Making A Feature Film Is The Scariest Thing For A Filmmaker by Frank Coraci
Film Courage: Your first featured film was MURDERED INNOCENCE?
Frank Coraci, Director: MURDERED INNOCENCE…it’s kind of like I lost my virginity on it.
Film Courage: Okay…I hope she called you afterwards?
Frank: Not literally…(MURDERED INNOCENCE) I lost my innocence on it. It was funny, I had made short films, I had made a thing with Adam, I did a short with Adam Sandler because he was at SNL [Saturday Night Live]. And I had this reel that I put together of anything and everything I could shoot. I had a PSA and I was obsessively trying to put this reel together because I thought the reel was the way I got to be a filmmaker.
I had in my head from being at NYU that all of my favorite filmmakers Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg, like everyone had made a movie before they were 30. And I had this self-included “I have to do it or that’s it. I’m not going to make it.”
I was literally in the editing room like 20 hours and I had some weird visual reaction-seizure thing and I got rushed to the emergency room. While I was in the hospital I thought the dumbest thing I ever thought was that there was a number. If I’m really a filmmaker, I don’t care if I’m 40, 50, 60, 70, I’m never going to stop until I make movies.
And it was almost like I had to have that revelation because the following week I was on Long Island with my girlfriend at the time in a video store. I think it was a Blockbuster (they were still around)? And I turned around this corner and this guy was hitting on my girlfriend.
And he’s like “I’m a filmmaker and I make movies.”
And I’m like “Yeah? I’m a filmmaker too.”
He’s like “Yeah? What did you do?”
And I said “You want to see my reel?”
And he’s like “Yeah, I’ll see your reel.”
And he saw…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
Check out Frank’s new film HOT AIR — in select theaters 8/23/19
See Film Courage’s collection of Writing and Filmmaking and Acting videos on Youtube.
New videos 5:00 p.m. daily! Subscribe to the main Film Courage Youtube channel and our second Film Courage Youtube channel here…
