What fun it was to sit down with stunt performer Luci Romberg, who has recently been working as Melissa McCarthy’s stunt double (Ghostbusters, The Boss, Spy, Identity Thief). She has also performed stunts on over 60 films in the last 10+ years, including Transformers, The Conjuring, Divergent, Zombieland, and Earth to Echo.
Category: making a movie
Interview with Emmy Winning Make-Up Artist Paul Engelen (Game of Thrones)
Paul Engelen is is 2 time Emmy winner, and 2 time Oscar nominated Makeup artist. He has worked on some of the greatest/most successful films and TV shows in the last 40 years, including: Game of Thrones (2 Emmy wins), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (Oscar nomination), The Legend of Tarzan (Oscar nomination), Star Wars: The Phantom… Continue reading Interview with Emmy Winning Make-Up Artist Paul Engelen (Game of Thrones)
Interview with Cinematographer Adam Kimmel (Capote, Lars and the Real Girl)
It was a great honor to sit down with the very talented DP Adam Kimmel. His career has spanned almost 30 years, starting out as a teenager being an apprentice for Cinematographer Michael Chapman. His Cinematographer credits include: “The Ref”, “Beautiful Girls”, “Almost Heroes”, “Jesus’ Son”, “Capote”, “Lars and the Real Girl”, & “Never Let… Continue reading Interview with Cinematographer Adam Kimmel (Capote, Lars and the Real Girl)
Interview with Composer David Buckley (The Good Wife, The Town)
What a joy it was to chat with the extremely talented composer David Buckley. You can hear his music every Sunday on the hit TV series “The Good Wife”. He was also the composer on the upcoming film “The Nice Guys”, directed by Shane Black.
To learn more about David, you can go to his website: http://davidbuckleymusic.net/
Interview with Production Designer Beth Mickle (Drive, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot)
I would absolutely recommend this route for aspiring production designers. The lower budget world is where you learn to be resourceful, where you can somewhat safely make mistakes which can be recovered, where you learn the complete fundamentals of how a film is made. I try to approach every production—large or small–with a calm nature, and I think that comes from being in the trenches for so many years and learning how to adapt to in all situations. The biggest con to this route is that formal “union” filmmaking can be a bit jarring when you do finally make the leap to the larger arena—but once you learn those nuances, the process really smooths out. That is definitely one pro if you do start in the larger union world—you learn those protocols right away, so you enter the film world knowing how union positions are categorized and how the different departmental responsibilities are broken down.
Interview with Stunt Performer Adam Kirley (Batman Begins, Casino Royale, Grimsby)
Adam Kirley is one of the best stunt performers in the world today. He has performed in over 60 films in the last 16 years, including: Iron Man 3, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, X-Men: First Class, Terminator Salvation, and Munich. He was Daniel Craig’s stunt double in the landmark James Bond movie “Casino Royale”, plus a Screen Actors Guild and World Stunt Award winner.
Interview with Set Decorator Ute Bergk (The Dark Knight, Enemy at the Gates)
Ute Bergk answered the set of questions I emailed her on the airplane on her way to Budapest, Hungary to complete the television mini-series “Emerald City”. Based on the “Wizard of Oz” universe, Ute promises that the series is “going to be something else” and that director Tarsem Singh is a delight. Two months in… Continue reading Interview with Set Decorator Ute Bergk (The Dark Knight, Enemy at the Gates)
Interview with Costume Designer Janelle Nicole Carothers (The Perfect Match)
No matter the medium it’s all a delicate balance between style and craft. I put 100% into every project so they all require the same amount of blood, sweat and tears.
Interview with Stunt Double Olga Wilhelmine (10 Cloverfield Lane)
I’d say jumping out of planes is my biggest high risk and I do that for fun! There are different kinds of stunts at different risk levels. Certain people are better at certain things than others and I very much respect people who do the things I cannot. For example, I know nothing about car crashes and car stunts. There are experts in that area and I would defer to them as it is a special skill.
Interview with Cinematographer Jeff Cutter (10 Cloverfield Lane)
I am most proud of my latest film, 10 Cloverfield Lane, because the photography is very close to what I had hoped we could achieve, and in some scenes, better than I hoped. My favorite experience was receiving an email from JJ Abrams about 2 weeks into principal photography, telling me how great he thought everything looked.
Matthew Toffolo's Summary 