INTERVIEW WITH THE YOUNG ITALIAN DIRECTOR WHO’S LIVING THE PERSONAL DREAM IN HOLLYWOOD
Looking for a unique prospective in the deep american film market, we found an italian talent that fight every single day to establish in the independent industry. Hollywood has no mercy? Well, maybe this time we can support something which deserves real promotion. Echoes is an psycho-drama short film, that has received various nominations and won different awards around the world.
It’s well known for it’s unique style, storytelling and impressive VFX. We have recently met the author Andrea La Mendola in Los Angeles, who’s working on a peculiar adaptation, a thriller feature film that’s still a secret. These are his following answers to our interview…
1. Starting from the main title, what means Echoes in your mind?
In my mind evokes suspense, elegance. When I chose the title I was thinking to a classic reference, Ovidio’s metamorphosis, the Narcissus and in a certain way the topic is very similar. The question I’m trying to answer in the movie is: where does an extreme form of narcissism bring a human being? When narcissism is brought to the limits what happens to the beauty? Echoes also reminds me of a memory that slowly fades out and disappears…
2. Do you think italian directors need more support in the US film industry?
Well it’s a very complicated topic. we come from a totally different reality professionally and culturally speaking. It’s not very easy for Italian directors and authors in general to fit in the hollywood system. Americans know us as directors mostly through neorealism, from what Fellini&co did in their long careers. That was an amazing cinema, but very far from what Hollywood and the US film industry seeks for. As Italian directors we have to find a way to promote our origins and at the same time show that we can adapt to a very structured system like this. The Italian entertainment right now is not really able to support an international wave of Italian authors. We seek support from who is willing to help us, but it’s not a planned and structured approach.
3. How could an independent filmaker work with Hollywood?
There are some preferred ways or things that worked with others’ people careers, like when you have a very good success with a super low budget movie or a short film, and you get picked up by someone that is already established in the industry, or maybe you write an incredible script – I haven’t read them in years- it’s more difficult that what it seems… Generally there are three key points that you wanna follow to try to break into Hollywood. Know your craft very very well, be unique in your vision and do an incredible amount of networking and PR (promotion and marketing).
4. What skills do you need to emerge as professional?
There is a big introspective moment that you have to pass through. Then learn how to work in team and deal with very complex and various behaviors. Analyze the market and understand what’s the best thing to offer, and I’m not necessarily talking commercially. of course if you wanna work with Hollywood that’s a key component. And learn two opposite skills that actually saved me plenty of times. Learn how to prepare everything in advance analyzing the details, but even more learn how to improvise
5. Tell us about your next future with Echoes?
Now Echoes is commercially distributed on Indieflix, Roku and xbox and it’s going really well. We are probably done with the festival circuit where we obtained very good results. I’m still showing it from time to time in public, but I’m very focused on my new movies right now. One of them follows the line of the psychological thriller, so Echoes is a very good reference for it. And that’s something that I learnt here in Hollywood, you always wanna have your next project ready and be projected to what’s next and not that much on what you did. It’s a cultural thing and to me means: which story do I wanna tell next?!
IMAGE CREDITS: Paperblog.it
