no words for it.
-Tell us about your project “Doll Parts”.
Doll Parts was a tricky project to make because I played the lead as well as directed, and my co-lead Deanna Chukes and I basically improvved the whole thing. I brought my ideas, and since she’s a writer as well as an actress she understood the assignment. Danny Tran, who played all the “Toxic Men”, is a dancer and an actor, and was also wonderful all on his own without a script. My cinematographer Abery Saulsberry and I were working out lighting and blocking in real time which allowed for several sudden and exciting ideas to unfold that we got to execute immediately. We shot and edited it in two days.
The story is important to me because it is a collage of several ideas (and ex-partners) from over the years combined to create a short experience that embodies some of the fears and desires that I feel are rarely discussed. Doll represents more of an idea than a character: she is the idea that we take on labels from others and lose ourselves as nuanced and unique individuals. It is a cautionary tale about conforming to another person’s ideas of who you are, and in turn, losing who you are and finding yourself way off center. I hope that this film encourages people to evaluate their close relationships, their boundaries, their overall sense of self-worth, and to listen to their best friends when it comes to dating! Sometimes they know you, and know best.
-Which Director inspires you the most?
Agnes Varda. She carved her own path in a male-dominated industry in the 1950s with a voice that was distinctly poetic and curious. Her sensitivity toward everyday people and moments is aspirational. Her work is born out of a blend of documentary and fiction, with specific attention to female interiority, which is a similar recipe to what I use in my work. She never stopped evolving and trying new things until the very end – each commercial, film, and video that she made blows me away and keeps me wondering what will happen next. Her work is so unpredictable and fabulous. She lived as an artist for almost a century, which is also an amazing feat, and overall she seemed like a happy, energetic woman who worked alongside many great collaborators.
-What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?
I dislike very much how powerless people feel today. I wish I could meet with every single person and have a conversation with them about what would make them feel most powerful, and then formulate an actionable plan for each person to achieve that. We all unfortunately have to go on that path alone… except sometimes you see a great film and you walk out of the theater feeling a few inches taller and ready to take on the world.
-How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?
I believe in the future there will be A.I. films and human-made films, and they will be separated by the fact that the A.I. films are customized to the viewer and the human-made films aren’t. I mean, the human-made films will definitely have the benefit of meticulous data collection to be able to understand what the audiences want and what the market demands (much like we have today, but with advancements in tech and in greater detail). Still, I don’t think science and math can predict art – so only time will tell what the moment’s artists produce. Maybe they’ll make movies in 10D. I hope my kids and my kids’ kids will make movies, too.
-What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?
I appreciate how active Wild Filmmaker is out in the world as well as online! It definitely seems like the folks at Wild Filmmaker know how to love and support the film community.
I am an actor and director from Cremona, the Italian city of violins famous in the world. The love for acting was born when I was 10 years old, I cultivated it through ups and downs, but since 1995 it has become my greatest passion. After years of comic theater, in 2023 I decided to try to make my dream come true: cinema! Now I’m in the stable of an important agency for film actors, but I have a lot of fun writing and directing short films of which I am (obviously!) the protagonist… and I prefer the thriller genre!! I have made five films, the last one is now in post-production, which I have presented at some international festivals winning several awards, including 5 for best actor, of which I am very proud!
– Do you remember the exact moment you fell in love with cinema?
I honestly don’t remember, or maybe I don’t know. I have always been fascinated by the “magic” that cinema creates, it almost allows us to live in past eras, or future, or in distant places with characters who tell us about them and tell us wonderful stories, with special costumes and lights, sets to make you lose your breath … All this, and much more, has an irresistible charm!
-Tell us about your project “CENERE” (Ash).
I usually start with the desire to play a type of character and I build the whole film around it. It also happened for CENERE. I wanted to tell how a lonely person lives, suffering from depression, who feels rejected by many, and in part she really is; what are his fears, his nightmares and moods, but all this in a thriller atmosphere. I tried to experiment. The protagonist’s face is always slightly blurred, and I wanted to try a solution that I saw in a film by Gianni Amelio: a long sequence, without cuts, on the protagonist’s face, to follow the story and get emotionally involved. I am very lucky because in these adventures I have met the collaboration of very good friends who lend themselves willingly. The musician Paolo Catelli took care of the beautiful original soundtracks, and several talented actors gave life to the characters I imagined. My children acted too! Thank you all very much!
-Which director inspires you the most?
Surely Dario Argento is the one who impressed and inspired me the most. I immediately admired his ability to scare the viewer, to make him restless and to make him remember what he has seen for a long, long time. In my opinion, this is very important. I believe that if you can’t hit the viewer’s imagination with at least one particular element, if you can’t make them remember something after the end of the screening, then maybe you haven’t done your job well. I try… but I don’t know if I really succeed!!
-What do you dislike about the world and what would you change?
When I was a child or adolescent, the importance that was given to human relationships was absolutely superior to owning “things”. This order is, in my impression, subverted today. I fear that technology is often misused, that we detach ourselves from reality perhaps to the point of losing the lucid perception of it. Is respect for people, for life, for oneself still sacred?
-How do you imagine cinema in 100 years?
Imagining the world in 100 years is really difficult! Who knows how technology will change everything… However, I like to think that in parallel with the cinema that will be produced in those times, perhaps with immersive effects, there will also be a look at the past, at the cinema of today and yesterday, and I am sure that it will still be able to excite. Who knows if the cinema of 2126 will still be a form of art…
-What is your impression of WILD FILMMAKER?
Surely it is a fantastic reality! An international community of filmmakers, critics, and film producers that tells the story of the greats of cinema, but gives authors from all over the world the opportunity to be known, is something extraordinary! I am very proud to have been interviewed by you, thank you very much!
