Was this your first Doc Challenge? What has been your favorite part about Fusion Doc Challenge?
It wasn’t my first doc challenge, but my favorite part of challenges in general is the time constraint. You start something and you have to finish it. Deadlines suck but they’re also incredibly good motivators.
How did you take the theme for the 2014 Doc Challenge “I have a bad feeling about this,” and use it in your film?
I think we let the story drive the film and then the theme was either going to fit or it wasn’t. We refused to let the theme force us to make a short we didn’t want to make. That’s probably not the best response, but it’s the truth.
What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
People.
What is your favorite part about the short film form?
You have one note to hit, and you hit it as hard as you f****** can.
Who were the people that supported the making of this film?
Still from “The house of Tom of Finland,” A short by Andrea Lewis
My lovely lady Vanessa Brown, my friend and his eyes Justin Teichen and my boy Aidan Avery who dug into it with me.
What resources do you use as a filmmaker?
Error. People try to plan everything so that nothing goes wrong, but something always goes wrong, and I think if you embrace it a lot of times it can end up being one of the best parts of a project.
What is your next project?
I don’t want to jinx it.
The independent film business is growing. What keeps you motivated? Where do you see the industry going in the future?
Watching movies that make me excited, where someone is pushing something. It makes me want to push further and push the boundaries. Movies are always going to be around, how we view them on the other hand is a different story.
Which filmmakers, artists or individuals have most influenced your work?
Albert and David Maysles, Errol Morris, Brian Eno and Seymour Glass.
What advice would you give new filmmakers?
Keep making things.
View Andrea Lewis’s film “The House of Tom of Finland” competing in the Fusion Doc Challenge, and follow her career with The Audience Awards.
The Audience Awards is film’s social network connecting audiences to films, filmmakers, film schools and film festivals. The Audience Awards hosts short film competitions where the audience chooses the best films.
