[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: I believe you had to re-find your footing when you were in your 30s? Can we talk about what happened and what does re-finding mean?
Joe Burke, Filmmaker/NYFA Instructor: Yeah, I love it. Re-finding my footing in my 30s. That’s almost like a good name for a book or something.
Film Courage: There we go. By Joe Burke.
Joe: Finding my footing in my 30s. Yeah, it’s got a nice ring to it.
I started making movies when I was 8 years old in the backyard.
My family had a camcorder.
I fell in love with making movies.
I remember the first short we made was on Thanksgiving.
My uncle, my grandpa, and my brother were all at the house on Thanksgiving and we made a short film and I was like, Oh my god, this is something I want to do forever.
And that was it.
And it just kept going, kept going, kept going.
And my whole life was dedicated to acting and making movies from high school through college through grad school all the way up until basically my 30s.
And getting into the professional industry in my mid 20s and I think I got a little burnt out like we talked about.
I just needed to take a step back and basically recalculate what is actually going on here.
How do I want to live my one life that we get?
I don’t want to feel so desperate and so kind of avoiding life and living for this one goal and putting everything else aside like I was saying earlier it’s like I have to find a balance.
Also, I was getting personally too caught up in the industry which you know the word toxic is thrown around a lot for all stuff, maybe it’s toxic whatever it’s just like the Hollywood industry, the show business, right?
You know, the whole, it’s not show friends, it’s show business.
It’s a business and that’s it.
Long story short, I paused.
A few different things happened.
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I kind of fell in love for the first time, got my heart broken, I left my agent manager.
I was this, I was that, and I was like, Time out. Okay. I just want to go back to where I think I belong, which is in film school, which I love so much.
I just want to get back to just the craft of storytelling. And so I called up NYFA [New York Film Academy] and introduced myself and they said yes.
I got hired to teach here and it was sort of teaching here and getting back into the classroom and getting back into the purity of what storytelling is what movie making is all about.
That kind of slowly started getting me back on my feet. I will say and I said this to a friend recently jokingly, my first year of teaching was an interesting year.
I would sit in the classroom and just be like You don’t know how hard it is in Hollywood.
I would give these whole like emotional…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
Joe Burke is an indie filmmaker and actor best known for his new award-winning movie Burt, Four Dogs, Another Cancer Movie, House Sitting and more. As an actor, he has appeared in numerous national commercials and television shows, including Freeform’s Good Trouble, and the critically acclaimed Showtime series Ray Donovan, acting opposite Academy Award winner Jon Voight. Originally from Toledo, Ohio, Burke moved to Chicago after high school to study filmmaking and theater at Columbia College Chicago. He later relocated to Los Angeles, where he earned his MFA in Directing from the prestigious American Film Institute (AFI).
WATCH ‘BURT’ TRAILER
MORE VIDEOS WITH JOE BURKE
CONNECT WITH JOE BURKE
About New York Film Academy:
Founded in 1992 by Jerry Sherlock, the New York Film Academy (NYFA) provides an accessible, hands-on education in filmmaking, media, and the performing arts. With a mission to make the film industry more accessible to all, NYFA empowers students from diverse backgrounds to tell powerful stories through a project-based, immersive curriculum. Students work closely with industry professionals, gaining invaluable mentorship and real-world experience while building creative, technical, and collaborative skills. NYFA’s global community includes students from over 160 countries, fostering a network of passionate storytellers. From day one, students dive into creating projects that refine their craft and prepare them for successful careers. With a focus on practical experience and individualized support, NYFA equips students with the tools and confidence to excel in the competitive world of filmmaking and the arts.
CONNECT WITH NYFA
Nyfa.edu/location/nyfa-los-angeles
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