About
Film Director
TV Director
Writer
Teacher
Los Angeles-based director of multiple seasons of the popular dramedy ZOE VALENTINE for Brat TV; comedy shorts for FUNNY OR DIE; and the digital series THE CONNERS. His award-winning films HARD PILL (MTV’s Logo Network) and WAR STORY have each played in over 50 film festivals worldwide. When John’s not directing or teaching on-camera acting, he likes to blog about the craft of filmmaking and the work of his favorite directors.
Blog
Exploring cinematic brilliance one shot at a time
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ALWAYS (1989, Spielberg)
I know, I know, why this movie? Because this shot from ALWAYS, a minor film not highly regarded by most, is so amazing - a little treasure in a film filled with bravado staging and camera work, but otherwise mostly
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PAPER MOON (1973, Bogdanovich)
Nothing beats, in terms of performance & overall impact, this amazing single shot from Paper Moon. It's a simple thing -- on the surface -- but took Bogdanovich a grueling day and half to get this short scene. The little girl,
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I AM CUBA (1964, Mikhail Kalatozov)
One of the most insanely long and exciting shots I've seen is from the beginning of I am Cuba, a lushly lyrical fever dream of a movie. (Two movies have felt like fever dreams to me, this and Coraline -
