For the next few weeks we will be brining the recordings of our Filmcraft Series to our podcast feed. These conversations with Miami filmmakers is meant to illuminate what real careers look like, delving into both the artistic craft and business reality of the industry.
It was amazing to kick off the series with writer/director/producer Phil Lord. This conversation was led by writer/director and one of our illustrious board members, Isabel Custer, who did her best James Lipton impersonation going through Phil’s filmography.
One of my favorite parts of the conversation was when he discussed what being from Miami means for his work and he quoted a conversation he had with Danny McBride, you can hear it starting around the 1:50 mark.
“[Danny McBride] kind of made it in Hollywood and then thought, like, let's just move our entire operation and all of our families to South Carolina. And I was like, Danny, why did you at the height of his career? I was like, why did you do that?
He goes, Phil, think about what music would be like if it only came from New York and Los Angeles, right? It would suck. And so he's like, the fact that we make our work in a specific place, in the specific part of the country where we grew up, it just kind of like flavors the gumbo, you know?
And it gives it its own like texture and he's like on top of that like we're able to tap into every creative person who lives in the neighborhood and we're training them but they're also training us and giving us a context that makes our work distinct so I would say that like anyone is from any place like when you lean into the place that you're from or the point of view that it gives you it just makes your work more specific and it, maybe you can explain this to me, for some reason, the more specific it is, the more people relate to it, the more universal it feels.
And that is the ethos behind so much of why we do what we do with Miami Film Lab. We want to bring our particular flavor and culture and quirks to cinema by making films HERE with filmmakers that call South Florida home!
By supporting our work, listening to this podcast, coming to our events and searching out Miami films and filmmakers you are helping us do just that!
So thank you and enjoy the conversation.
Our Filmcraft Series is made possible thanks to the support of the Coral Gables Art Cinema and by a grant from the Tristar Lifelong Learning Fund at the Coral Gables Community Foundation
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Miami Film Lab is a non profit production company that supports local filmmakers as they work to make a living telling Miami stories.
Make a donation today to support local filmmakers HERE
Original music by Hola*Hi (Paul Curtis and Angelina López Catledge)
Logo and Artwork by Royer Design
Recorded with the help of Cafeteria Films
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit miamifilmlab.substack.com/subscribe
