If there's something that Mark Elijah Rosenberg hasn't done in film, I don't know what it is.

Started Rooftop Films, which presents art and films around New York. Made a studio feature. Made deeply personal short films like ____ IN PARIS (2026), which he premiered at Slamdance this year. Made interactive art. Taught film. With a background like that, I knew the insight he would bring is incredible, and he doesn't disappoint here.

The best part is you can tell Mark has thought about all these bigger issues in filmmaking, too, and I'm so thrilled he's here to share his perspective.

Mark and I discuss:

• why Slamdance for the premiere of ___ IN PARIS (2026);
• how he got started in filmmaking and if he knew when he started Rooftop Films if he wanted to work on his own projects;
• what Rooftop Films has taught him about the theatrical experience;
• the process of creating his first studio feature, APPROACHING THE UNKNOWN (2016), and how it wound up so different than his vision;
• how the experience of making the film might be different today;
• what advice he gives his students and labs today from all of his studio and independent filmmaking experiences;
• why big, heavy philosophical topics are important to him;
• what should people expect to watch ___ IN PARIS and why does he make so many personal stories;
• how the next generation of filmmakers will approach these deeper questions;
• what his next projects are.

Mark's Indie Film Highlights: AMERICAN GIGOLO (1980) dir. by Paul Schrader; Ja'Tovia Gary

Memorable Quotes:

"The people at Slamdance care about their filmmakers and the filmmaker experience and supporting them as much as any festival I've ever seen in the world." 

"We don't screen in theaters, we screen in neighborhoods."

"With some slight variation for special screenings and regions, most movie tickets all across America cost the exact same."

"There should be a move towards more truly nonprofit filmmaking where films are supported in the arts the same way other art forms are."

"And the NASA administrator said it doesn't help national defense, except in that it makes America a country worth defending."

Making his first feature: "It was a wonderful and difficult and amazing experience."

"This gets back to also the sort of capitalism of filmmaking. If I hadn't made those compromises, the people with the money would've pulled out."

"Don't submit to most festivals unless you think you're gonna be able to go."

"For my students, for any artist, for myself, you have to find that thing that you care about, that you wanna say in the world, but then you also have to find the structure to put it in."

"So the next one is actually about the the physical force of gravity but gravity, both as a force of physics in the world, in the universe, but also as a sort of metaphor for our lives."

Links:

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