James Cullen Bressack, Filmmaker: I knew this was an intervention! We got the lights and we got the camera, it’s an intervention…
Film Courage: For anyone looking to break into the movie business and make a living at the same time, what’s the best path for them?
James: What do they want to do in the movie business? That’s a better question because you could make a living doing what you want to do, but if you’re saying just Person A just wants to work in the film business and needs to pay rent and there is no aspiration of what they want to do.
Film Courage: Suppose they eventually would like to be a director but realize they can’t just start out that way, so they’re not starting out from an extra work point of view where they can simply go to Central Casting and actually get a paycheck.
James: Crew work, that’s how you can work up the ranks or if they have access to financing or distributors, they could be a producer and put together a project and then they can kind of negotiate their pay from the budget there. But the guaranteed money right off the bat is starting up in crew and working your way up. The first few movies I did as a director I didn’t get paid, I did for free. The first three movies I did I just used the budgets to put it on screen and I thought a director made money off of how the movie did, not that. Then I remember I got hired to direct a movie and it was my first time getting paid to direct a movie. I got paid a thousand dollars to direct this movie and I was like Holy wow! I could get paid to do this!? The best way to fully be paid right off the bat would be crew work.
Film Courage: What if someone says I want to be paid. My services are valuable. I realize I’m brand new but I want you to pay me?
James: For what?
Film Courage: To work.
James: Okay, but as what?
Film Courage: Okay I’m going to be a…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
About James Cullen Bressack:
James Cullen Bressack is an American producer, director, and screenwriter. At the age of 18 he received critical attention from audiences and critics alike when he made his debut feature, My Pure Joy. One to push boundaries, James followed up with the bold and unapologetic Hate Crime which forced audiences along for a brutal home invasion, the first found footage feature ever to be made in the style of having no cuts. The entire film plays out painfully in real time. It was promptly banned in the UK for its fearless story telling, one of three films to be banned in the last 25 years and remains so to this day. The prolific filmmaker refused to slow down completing seven more features including Pernicious, 13-13-13, and Blood Lake, starring Shannen Doherty and Christopher Lloyd, which made James the youngest director to ever direct for television.
After writing and directing the haunting Bethany, James shifted his focus to producing. He has now produced forty-eight features including releases for Lionsgate and Cinedigm and is a member of both the PGA and SAG/AFTRA. His impressive body of work has won him numerous Best Picture and Best Director awards on the film festival circuit. James has achieved all this at the age of 29 and refuses to slow down as he continues to push the envelop and make films no one thought possible. His most recent features include Beyond The Law, starring Steven Seagal and DMX along with Survive The Game and Fortress which star Bruce Willis and Chad Michael Murray. He also just completed photography on the feature Hot Seat starring Mel Gibson, Kevin Dillon, Shannen Doherty and Sam Asghari.
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FORTRESS featuring Jesse Metcalfe, Bruce Willis, Chad Michael Murray, Kelly Greyson, Ser’Darius Blain, Shannen Doherty. Directed by James Cullen Bressack. Written by Alan Horsnail. In Select Theaters, On Demand and Digital on December 17, 2021.
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