Who are you and what’s your filmmaking background?
My name is Ramez Silyan. I am a first generation Syrian American filmmaker born and raised in Los Angeles, CA. My background is filmmaking is mostly self-taught, but I graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (Whatever that means).
Still from”ANTWON – METRO NOME Feat. WIKI”
What are you working on right now?
I’m just finishing postproduction on a short film titled “Animal” starring Chris Zylka of “The Leftovers.” It is about a man trapped inside of a white room with a machine that gives him everything it thinks he needs to survive. It has been about a year in the making and I’m excited to figure out how to show it to the world.
What are you promoting?
At this very moment I uploaded two old music videos I shot with friends for the Kodak Super 8 Challenge. They were both from around the same time when I was able to get my hands on some of the last Ektachrome 100D right as Kodak stopped production. So go vote for those! Antwon ft. Wiki “Metro Nome” and Warm Thoughts “Tire Swing.”
What do you want the audience to take away from your films?
I am a firm believer in cinema as a medium of message. There are those that create to solely entertain and there are those that not only strive to entertain, but provoke thought.
What’s your favorite story from filmmaking?
http://www.audnews.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=7481&action=edit#Personally, on the short that I am just finishing up, there was a wardrobe scare in which the actor, Chris, misplaced the coat he was to wear throughout the film. Apparently he had gone to the premiere of Xavier Dolan’s film “Mommy” at AFI fest and lent out the set piece to the filmmaker for some reason or another and forgot to retrieve it before the night was over! Leaving us to scramble last minute to find another just 24 hours before the shoot.
In the history of cinema? It would have to be the all, but almost forgotten life of Eadweard Muybridge who not only pioneered the moving image, but was a crazed man who was acquitted for murdering his wifes lover in cold blood.
What are your wildest dreams for your filmmaking career?
Wildest dreams? Those probably have nothing to do with filmmaking. I recently had one about hacking all of my friends bank accounts and stealing their money. Maybe I needed it to make a feature? In all seriousness, my wildest (conscious) dream would be able to live comfortably and make feature films.
What is something bizarre about you?
People always comment on my name, Ramez. “Where are you from” is porbably the question I’m most tired of answering. It’s not the slightest bizarre to me, besides the fact that it has a Z in it.
What currently inspires you?
I am constantly inspired by not only those around me that constantly give me their support, but those who have come (and gone) before me and reached me through their films and novels: Kubrick, Paul Thomas Anderson, Lynch, Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, Khalil Gibran…..
What’s your best advice for an aspiring filmmaker?
Focus on the craft of telling stories, not fancy expensive gear. It sounds like a cliché because it’s the Truth.
Visit the filmmakers website at www.getmezzy.com
Watch and Vote for Ramez Silyan’s films competing in Kodak Super 8 POV Video Contest and Kodak Super 8 ACTION.
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