As a director, you get a little more control: Shawn Christensen
Shawn Christensen has worn multiple hats including that of a graphic designer, lead vocalist, screenplay writer and director. While his short films such as Walter King (2006) and Brink (2010) have received much acclaim, his film Curfew (2012) earned him an Academy Award. With his most recent feature film release, The Vanishing Of Sidney Hall, earning quite some positive responses, Christensen talks about what influences him as a writer-director, how he copes with money and time constraints and more.
Growing up, which filmmakers influenced you the most?
When I was younger, I was influenced by more mainstream movies — a lot of Steven Spielberg movies and John Hughes films and then when I went into college, I was more inspired by European films — early stuff, (Roman) Polanski or (Bernardo) Bertolucci. I saw Blow- Up (1966) and that’s what got me into (Michelangelo) Antonioni. Then I just morphed into many things but basically when I saw Chinatown (1974), it got me into screen writing.
You were disillusioned with big studios for reworking your creativity. Is there a culture of big studios gentrifying movie scripts for mass profits? They have, for me, a few years ago. However, that was at a time when I really was just a screenwriter and I hadn’t directed anything yet. You see, in Hollywood, the screenwriter not being a director is a very dangerous hat in the feature film world. In fact, when they buy the script, they own the copyright so they can do whatever they want to. Once you start putting yourself as a director you just get a little more control. I have never worked within the studio system as a director, only the screenwriter and in that fashion, I was screwed.
Do you think that’s bound to happen with the online platform, too?
Not really, to that degree, no. They don’t mess around or intervene, quite as much as certain studios. So, I imagine they are sort of depending on the filmmakers themselves. And there are indoor studios as well but I wouldn’t really classify them as the normal studios but you know everyone’s stance is different and every studio is different.