John Nicholas Cassavetes — The Father Of Independent Film
Using the camera to break out of the “Hollywood” box
Every time you watch an off-beat film, something edgy, visionary, bizarre, or unconventional you are watching the influence of John Nicholas Cassavetes at work.
It may Tarantino, or David Lynch…Cassavetes is in there.
John Cassavetes (Born December 9, 1929 — February 3, 1989), was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter He acted in many mainstream Hollywood films, notably Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Dirty Dozen (1967), but he used the money he earned there to create an entirely new genre, The Independent Film.
Cassavetes wrote and directed over a dozen movies, which he financed in part with his Hollywood paychecks, and which pioneered the use of improvisation and a realistic Cinema Verite style. He studied acting with Don Richardson, using an acting technique based on muscle memory.
By 1956, Cassavetes had begun teaching an alternative to method acting in his own workshop in New York City. An improvisation exercise in his workshop inspired the idea for his writing and directorial debut, Shadows (1959; first version 1957). Cassavetes raised the funds for production from friends and family, as well as listeners to Jean Shepherd’s late-night radio…
