James Cullen Bressack, Filmmaker: …And then every single page I’ll write in the same color.
Film Courage: What’s the job of a movie director?
James: That’s a deep question. I think we’ve kind of talked about it throughout this whole interview but it’s working with actors, it’s shotlisting the script with the DP, it’s working with all of the departments and getting the best out of everybody while moving toward an overall vision of the film. Then keeping the story intact, keeping the story you’re trying to tell both visually both creatively on a deeper meaning, in a deeper sense all together as one, and having the actors be on board for that.
Film Courage: Once you’re hired as a director what are you looking for with the screenplay, what’s your process, how do you look at it?
James: I look for scripts that have flawed characters that are that are trying to achieve something great and I scripts that have villains that believe that they are in the right because I think that’s interesting to have those types of conversations with actors and dig into that and get into that psychology of why does this person believe that they’re right when they’re obviously the bad guy? Everybody believes that they’re the hero of their own story. Finding that mentality and having those conversations where you might be talking to the good guy, the actor who’s playing the good guy and you’re completely justified in this. Then you’re talking to the actor that’s playing the bad guy and go look this is how you feel because this guy has wronged you. You’re getting into that psychology that’s interesting. I start thinking of that but also if I’m reading a script and I don’t start seeing the movie when I’m reading it…(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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