12 Questions with Bruce Terris, Filmmaker

Rachael: What's your sign?

Bruce: Capricorn

When did first know that you wanted to make films?

When I was about 16, I saw Blood Simple and thought, oh, THAT'S what a director does. Been chasing it ever since in one form or another.

What themes or topics do you want to explore in your films?

I love films about people on the fringe of society. Isolation, the need for companionship, the idea that the world is pretty hard, but we can make it through with each other.

What do you look for when you are auditioning actors?

Small, focused performances. Telling a story with a look, or a tilt of the head, rather than through dialogue. Actors that can make the dialogue the icing on the cake are REALLY interesting.

If you had to leave your home in an emergency and could take with you only one item, what would it be?

My laptop.

What is the most recent film that you thought was worth seeing?

Wedding Crashers was funny as hell. I'm probably supposed to name some off-beat indie, but most of those lately have not been so great. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn almost made me pee my pants.

What is the best advice that you could give to actors wanting to work/find work in the Chicago Independent Film Community?

New actors to film should try and be an audition reader at a casting agency sometime. I know this sounds odd, but if you watch how most of the actors audition, you begin to see how BIG they tend to get. Chicago is a theater town and while BIG is good on stage, it's lousy on film.

Do student films. Learn your craft ON CAMERA. Even if the director is a knuckle-head, use the experience to practice FILM acting. Be a sponge. LISTEN to the crew working around you. From them, you can learn so much technical stuff that will get you asked back to set when the director gets her/his next project. Learn why it's important to hit your mark. Learn about frame lines. Learn basics about lens sizes and what that means to you as the person in front of the camera. In other words, become COMFORTABLE on a set.

You'd be surprised how much people just liking to work with you will mean to your career.

As a director, what is your biggest pet peeve?

Actors who don't know their lines. Second biggest pet peeve: actors who have lousy set etiquette (late for work, mistreating crew, distracting other actors, attitude problems, etc.)

What was the best / worst thing about going to Cannes with your film Flying?

Okay, besides just the honor of having my film shown… best thing was walking down the red carpet at the awards ceremony with 9,000 photographers snapping my picture… until they realized I was just a “short” filmmaker and waited for Rebecca Romjin-Stamos.

The worst thing was the way we did it. We were in pre-production on a feature and flew in on a Thursday and left on Sunday. I practically slept through the entire thing.

You have worked as a First Assistant Director on a number of films; how has this informed your work as a director?

It has taught me the importance of being prepared. That is the mistake 99% of first time directors make. They are not prepared. They THINK they are because they watched Goodfellas a hundred times, but they have not put in the tedious work required to make the best film possible.

How important is your relationship with your producer, crew and cast?

Vital. You could write a book on this question. But to answer, I'll say that the second biggest mistake a director makes is thinking he/she is the bomb. Film is TRULY a collaborative medium. This is especially true on indies. Now, someone will think of a big director and say he/she is not collaborative and his/her films are great and…

All I can say about that is usually those directors are studio directors and are paying their crews HUGE sums of money to put up with their crap. In the indie world, you need to work with your crew/actors/producers or else your film will suffer.

What is your favorite junk food?

Lou Malnati's pizza.