I’m awful at defining myself. My life has not been linear enough for that. I’m just me. But for interview purposes, what’s important is that I’m the sole member and founder of Cipher Cat Films, the creator of “11:11″(short film), and the upcoming release “Walking in the Wrong Direction” (short film).
– What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
I didn’t have the typical lightbulb moment that other filmmakers seem to have had. I’ve always created fictional characters in my head, and stories kind of come as a result of that. Eventually, I started writing them for people other than myself, under the pen name L.E. Flinders, somewhere back in 2015-2017. But I didn’t ever intend to direct when I initially started down this path. I just wanted to write scripts and produce them with other people, and have fun doing it. And somehow, this just happened. But it’s been an incredible experience to get to shape my writing in such a visual way.
– Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
I believe that cinema is always in a constant state of changing society. The media that we take in, in all forms, changes our individual view of the world. And, as a result, how we approach the world and interact with it. It’s especially true with films that influence us early on in life, but it never stops. So every film, or other artistic expression out there, plays a role in shaping the world we currently live in, as well as the world we will live in in the future.
– What would you change in the world?
I’d love it if people were less fearful. In my experience, fear is the root cause of so much harm that people do. Hate can come from fear of others. Greed and pride can come from a fear of inadequacy. Dishonesty almost always comes from fear of judgment or rejection. Even harmful inaction comes from fear of doing or saying the wrong thing. It always circles back to fear. I think it’s possible to live cautiously without letting fear control us. And unfortunately, in the world today, fear seems to be growing. So I’d love to help change that.
– Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
My hope is, that small, truly independent, filmmakers will find it easier and easier to get their films seen by large audiences. It’s kind of a hidden silver lining in the darker aspect of tailored marketing. It’s genuinely scary how accurate my youtube recommendations are. But at the same time, I love that. It allows me to find amatuer and professional filmmakers, comedians, musicians, etc who I would never know existed otherwise. And occasionally just videos of an elephant dancing to flute music or a man on a porch feeding a dozen hungry raccoons, both of which are also cinema, in their own way. And 20 years ago, I couldn’t do that. And I hope, that over the next 20-100 years, that small filmmakers are given even more options that allow that kind of ability to find unlikely niche audiences. Because the more easily you can reach your specific audience without a big distributor or a big production company to appease or impress, the more artistic diversity we get, both as filmmakers and as audience members.
