Reposted From www.BruceandDom.com

“Bruce and Dom” Scene Eight:          Sex is Dead

Dom mourns the death of sex as a provocative creative topic:

Bruce and Dom Trivia

I should say a few words about Ed and Rick, the lead performers of “Bruce and Dom.” They are not trained actors. They are my best friend’s father and my step-father, respectively. One works as a school bus driver and the other as a landscaper. They were not paid, save a steak dinner I have yet to get them together for three years later.

Neither had read any of the script prior to filming. They are learning the story on camera as you, the audience, learn it. This made for some tense moments during filming, but we managed to get through it with all the good faith we could muster. It is a particular experience to direct someone you’ve known your entire life. For every struggle with peeling back established roles or battling undermining opinions, there’s a strength in shared histories and shorthand understandings.

Ed and Rick may not love each other like their characters do, but they do love me and support my efforts as sincere. It’s a brand of motivation and commitment rarely captured on film, and I am honored to be the recipient of such selflessness. No other two performers, trained or otherwise, could replicate their successes at being completely genuine to themselves. For my part, I hope I’ve put together a movie that rewards their commitment rather than merely employs it.

From the Archives: “On Osama Bin Laden, 2011”

The night Osama Bin Laden’s death was announced to the United States, I went down to ground zero with my camera to see the scene.  The emotions were very complex down there, representing just a fraction of public sentiment but being broadcast all over the world as US reaction.  This piece is a combination short film//monologue that tries to get at the core of that night.