'Gun Hill Road', is a film I have yet to see, but I am dying to see it. It's based on a story of a Puerto- Rican transexual and the things he goes through in life. The director, Rashaad Ernesto Green spoke about directing the film in an interview. Rashaad had no intent to become a director, but spent 3 years in the MFA program of acting at NYU. "Being an actor first was a great way to jump behind camera first", he says. Rashaad also said, "I thought, “I’m going to be in class with kids who have had a camera in their hands since they were five years old. I am really going to have to work my butt off.” Which I did." It's funny how many people perceive a role before jumping into it. I always thought I just wanted to be an editor, but when I became a director amongst the rest of the roles I took to put the film together, I realized that this is something I truly love to do. Rashaad also mentioned how one of his short films also opened doors to even creating the feature film, 'Gun Hill Road'. Rashaad tells the interviewer how it was inspired by someone in his family and decided to take the story further. During the casting process, Rashaad explained he didn't do the casting traditionally and spent most of his time on the streets in NY searching in clubs and other places for the right character. This interview was so inspiring to me I decided to follow Rashaad on twitter. Below are some links and references to the film and the interview.
http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/news/2011/08/rashaad-ernesto-green-gun-hill-road/
http://twitter.com/rashaadernesto
www.gunhillroad.com
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