director

Director BIO: Yoson An (BETWEEN THE PARALLEL)

fantasyscififestival director, Director BIO, feedback film festival, short film, wildsound festival review , , ,
Director Biography – Yoson An

2k4a3381v1 8x10 2

Yoson started working in the film industry in his early 20s. Along the way he has had a few opportunities to work on some amazing projects and learned more about the process of filmmaking. Being around different directors have sparked a new passion in him to also become a storyteller. Thus, “Between The Parallel” was created.

 

Director Statement

 

“Between The Parallel” is about a young girl, seeking to find freedom from her reality by depicting herself as a goddess like being through her art.

Being someone of two cultural backgrounds (born in China and raised in New Zealand), I wanted to merge the two cultures through this film. I grew up watching a lot of Chinese martial arts movies, and I’ve also grown to love fantasy/sci-fi films that symbolically explores the spectrum of human emotions; but I’ve never seen the two overlap. “Between the Parallel” symbolically reflects a young girl’s inner struggles (or demons) through her art, where she depicts herself as a goddess-like being in Ancient China, fighting for her freedom. This was an interesting idea to me because I’ve seen many films projecting the idea of good and evil of a characters with biblical references, but I’ve never seen a Chinese version of it. This is how this film began, it is a story told through Elisa’s (the female lead) point of view.

This short film is an adaption of a feature film idea. Most of the story painted itself around what I have seen or experienced in life. The actors (Melissa Xiao and David T. Lim), producer (Amber-rose Henshall), cinematographer (Leigh Elford) and I worked together on the pre-production weeks before filming. Most of the time went into translating the dialogue in the ancient China world and also perfecting the martial arts choreography in the fight sequence. Even though it was a fantasy world, I felt it was important for it to carry an element of truth behind it. The words spoken by both David and Melissa were in close alignment to the way people spoke from the Han Dynasty.

I’m really inspired by films (and TV shows) that uses Sci-fi|Fantasy to take viewers on a (out of this world) journey which reflects a deeper understanding of our humanity. I also believe film is a beautiful medium where we can symbolically reflect our perspective of reality. I would love to be able to bring forth more of my ideas into the world one day (on a larger scale) through the medium of film and television.

Director BIO: Trevor Morgan (MARGARET AND THE MOON)

fantasyscififestival audience feedback, fantasy movies, feedback film festival, wildsound festival review , ,
Director Biography – Trevor Morgan

Trevor morgan

Trevor Morgan began his career at the early age of five and as a teenager co-starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s THE SIXTH SENSE and JURASSIC PARK III, for which Steven Spielberg handpicked him after seeing his work as Mel Gibson’s son in Roland Emmerich’s THE PATRIOT. Trevor received acclaim for his roles in several independent films including: MEAN CREEK which premiered at Sundance and for which he and his cast mates were awarded a Special Distinction Jury Award, BROTHERHOOD which premiered and won the Audience Award at SWSW, and VAMPIRE, which again premiered at Sundance and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize.

 

Director Statement

 

Film is not made by one person…but by people. Individuals willing to go through hard days,
long nights, stress and exhaustion for one goal. Expression. Each individual brings something that is unique to them. Expression that only they can give. Coupled and compounded by the others involved, you build and collectively create something that no other group can. This is through the willingness to accept the artistic individuality that each come to express. Slow, but sure throughout the process of making a film the will, determination, stamina, energy and love is tested…Once strangers, are now the only ones to lean upon. You become one, a family. A dysfunctional loving family that clings together for the common goal. Relates and lashes out from the collective stress, and drops anything for one another. There is no greater bond or experience I have yet to discover. It is this progression of events that I fell in love with 25 years ago. The love hasn’t dissipated and I don’t see it going away. People, Love and Film…these are my priorities…

In this instance, this film traversed 18 months over 25 shooting days working with scuba diving, wire acts, space angled grinders, fog machines, working under manned, under paid, with under estimations, over estimations and the run of the mill over worked, long nights, short sleeps, deadlines, mediocre lunches and hangovers. Despite the intense conditions for what most people would call “just a short film”, not one crew member punched the clock, not one actor phoned it in. I am unsure as to how I got so lucky to have been placed with such incredibly respectable, talented, selfless people, but I did. I won’t question it, but I will acknowledge it, and I am eternally grateful for it. This film is theirs and I sincerely hope this is not the last time we make one together.

Director BIO: Michael Willer (THE VOLUNTEER)

fantasyscififestival director, fantasy movies, sci-fi film, short film, short film festival, wildsound festival review , , ,
Director Biography – Michael Willer

Me smiling with slate cropped

Michael is self-taught, though he did get into film school. He decided to move to LA instead and dive in. School became learning from the professionals he met and then making short film after short film to let it set in.
​
He’s worked in the trenches of development at Rough Diamond Productions, managed the G&E crew on the set of You Should Meet My Son 2!, and worked 14 hour days in the edit bay to finish The Nurse on schedule. If he’s writing, he can keep an eye on budget restrictions, if he’s on set he can speak the crew’s language as easily as the actors’.

Because of this, he’s known as the guy who will show up and get things done on time, under budget. You can see his creative eye in his films; just as important is having a smooth process. This is what he does best.

Director BIO: Miguel Ortega (THE NINGYO)

fantasyscififestival Uncategorized , , , , ,

Playing at the December 2017 FANTASY/SCI-FI FEEDBACK Film Festival in Los Angeles

Director Biography

Image

Miguel is a Colombian Film Director, creature designer and cinematographer with over 15 years experience working in some of the industries most awarded VFX studios. Miguel has brought to life characters and creatures in many Hollywood blockbusters including: Jack the Giant Slayer, Avatar, Thor, Harry Potter, A Night at the Museum, Godzilla 2, and Krampus. Working with his partner Tran Ma, he had his own directorial debut with the wondrous Short film “The Green Ruby Pumpkin” and is soon to release the Faustian tale of exploration and mythical creature hunting “The Ningyo”.

Director Statement

The Ningyo is guerrilla indie film-making. This was done almost entirely in our living room with a crew of 4.

 

Director BIO: Richard Paris Wilson

fantasyscififestival Director BIO, fantasy movies , , , ,

Short Film Playing at the July 27, 2017 FANTASY FEEDBACK Film Festival

Short Filmmaker of A MONSTER CALLED CHARLES

Director Biography

Rich

Richard Paris Wilson is a music video and commercial director, having directed Zara Larsson and MNEK’s smash hit ‘Never Forget You’, as well as videos for the likes of Button Eyes and Toploader. ‘A Monster Called Charles’ is his first foray into the world of short films.

Director Statement

What makes this project particularly unique, is how it combined the talents of professional filmmakers – the DOP, the Gaffer, etc – with a mixture of 14,15 and 16 year old students from the Citizenship Media Group (a charity in South London set up to work with aspiring young filmmakers), who acted as the First AD, Second AD, Camera Assistant and more.

The process of making this film was a real collaborative and learning experience for all involved. Funded in part by the Big Lottery Fund, the film was developed off the back of months of workshops with young people in South London as part of the Citizenship Media Group (‘CMG’), and saw many of those young people become part of the production crew.

Not only was this a great learning experience for everybody – both the professionals and the students – but I firmly believe we managed to make a really terrific film out of it too; one which I am tremendously proud of.

We hope you enjoy what we managed to make.

Rich and the crew