[sws_blockquote_endquote align=”” cite=”” quotestyle=”style03″]Art is a plural form and you don’t have to like it but you have to accept it.
– Cheryl Dunye[/sws_blockquote_endquote]
Born in Liberia, Cheryl Dunye received her MFA from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts. In addition to being a filmmaker, Dunye is currently an associate professor at California College of the Arts.
Her feature films include The Watermelon Woman (1996), Stranger Inside (2001), My Baby’s Daddy (2004), and The Owls (2010). In many of her works, Dunye express her experiences, struggles, happiness, and pride with being an African American lesbian woman. The Watermelon Woman, in particular, was paramount in bringing this unique perspective to the screen. In addition to directing, she also produces and/or acts in several of these films.
In the video clip above, Dunye discusses rushing to Hollywood vs. building your body of work and the merits of film school vs. art school.
Dunye also sat down with Lezgetreal.com to answer a few questions about acting, directing, and casting:
You act and direct in both The Owls and Watermelon Women, do you like being in front of the camera or behind the camera better?
A bit of both, there are times you need to be in front of the camera to perform and add that extra edge of visibility. While being behind the camera gives you that control. In Stranger Inside I did a smashing job as a director behind the camera [without acting in it]. I actually was nominated for an Independent Spirit award for that.
Is it a challenge to direct yourself as an actor?
Because I’m there at initial development concept and conception it’s not too much of a challenge. When you get on the set and there are people asking directions from the director and people telling actors where to be, it’s a bit more complicated. In post production, there is a challenge for some people to watch themselves. But I understand that the creative process doesn’t always look good, but it’s important.
Newsweek attacked gay actors, saying they can’t play straight. It’s certainly hard enough for queer actors to find work, is the sexual orientation of an actor something you think about when you are casting?
Yes and no. I think that I’m a maker of queer work so I want queer performances. I have not worked with straight actors playing gay so much except when I did “My Baby’s Daddy,” that Miramax film, where there was a straight actor playing gay, there were none [gay actors] that the studio would approve. I ran into this issue in the real world. If you want to make Hollywood cinema you have to play by those rules. You can do whatever you want if you don’t. So, I do whatever I want.
Nobody knows what to do since there is this digital revolution going on. It’s changing how we make films and subjects of films. You play by the Hollywood rules, you won’t get what you want. Maybe they [Hollywood] want us to remain invisible. The folks that I deal with won’t abide by that and make their own art.
If you’re looking for more info on Cheryl Dunye, check out her website.
Cheryl, what a role model!
You don’t have to go to film school… I like that part.
I love Cheryl but she’s wrong wrong wrong. Five reasons you should go to film school.
1. Peer connections.
Your classmates may be the most valuable resource you’ll ever have.
2. Industry connections.
Film is the “glamour” industry. Everyone and their mother wants to work in it; so the barriers to entry are more prohibitive than the hospitality industry. Breaking in is hard. But going to a program like USC or NYU gains you instant connections to an alumni network.
3. Technical know-how.
Craft is certainly teachable but it’s hard, near impossible!
4. Intelligent feedback.
From your professors and peers, being educated and theoretically sophisticated and intelligent when it comes to film ‘es muy importante!’
5. Mentors to push you.
Shooting a no-budget DV flick with all your friends in it, and then showing it to them and getting their “that’s me on screen, this is awesome!” feedback, is not the best way to develop your inner auteur.
I agree with Cheryl. You don’t have to go to Film School. I never went and I make my living writing/directing movies and stage entertainment.
With the availability of inexpensive digital video production and post equipment you can make two short movies a month to develop you skills.
And please please please to people who want to make films. Don’t have a a big fall back plan! I’m glad I never had one. In my first six or seven years of struggling I may have used a a little fall back plan when things got tough – like a high school diploma for security work.
I know too many people with the passion who slipped into their big fall back plans and never recovered form earning a steady paycheck. Having a big fall back plan is like saying, anything happens, I can quit! Yeah! Makes you feel good abt yourself but doesn’t get you anywhere!
You gotta go to Film School for filmmaking – it gives you a more diverse slate of cinema to be exposed to, and will make greater the tools you will have available to you when you come to make your own. George Lucas (USC) and Francis Ford Coppola (UCLA) are two examples of successful filmmakers who used film school to get their careers moving.
I disagree! Many successful low-budget filmmakers including me have looked at film school from the point of view of, “Hey, it’s going to cost $50,000 a year in tuition for three years? I may as well make some low-budget feature with that kind of money.” This is the attitude that has driven many of the indie new wave where they are today. Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith are good examples here.
You are right!
Diplomas are a necessity in many professions; film is not one of them (I’m still waiting for someone’s “directed by” credit to be capped off with a “Ph.D”).
Nevertheless, industry vets looking to separate the wheat from the chaff will often take you more seriously if you graduated from film school; at the very minimum, it shows you’re serious about it
At the end of the day, whether you choose to go to film school or not, it is a very personal decision. Some people will thrive in the educational environment, while others may find the rigid structures stifling. You need to think about it long and hard, especially when you look at the cost for three years, $150,000.00
I dropped out of film school, and I’ll tell you straight up that I am 99% certain I made the right choice. But, there is that 1% that gets my goats!
You are not a great filmmaker by birth! That’s the truth! It takes a whole lot of practice. Like you eluded, film school gives you the opportunity to practice…a lot!
Yeah – if you get into NYU or USC (and can afford it), there’s no reason NOT to go. But I don’t know how many industry connections you’re going to make if you get into Jimmy Johns Film School in Witchita.
You can also meet a lot of industry connections by just cranking out some films, getting them into festivals, and trying to go to the ones that look promising. That way, you also avoid the dreaded “my friends liked it” syndrome.
Another reason why people sould go to film school is to learn the History and theory.
Even if you wanted to make experimental, avant-garde films, you’re still standing on the shoulders of giants. Not knowing theory and history is the equivalent of saying ignorance is bliss.