Marshall Curry
Marshall Curry
Marshall Curry is a two-time Academy Award-nominated American documentary director, producer, cinematographer and editor. His films include Street Fight, Racing Dreams, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front and Point and Shoot...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
CountryUnited States of America
edit work
When you work on something in an edit room with just a couple of other people, you never know how it is going to be received.
contest endurance people promise time
A lot of filmmaking is an endurance contest between you and the people you're filming. Every time that you relax, I promise you, something interesting will happen.
affected far filmmakers topic
As far as the balance between being a journalist, being an artist, being a storyteller - documentary filmmakers are all three of those things. The balance between them is affected by the film itself, the topic of the film.
attracted bunch design english jobs public taught web worked
After college, I did a bunch of different jobs - taught English in Mexico, worked in public radio, worked for a web design company - but there was something about documentaries that really attracted me.
designed equivalent implies issue outrage particular people point provoke single sort term urge
I think to many people the term 'activist film' implies a film with a single point of view - something designed to provoke outrage and urge action on a particular issue - sort of the film equivalent of a rally. 'If a Tree Falls' is not that kind of film.
carefully society throw
I think that in our society we use the word 'terrorism' a lot - individuals throw the word around a lot without carefully considering it.
domestic gives information legal online runs victims
My wife runs a non-profit that gives legal information online to victims of domestic violence.
article character pacing sort straight supporting switch thesis
If I were writing an article for the newspaper, it would be thesis statement, information, information, supporting arguments. That would be the setup. When I'm making a documentary, the pacing of the film and the way that you sort of switch from character to character - all of those are more about storytelling than straight journalism.
document people presence question twitter
I feel like people with their camera phones and Twitter and Facebook, this kind of question like, 'How can I be present and also document my presence or document what I'm doing?' is something that's always on my mind, even when I'm not working as a filmmaker.
films fund message yield
I feel like a lot of funders of documentaries today want to fund films that have a social message that is going to yield results.
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I'm not one of those people who sees documentaries as a stepping stone to doing fiction. I love documentaries and watch tons of documentaries. But, I like fiction films a lot, too.
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In 2008, A.J. Schnack recruited Thom Powers to start the Cinema Eye Honors to recognize the artistry and craft that go into making documentary films.
beautiful clumsy films good
I'm not a purist - I like films that are narrated and films that aren't, films that are beautiful and films that are clumsy but heartfelt. Mostly, I just like a good story and good characters.
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The first time you watch a movie that you like, all of the magic works on you. It's an experience of having a world unfold in front of you. But if you watch it again, you start to see where the seams are.