When do today’s top directors know that they have gotten the perfect shot? What do they wish they knew when they first started out as filmmakers about the ups and downs of directing a film that they know now? And which classic films do they revisit and love the most?
These were just some of the questions answered by four top helmers during Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts directors Q&A panel. Watch our full group chat with Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (“Cherry”), Rod Lurie (“The Outpost”), Ramin Bahrani (“The White Tiger”) and Robert Jury (“Working Man”) above. Click on each name above to view each person’s individual interview.
SEE Meet the Experts Directors panel: ‘The Father,’ ‘Greyhound,’ ‘I’m No Longer Here,’ ‘Sound of Metal’
“I miss those moments from my first films where I knew nothing,” admits Bahrani when asked what advice he would give his younger self. “I tell young filmmakers please don’t learn everything. Try not to know everything. Your imagination is so free and try to restrict yourself with the way things are meant to be.” For Jury, he says that if he was to give some unsolicited advice, it would be to “be prepared for the unexpected because that is going to be the nature of the beast.”
For Joe Russo, staying healthy and active is paramount when shooting a film, noting that directing a film can be such an intense physical undertaking. As for Lurie, he says that “directing is really problem solving and the mere fact that you have problems facing you is not the end of the world. That is part of the job, trying to figure things out.”
“Also, you don’t have to eat everything that craft services put out,” Lurie adds, to the amusement and laughter of the rest of the panel. “You can get really fat on a set, especially those big budget films that the Russo Brothers do,” he smiles, to which Anthony Russo knowingly laughs, “It took me a while to learn that lesson.”
The Russo brothers are Emmy winners for the pilot episode of “Arrested Development” in 2004. After breaking through in 2002 with their acclaimed crime comedy “Welcome to Collinwood” and well-received work in TV comedy, they have become best known for helming Marvel blockbusters “Avengers: Endgame” (2019), “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014).
Before “The Outpost,” Lurie was best known for his acclaimed Oscar and Golden Globe-nominated political thriller “The Contender,” starring Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges. He also wrote and directed the films “Straw Dogs” and “Nothing But the Truth,” directed “The Last Castle” and created ABC drama series “Commander In Chief,” which was nominated for Best Drama Series at the Golden Globes.
As well as directing “The White Tiger,” Bahrani adapted the film from Aravind Adiga‘s acclaimed novel of the same name. The Iranian-American writer/director is best known for his acclaimed feature films “Socrates,” “99 Homes,” “Man Push Cart” and “Chop Shop,” for which he was nominated as best Director at the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards, and for TV movie adaptation “Fahrenheit 451,” for which he was nominated at the 2018 Emmys for Best TV Movie.
“Working Man” is Jury’s feature directorial debut, having labored on the screenplay for years before finally bringing it to life onscreen. Critics have praised his moving screenplay and direction, which paints a compelling picture of a man finding a sense of purpose amidst the socio-economic despair lingering in his Rust Belt town, and his personal grief stoically bubbling beneath the surface.
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