Q: Why did you become a filmmaker?
BJ: I became a film maker to give people a voice about their life or their cause. I spent decades as a large format landscape photographer and moving into video allows me to hear the sounds and voices of people in the landscape. I particularly enjoy showing the world through the eyes of others.
Q: What are we going to see at the EFP? Has it screened elsewhere and what are your plans for it?
BJ: Night Fishermen is a a story about three fishermen who have fished all their lives and why they go out to stand on a cliff by the ocean in the middle of the night. It has screened at the Peak Film Forum and is submitted to film festivals through Film Freeway.
Q: What else are you working on?
BJ: I do documentary style videos of fashion designers, models, musicians and dancers in the Denver area.
Q: Tell us one weird thing about you and/or your movies?
BJ: It took ten years of returning to Hawaii for two weeks at a time to develop the relationships and obtain all of the time-lapse footage used in Night Fishermen. I too love standing on a cliff by the ocean in the middle of the night.
Q: Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?
BJ: My web site is billjohnsonstories.com and my Facebook Page is billjohnsonstories.
Q: Is there anything you’d like to say about The Emerging Filmmakers Project?
BJ: I’m glad you are there as an outlet for emerging filmmakers.
Night Fishermen will screen during The Emerging Filmmakers Project on Thursday, August 15th at The Bug Theatre.