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Meet the Filmmaker: Angelo Guglielmo, “The Monolith”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
AG: I was born as the eleventh child in a family of eleven. A big Italian family with a full cast of whacky characters–it was like growing up in a Fellini movie.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
AG: My film The Monolith is a doc short about my next door neighbor here in Manhattan. The idea for the film came over morning coffee visits. While she was telling me about this major loss of her view, I could see the visuals: an artist, the skyline view, a building. The film has been popular on Vimeo, screened around the world in festivals and won a few awards, too!

Q: What else are you working on?
AG: I’m currently filming a doc about a survivor from the Century 16 Shooting. It has been pretty intense with a lot of twists and turns. I’ve adapted my book and documentary The Woman Who Wasn’t There into a screenplay and shopping it.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
AG: Let’s see: currently, I’m listening to that Justin Bieber song “I Don’t Care” on repeat. I am a huge Streisand fan and have a project I need to post called “Let go and Let Barbra.”

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
AG: www.vimeo.com/AngeloG/themonolith and directedbyangelo on Instagram.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
AG: I’m honored to be screening here and hope the audience is tough on my film.

The Monolith will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, May 16th at The Bug Theatre.

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Meet the Filmmaker: Jon Casler, “Paul Rivaz Gets Back Up”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
JC: I was taking a game development class in 2011 where we made animations with the video game engines. It was by far my favorite class, so I resolved to go to film school in the future to learn how to make ‘real’ live action movies. 5 years later, I’m still making movies!

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
JC: This film has never had a public screening. It was my documentary production project for Colorado film school for the fall 2015 semester. I knew I wanted to do a film about a comedian, because I love comedy and comedy shows. Fortunately, Paul Rivaz, who I had met only a few months before, agreed to do it, though he told me he thought his life was boring and nothing was going to happen. Then, during the course of the filming, his acting mentor Mike Nuccio died, and he landed a job in Africa, and was preparing to make that move, in addition to trying to survive at the low paying job he held at the time. I filmed so much material it was very overwhelming to try to cut it down to 8 minutes for the class. I also wasn’t very skilled at screenwriting back then, so I wasn’t satisfied with my class cut. I kept working on the film off and on for about another year. I finished a second cut, and a few months later the hard drive it was stored on got corrupted. Fortunately, I uploaded a copy to youtube in case this happened. Unfortunately, I still wasn’t happy with the cut. Because it was an interim cut, there’s some jumpy edits that are now unfortunately baked into the film forever. I may film the Q and A and add it to the film, because Paul’s life has gotten a lot better since 2015, and it would make for a perfect happy ending. Because the footage was destroyed, I don’t have any more plans for screenings in the future, except for Paul’s wedding, if that ever happens.

Q: What else are you working on?
JC: I’m working on writing and producing my own shorts, webseries, and documentaries. I am also figuring out how to backup all of my professional footage that remains, which is about 20 TB! Right now, I am deciding between a FreeNAS RAID server, LTO tape, or archival Blu-Ray. I have an upcoming project about a man in Utah who rescues, hunts, and keeps Mink as pets. I want to use Paul and some people I met in acting class in an upcoming bromance short. I’m a big proponent of the American Film Market, so I’m also creating a concept for a feature to make and sell there.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
JC: This movie was the first time I was part of the crew that captured the last professional footage of someone who died soon after. It’s happened again twice more.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
JC: Paul helped to build me a website, HeadlinerMedia.com, though I never update it. After this screening, I resolve to get it updated!

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
JC: It’s important for filmmakers to support each other in Denver because there’s not a broad consensus in the general population of the value of film production in this state. They like watching it, but not funding or helping it’s creation, which is a real shame, because Colorado has so much to offer for film here. So we just have to do the best we can through projects like the EFP, which do get seen by national industry people. In fact, one of the Walking Dead crew told me that I should focus on getting a film into the EFP, he was very impressed by what he saw.

Paul Rivaz Gets Back Up will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, May 16th at The Bug Theatre.

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Meet the Filmmaker: Richard Corso, “The New World Order”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
RC: To add my own words to the famous Kubrick quote: making a film is hard. Plain and simple. But in my line of work there is no greater thrill in life than seeing the characters you created come to life on screen. Telling stories, in my opinion is what makes us human. Continuing the story is what storytellers do. Who we are and what we create is nothing more than matter. In time, the film we shoot on, the paintings we paint, the pyramids we build, will eventually go back into the ground of a rock that is floating in space. And as sad as that is, it truly is a nice little thought that for a small point in an infinite time, we had the pleasure to add to the mound of future dirt, for some species to find millions of years from now.

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
RC: The film screening at EFP is The New World Order, a film adaptation of Harold Pinter’s political satire of the same title. This dark comedy stars Cody Dermon & Haydn Winston as two Englishmen with unknown goals of fascistic tendencies who discuss in bullish tones what they intend to do to a third man, who sits gagged, blindfolded and bound to a chair. The acts of violence and abuse referred to are present in the speech rather than the action but an oppressive air of menace persists.

Q: What else are you working on?
RC: I am currently in post-production of a film, titled Cassidy Blues. A collaboration between Kareem Kamahl-Taylor and myself. Cassidy Blues draws inspirations from 60’s French New Wave as well as high-octane American Cop dramas of the 70’s. The story follows two detectives (played by Gabe Combs & Brian McGee) who are chasing a ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ criminal couple (played by Mandy Groves & Asha Bee) their only lead: a pack of cigarettes known as Cassidy Blues.

I am also in pre-production of a surreal adventure comedy, titled Three, to Cairo. The epilogue to a Hollywood epic, Three to Cairo is an absurdist exploration of communication – not only why it fails and where that failure leads, but also the strange and quirky universals that bring people together – games, ambition, travel, and literal and figurative thirst. By showing its diverse characters on a simple path to a common destination, Three, to Cairo dives into the intricacies of that basic human need: connection.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
RC: Website: www.richardcorsofilm.com
Vimeo: vimeo.com/richardcorso
Facebook: www.facebook.com/richardcorso.film
Instagram: www.instagram.com/richiethereptilianplant

The New World Order will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, May 16th at The Bug Theatre.

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Meet the Filmmaker: Lewis Leslie, “Deuces”

Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
LL: Since an early age, I had a fascination with the people behind the scenes. I followed actors and directors that I liked, and developed a Rolodex in my head of my favorites. Once I learned that, in this day-and-age, it was possible to make movies outside the studio system, I did my research, and went to work. I started out writing screenplays, and in 2010, was fortunate enough to direct my first feature, Killer Ink. From there, I was hooked!

Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
LL: Deuces stars Marc Bilker & Andrew Roth. “When dejected circus clown Deuces is awoken by a mysterious stranger, he soon finds himself in a battle of wits with the Angel of Death, and must find a way to defeat the stranger, or risk losing what’s left of his soul.” It’s currently on a festival run, which began with the film winning best cinematography at the Colorado Short Circuit Film Fest in CO Springs. Deuces is also screening at BlissFest333 in August.

Q: What else are you working on?
LL: Dream Hero Productions has one short film One Way & 3 features Strange Company, Battered, and Sinners, Inc. in post-production. We are also in development on two new feature films: The Dying Fields (Billy Blair & Emmy-nominated T.O.N.E-z in talks), and our exorcism film Cross to Bear (Bill Oberst Jr. in talks), as well as a couple more shorts coming down the pipeline before long.

Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
LL: I gravitate toward psychological thrillers and horror films, but have been known to make a few dramas and faith-based films from time-to-time.

Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
LL: Dream Hero Productions can be most easily found at www.dreamheroproductions.com, but we are also on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
LL: The EFP has been Denver’s premier showcase of new and developing talent in the Denver area for many years. It’s always an entertaining and exciting display of what Colorado has to offer the world of film. Check it out, and support local artists!

Deuces will screen at The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, May 16th at The Bug Theatre.