QUESTION 1: What about your film excites you the most?

It's a personal, heartwarming story to tell in a very ambitious way, considering we were on a student budget. I love period pieces, I love feel-good movies, and I've always wanted to make a comedy. I feel this film best reflects me as a filmmaker and one of the many stories I want to tell. I love watching it and seeing audience reactions at film festivals -- it definitely motivates me to create more movies that impact people the way this film has so far.

QUESTION 2: What is it about your current movie that will influence your next film?

As with all my films, nostalgia plays a central role in the theme. My next film is a psychological drama that explores themes of human connection in a very technology-ridden world. I've learned a lot directing "yer smackin" and intend to take what I've learned from this project and apply it to this upcoming one.

QUESTION 3: When youre shooting a film do you think of time as something you capture or something you construct?

Seeing as time plays a huge role in "yer smackin", with the first part being when the characters are young in 1961, and the second part being when the characters are old in 2025, I think of time as something that is captured on film. I love making movies because it is quite literally capturing a moment in time and piecing those puzzle pieces together to tell a story and evoke a specific emotion.

QUESTION 4: Whats a limitation you wish you had on your next shoot that would force you into making interesting creative decisions?

As a film student, budget is always the biggest limitation, but it also shapes the creative decisions made and ultimately benefits the final product. I've learned over time to trust the process and my team, as I know every hurdle comes with a better creative alternative that might even be better than the original idea.

QUESTION 5: If a film shoot is like a living organism which department do you think functions as its nervous system?

What a fun and interesting question. I can see the production department really functioning as the nervous system of a movie. The producers, UPMs, ADs, and PAs are really what keep the production moving and functioning. That's why I'm interested in continuing down the path of producing: I love the logistical problem-solving and the puzzle-solving to make a movie happen and keep it on its feet.

@fieldfilms_ & @johnfieldbrown

5Q's w/: John Brown "Yer Smackin" Director, Writer, Producer