After being a successful professional painter all his life, European-based American Michael Lasoff turned to filmmaking in 2011. The scripts and most of the music scores are his own creations. On a low-budget, he writes, directs, edits and promotes his films all alone. In 2013, Lasoff made his first feature film followed by seven more that have been awarded and shown around the world. His films are satiric observations of humanity, with an emphasis on creators like artistes, dancers, and poets struggling to understand and find love. He’s also made sci-fi and neo noir films that deal with heavy issues in a lightweight way.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
When the art world began to collapse, I decided it was time to return to a hobby I had long before art school, making films. The films that really got me excited about filmmaking were “Alphaville” by Godard and “8 ½” by Fellini. Many years later I was able to realise my youthful dreams with a jump into the dark and some money I made from paintings sales.
-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
No, not directly. Perhaps documentaries can be a wake-up call for certain important issues to be faced in society. Fantasy-rich narratives like I make will not change the world. Perhaps they can awe, console or stimulate the imaginations of a small public. If that is possible, then in my eyes, they have succeeded in doing something positive for whoever enjoyed them.
-What would you change in the world?
I would hope that we all become more environmentally conscious of what we can do to contribute to a cleaner, healthier and socially fair world. I would like to see all wars ended. I would like to see all people becoming better educated. If people could be kinder and better for each other, what a change that would be. But how I would change the world, is too much for my small mind to grasp. I don’t regard myself as the right person to change the world.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I am not sure where the film industry is going but if we haven’t blown up the planet, it might be interesting to see stories directly transmitted into our brains with advanced technical mechanics that enhance and mimic all our sensory organs.
FINDINGS is a silent film that tells of the inner struggles of a woman who wants to emancipate herself, but loses herself in her loneliness while searching for a home. Kristina Schippling is a producer, director, cinematographer and screenwriter all in one. At the beginning of the film, the adult protagonist plays with dolls in her dream world and realises that she has long outgrown her role. Then she meets reality. The people she meets wear the same clothes as the dolls. The main character sees them in the same light and treats them like her dolls, tries to arrange them for herself, to put them down like the dolls, to sit down, which of course fails. In the outside world, the young woman experiences a powerlessness that she did not know in her inner world. FINDINGS is an impressive, profound film created by Kristina Schippling.
–Who is Kristina Schippling?
At the end of the day, I am always discovering and trying out new things and I couldn’t settle on one identification at all. I have the feeling that I have already lived many lives, although I am not old.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
I am basically always inspired; I have hundreds of ideas in my head that just come to me. I like to think about femininity. With the film FINDINGS I wanted to show that emancipation wants to change the current conditions, criticism is made – which is also necessary, but there is often a lack of really new alternative proposals and their implementation. Where can women who have moved on
and no longer fit into the old patterns or want to fit in find a connection? What can the new life look like, how can it be found?
-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in society?
Absolutely. Above all, cinema changes people’s perspectives, their views of something. It changes or directs our perception. It makes important information accessible to masses of people. Unconsciously, we adopt the role models of our heroes, want to be like them or deliberately behave in exactly the opposite way. Cinema has a great influence on social processes.
-What would you change in the world?
If it were possible, I would of course wish for peace throughout the world and for the environment and climate to be brought back into balance. Then I would wish for social systems in which the gap between rich and poor is as small as possible, in which there is equality of opportunity, which lets people live in freedom and as they see fit, which includes different lifestyles and alternatives and tolerance of these. And of course, I would also like to see nature protected, respect for flora and fauna, no more deforestation, no more pollution of the oceans, no more cruelty to animals … I can think of many things.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I think the technical development will increase. I think we will go from the screen of a film to a whole interactive world of cyber space, which is basically already there now. There are unimaginable possibilities in virtual reality. It is possible that the individual media will mix. Film and computer games could come together in virtual reality and become one consumable project. But it could also be that we as a society lose the common canon and everyone just lives in their own bubble and drifts away. Society basically breaks apart because we have lost the same denominator.
I am a wife, daughter, mother, sister, singer/songwriter, writer, author, advocate for women’s rights, lover of animals, and above all else, I love God. As a professional singer, I have been singing and songwriting since 2005, when I started my career by opening in concert for Willie Nelson, where I also sang one of my original songs “Why’d You Go?”. Before that, I wrote four published children’s books in a series called the Cat Detectives, one of which was endorsed by The Humane Society of the United States, because I am also an advocate for rescuing animals. I also have written numerous screenplays, one of which is currently in the preproduction stage. I am, and always have been, a strong believer in the need for quality, wholesome, family entertainment and I also firmly believe there is a strong market worldwide for that.
-What inspired you to become a singer?
I have always sung – ever since I was a child, and I’ve always loved music. I remember when I was young, I would sing along to the standards with my mom and dad. I also sang duets with my mother, sang at church, was in school and church choirs. Back then, I listened to Karen Carpenter a lot which somewhat helped me develop my musical style today. Karen is one of my idols in music, along with the legendary Frank Sinatra. In the mid-1980s, my husband Bill and I promoted and produced many concerts throughout the United States with famous singers, including several concerts with Frank Sinatra. I studied Frank’s style then (and still do) and his phrasing and delivery of vocals, which of course, was elegantly beautiful. At the time, I also met and was around many other legendary singers, including Italy’s own Luciano Pavarotti, who I had dinner with in 1984 in Oklahoma (USA) (along with my husband and his father, Dr. Nazih Zuhdi, who was personal friends with Pavarotti). Before I met Pavarotti in America, my father-in-law had met Pavarotti backstage at La Scala through his sister, an Italian resident, who knew and socialized with Pavarotti. I’ve also been blessed to work with and open for Mr. Vegas himself, Wayne Newton, a couple of times. Wayne is a consummate entertainer and in watching him during the shows we worked together, I learned from him how to capture and entertain a crowd. He is truly gifted at that. Being around these musical giants, and Pavarotti is clearly in my opinion, the best vocalist of all time, inspired me to be a singer that mattered. Plus, my husband has always inspired, encouraged and supported me throughout my career, and I am who I am today as an artist, because of him. I have always wanted to be a singer that could entertain, make people smile, and I wanted to move people’s souls with my vocals and my delivery, as well move them by the songs I write. I wanted – and still do — to make a difference in the music industry, just as I want to make a difference in the film industry.
-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
Absolutely. I think cinema is one of the most powerful mediums there are to bring about a change in society, both for the good and the bad. Cinema has always sculpted the morality of a lot of people. Movies have inspired and moved people, not only with content, but also with the musical scores that accompany the film. In the case of an epic, music can make or break a movie. For the good, it can bring about a change in society by creating visually on screen an idealism that makes a situation or character more accepting and hopefully, make society less discriminating. For the bad, it can influence and change a society in advancing that a certain behaviour is acceptable, when it – in a civilized society – should not be.
-What would you change in the world?
I would change the occurrences of domestic violence and make the laws stiffer to help domestically abused women be valued and protected. I would institute plans and educate to help these victims escape their horrific situations to start a new life. This is why I wrote the song a couple of months ago “To All the Gabbys in the World” and the script to the music video, which was produced by my team to create awareness of this urgent worldwide epidemic, in order to motivate, inspire, and strengthen victims of abuse.
Particularly in America, I would change certain laws related to gun control and stop the madness associated with joe blow public’s ability to possess assault rifles. I would change how people hate. I would save animals that need to be rescued.
In my public television Christmas music special ‘Darla Z’s Christmas Round the World’, that ran several years back, my whole goal was to promote that throughout the world, we as a people, are a lot closer than we think. I would love the world to know that through the power of music, we are unified, that music can bring us together. So, I would change the world in a positive way to promote that we are all in this life together, and I would promote peace and love, and caring – to create awareness that globally, there are many people who want good things, positive things, for the world. I would stop all wars, which I know is impractical, but you asked, how would I change the world. I would have only love and peace.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I believe in a positive direction. And I would hope the film makers of today and tomorrow will protect the craft of human creation. Unfortunately, I think the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and computer-generated graphics may replace character development, real scenes, and human actors more and more, which is sad, I think. AI and graphics are not real. Humans are real. And real human beings have empathy, emotion, concerns, desires, hopes and dreams. As human beings, we need to see real emotion to understand and appreciate fellow humans. So, if film makers as a collective goal continue to advance stories that are true to human emotion, then the future will be bright for the film industry. Advancements will occur that will make it easier and cheaper to portray our art on screen. Tools will be invented to make it easier on film makers to not only film and record the perfect scene, but also to make it easier on the film maker’s budget. Fortunately for me as a singer and songwriter, music will always be in the film industry because of the strength, stability and emotion it evokes. So, thank goodness, I see music still being prevalent in the film industry in the next 100 years and forever!
Indie Filmmaker out of Seattle Washington/USA, Victor Janusz has enjoyed a prolific multi-disciplinary career, –mainly as a full-time Singer-Songwriter-Pianist (also with VJ Band, which he is frontman for, over 21 years in Washington State). Since 1987, Janusz has also directed theatre, short films, and live musical acts. Since 2019, his main focus has shifted to his original screenplays and films including the internationally acclaimed, award-winning feature “Still I Reach For You” (2023 Release). A new full-length film, tentatively titled “Last Dance, Amelia” is in development.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
My years in the theatre (I was Artistic Director of an Equity-Seattle company called TRIAD Ensemble Theatre from 1987–94) as both actor and director made me fall in love with storytelling on a professional level. AS I moved into music full-time (mainly as a live performer– playing piano in clubs, restaurants, hotels 40 hours/week) I became a prolific songwriter. The Songs would foreshadow the subjects of my films –what stories I could tell in that medium.
-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
Absolutely. Just look at how popular films –even wildly successful ones! — (sometimes from unexpected places, sources) both reflect and move the conversation forward around topics that obsess our collective consciousness as a society. “Everything Everywhere All At Once”, “Don’t Look Up” “Get Out” come immediately to my mind….
-What would you change in the world?
I’m driven by the concept of individualism, –what makes each being unique –and therefore, the follow-up idea that they can be listened to, worthy of ideas being integrated, worthy of acceptance. If you want to Americanize it, you can say I’m influenced by “liberty and justice for all” –for starters! “Tolerance” as a descriptive has a provocative political ring to it, sadly. But the idea has both theological/religious roots (“Love thy neighbor”, “He that casts the first stone…”) but also triggers the eternal ‘culture war’ : The late, great theatre director Adrian Hall used to mention that the theatre PRE-DATED Christianity! And this fact alone is inflammatory: Anthropological evidence also supports this with finds of cave paintings clearly showing figures assembled in a proscenium “acting out” stories for an assembled, rapt audience!
–Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I can only visualize the trend continuing of more, disparate, unique voices emerging from all kinds of places– telling their stories, sharing the experiences that were ‘game-changers’ for them, sharing their lives through cinema. My own film “Still I Reach For You” emerges from one of the most significant –painful–episodes of my life that have colored every day since it happened. As an “AIDS Widow” –I want the world to know this demographic, this group of survivors exists! That this fallout from the AIDS nightmare happened, –and is happening.
Straight up? A storyteller. That can be both narrative or documentary. I just want the story to be compelling. He is also the director of Derrick Magnum, in festivals now (shameless plug).
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
I always had a passion for filmmaking. I used to create movies with my GI Joes when I was 7 years old. What is funny is they weren’t action films. I did Woody Allen style comedy with my GI Joes.
-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
Yes, that is why- as someone who is into Christian apologetics- I believe film can convey ideas that we want to get across. Now don’t get me wrong, I think faith based films are garbage but I think you can make a film that appeals to wide audiences that also forces people to deal with worldview issues. My latest film, Derrick Magnum, leads people to debate on whether someone who is “me too’d” can ever find redemption. This is a conversation that needs to be explored.
-What would you change in the world?
Homelessness, I would also encourage more inclusion, as a Father of LGBTQ kids I want a world that is safe for them.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I dig streaming but I am also a fan of the theatrical experience IF it is done right. You remember what it was like to see Batman 89 in theaters? It was an event. Movies need to be an event again. I think theaters can survive another 100 years if they can figure that out
An ordinary kid from a small American suburban town in Rhode Island. I have been writing stories and entertaining people with them since the first grade, where I won my first young author award. Since then, I’ve written a few books. It was a skill that came natural. Among writing, I am also a soccer fanatic. I’ve played the game since I could walk and played all through my collegiate years. As a lover of most sports I also enjoy the outdoors such as hiking, fishing and camping. My greatest joy, besides making films, is hanging out with my family. They are my biggest inspirations for my writing. I consider myself very lucky to have all the opportunities I’ve had with my life.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
It was more of a career and life change that made me decide to get into this industry. Upon finishing my bachelor I was offered a job at a hospital and was also offered help financing my graduate program. It was at this point that I knew this wasn’t the direction I wanted my life to go and knew that there was more out there for me. That moment is when I searched within to chase after the dream that has lived inside me for so long. With all the great filmmakers and story tellers in this world it is Christopher Nolan who inspires me to write stories that hopefully challenge my audience to think.
-Do you think cinema can bring change to society?
Absolutely, it can bring change. There is a cancel culture who is taking storm and trying to get books and films banned for the messages that they bring to people. If cinema can have that much of an impact that people want to cancel it or get it banned then it could also have the same strong effect with hopes in a positive way. It’s all about the message you wish to send and the media you want to use to send it.
-What would you change in the world?
If I had the ability or power to change one thing in this world it would be hunger. Nobody deserves to go to sleep with a hungry stomach. There is enough food on this planet and resources to get it there that we should be able to feed everyone.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I’m afraid to even think about that. With all the new technology that is being released such as AI, I’m afraid people are going to be more dependable on these. It’s scary to think they might use AI to write about human emotion, which they are incapable of feeling or using it to portray human emotion which again is impossible for it. They say everything goes in cycles and I’d like to think that people will get bored with the digital world and revert back to actual film.
I am a husband, father of two amazing sons, Producer, Director, Writer, Cinematographer, Editor, and Director of the Film and Television Program at Trebas Institute Montreal. I have since gone on to achieve such accolades as the winner at the following cities’ film Festivals, Berlin, Rome, New York, L.A. Athens, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Munich, Rio de Janeiro, Melbourne, Prague, Lisbon, and Chennai Founding my own International Visual Media Company Cinemagi Productions. As well as Alioan Creations, a creative writing company. With my hand in every aspect of the profession from producing and directing, to writing, cinematographer, and editing I have prepared and coordinated over 700 productions for various media outlets. In the past 16 months, I have had my productions enter 80+ Film Festivals and have won 80+ Awards including Best Producer, Best Director, Best Film, Best Script, Best Cinematography, Best Music Video, and Best Dance Video.
I was also Head Juror of the Ontario International Film Festival in 2021 and Juror of the 2020 Vue D’ Afrique International Film Festival and the 2022 Utah Dance Film Festival. Working as an instructor for Trebas Institute Montreal over the past decade, I bring not only an intense passion for filmmaking but also an acute technical skill fine-tuned towards the craft. I work tirelessly to bring forth my ever-growing experience and expertise to the students I so cherishingly educate.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
At a very young age, I wanted to tell stories. Then when I was older I saw Akra Kurosawa’s Ikiru and it changed my life forever. I wanted to make films. I read as many books as I can about the craft. It was only when I watched the laser disc version of Boyz n tha Hood and I heard John Singleton’s commentary that I knew I needed to go to school and learn the craft of filmmaking.
-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
No, I do not think that cinema can change the world but I strongly believe that cinema can change people and that those people can change the world.
–What would you change in the world?
Remove prejudice from the world. We need to care more about our sisters and brothers.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
It will keep evolving and reaching new heights but cinema will always be an art form about people and for people.
I am a 24 years old film director and movie lover from Montreal who aims to explore genre films with a subtle and poetic approach.
In 2020, after more than 4 years in the world of special effects, I decided to quit my young career in order to pursue my real passion for directing. I buried this dream of mine behind my introverted self for years, knowing right from the beginning that I needed to express myself way more than I could do in the conformist VFX world.
I then followed, still in 2020, a formation on the technical aspects of cinema before directing my first short PIG IN A CAGE to test the waters, to see if I was really doing the right move. I realized at this exact moment what I wanted to do. After this short, I got admitted in a university film production program, which I quickly left to focus on my upcoming contracts and own films.
Fast-forward to 2022, I crafted VIDI, my second short and this is the film that gave me the opportunity to do this interview.
–What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
As far as I can remember, cinema has been part of my daily life. As a kid, I remember the movie collection at home, the video-club on Friday nights & the many evening out to the theatre. This is the cliché answer, but it’s true. As I grew older, all these elements became more and more important to me. The movies that I found interesting became increasingly sophisticated, the video-club nights out were not only on Fridays anymore, and the nearest movie theatre became literally my home on the weekends. This passion never stopped to grow, and today I can’t imagine myself without art, without cinema.
–Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
Absolutely!
Cinema shaped my own perception of the world, so I have absolutely no doubt about the power of this art form. Movies give us a chance to reflect on relatable subject such as our own lives and the lives of others, while also having the incredible capacity to let us explore new worlds and to step out of our reality momentarily. That last argument resonates strongly with me since movies have always been a refuge for me in my dark times and have allowed me to find a strong passion which today becomes my job. With cinema having as many layers at the same time combined with the fact that literally everyone watches movies, its power to change society it is an evidence to me!
–What would you change in the world?
If we let alone our rich occidental problems out of the equation for once, I’d say I’d like to change major things that seem to be increasingly out of the media these days. At the time of this interview, all we hear about is that billionaire submarine trip to the Titanic that turned out deadly. I’d say that people dying of having no access to drinkable water or literal genocides in multiple countries are far more concerning than this billionaire ego-trip or the fact that Elon Musk bought Twitter. My major change would be to switch people conceptions of what’s important in life, it’s not normal that people are focusing more on sending death threats to drag queens all over the world than what’s in their kids plates.
In other words, my change would be for people to focus on the right issues and to put into perspective their problems.
–Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
I think that the war between art house cinema and big studios will still be very present in 100 years. I think that artistic cinema will remain important in our industry since, obviously, the big studios will look dumber and dumber with their idiotic scenarios and artificial intelligence to replace the real talents. Which scares me because people seem to be very fond of the idea of going to the theatre to see the same story on repeat, all generated by robots made to collect their money.
Born from a first generation American Sicilian mother and an American Revolutionary Irish southern good old boy my parents fought to rise above their poverty and lack of education to give my siblings and I the American Dream. As a child the birth of rock and roll and MGM musicals fueled my every waking moment and by my teenage years I was a musician, writer and front person for a band. Songwriting has led to script writing and making films using my music, wildly vivid imagination and tumultuous childhood as a catharsis for creative expression. Luckily I had an Italian mother and large family full of love and music to counter my father’s drinking and hot temper. Though scared, I survived, recovered and am striving to be a conscious individual making films in spite of ageism, sexism, money and any and all other internal obstacles.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
Directing and acting in theater for over 30 years, putting on a show and creating something out of nothing isn’t new to me. What’s new is having the technology not only affordable but accessible and comprehensible. If I would’ve had a Mac and an IPHONE when I was a teen I’d 10 times famous by now.
–Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
That’s what it’s all about. The human experience encapsulated in an hour and a half premise allowing the individual to feel and process universal emotions manipulated by color, sound, music and premise through the eye of the director. The art of cinema.
-What would you change in the world?
To put money in the hands of the artist rather then in the fist of the business executives who only see monetary gain as the final solution.
-Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
Maybe going to greater heights, maybe to the lowest depths of what social media has to offer. Perhaps there’s too much accessibility to filming everyone’s waking moment from birth to death. If by chance there’ s a future in a 100 years the attention span of the average person may only be 10 seconds long, or there’ll be a revolt against stupidity and an endless cinematic film full of love and delight, despair and sorrow will be made by true hearts sharing a kindred spirit for truth. Only the shadow knows.
An artist first and foremost. Actor/writer/director/entrepreneur and soon to be book author. Determined and fearless. Passion is what drives me.
-What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
I wanted to express myself and since being a writer I was able to write 2 short films to do just that.
-Do you think the cinema can bring a change in the society?
Yes. I think it is important to show our differences but also show we are all people who want acknowledgement, understanding, compassion and love.
-What would you change in the world?
Hunger and racism.
Where do you see the film industry going in the next 100 years?
With the advent of social media platforms it is much easier to get content out to an audience. I’m not sure of the old school ways of going to a theater will be the way it was decade ago. Maybe that does come back a bit, but change is inevitable. It is so much easier to reach the world now.
