[Watch the video interview on Youtube here]
Film Courage: What are your best directing tips for a new director who’s working with name talent, it’s their first time, maybe they’re nervous, maybe they’re super excited?
James Cullen Bressack, Filmmaker: Do not be afraid of the person. This is a person. I mean the best way that I approach it is and maybe I’m wrong but I’ll see somebody that I’m meeting for the first time it’s the same way I’ll greet him super happy. I’ll be Hey, how are you? Give him a high five. It will be alright, cool…so anyways I’m really excited to work with you.
Then we just talk and then we talk about the car. I don’t go in with fear. Don’t be afraid of the person. If you start talking, they have agreed to do your movie. You are doing a movie with them. They are there to work with you. If you come up to them afraid of them, they’re going to think you’re afraid, not of them, but of the project, of the scope of the thing. What you need to do is have confidence, positivity and a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. If you don’t go in with fear they’re not going to be afraid. You will instill fear in them if you are fearful.
There’s a difference between being not afraid and still being respectful. Be respectful like you are respectful to what they’ve accomplished and how talented they are. You could even say at certain point I really loved you in this movie by the way. I throw that in while talking about other stuff. I don’t start with that but I put that in there and then talk with them about some of that stuff as well.
It’s the same thing, how do you get along with a new friend that you meet at a party or at a dinner? You have a conversation. Don’t be afraid. Talk to the people that you’re working with.
Film Courage: What if an actor, let’s say Bruce Willis, wants another take and you’re running short on time, you can’t make your day?…(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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