I've always wanted to create things, and then in high school I exposed myself to Dogma, and shortly afterwards all of Kevin Smith's works. If a conveinence clerk from New Jersey can do it using his friends, why couldnt anyone? I took a visual communications class in high school where the final project was to write a script and shoot it.

Ive never had as euphoric a feeling as i did when I printed out the final script, and considering it was a story about my recent breakup from my first serious girlfriend, that says a lot. Had a hell of a fun time shooting it with my friends (though i refuse to even watch it anymore its so horrible lol) and applied to college to be a film major. As my experience and training has grown so has my tastes.

I'm a huge fan of classic films now. Cary Grant's my favorite actor and I damn near worship Charlie Chaplin for everything he did. Over this past summer I got a job doing business videos for a company. It's not where I expected to be, but it's my foot in the door and I'm doing what I love.

So yea, I'd say those that inspire me are: Kevin Smith, Joss Whedon, Charlie Chaplin, and for some strange reason anytime I watch Tim Burton's Ed Wood, I feel very inspired as well.

patrick, look up FW Murnau (his stuff is out on DVD... on netflix if you have it) for even MORE inspirations =).

Steven Spielberg for me, I just grew up with all of his movies.

Watching the directors label dvd about michel gondry, or one of the others from that series. Those are great, real creative and inspiring directors to me.

Since my goal is to be a producer of p2p entertainment, my inspirations are more of the business type than the artistic. Ray Kroc (the guy that made McDonald's what it is today) because he showed that you're never too young to start in a new direction in life and reach the highest peak. His involvement in McDonald's started at the age of 62. Hugh Hefner (Playboy) because he showed that you can start it on a shoe string ($500) and take it not only to the highest heights but new levels of respectability. And Walt Disney because he also took something of low repute (amusement parks) and raised them to not only respectability but to a grand scale (Disney World).

They also laughed at Disney when he started work on Snow White. Nobody wants to sit through a feature length cartoon, they said.

Docs ussually inspire me than Dramas...

I watched a piece on Helmut Newton last night, that was pretty inspiring. I also liked a film about a used car salesman called The Slasher. I spent a week working on a schooner workshop with cancer survivors and their shorts were very inspiration (not popular, but still).

As for dramas: The Way of the Gun and Forrest Gump

I find still images incredibly inspiring too.

An odd assortment...
 

Having come up at that time, I would have to say that Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai stands at the top of any list for me. And implicit in that notion is the idea that people should NOT know what they are doing. All the mystery, the possibility is drained out of the thing when people figure out what they are doing.

My background is in various things, from doing stage lighting for avantist dance in the Eighties to writing about music in the vain attempt to avoid the reification and reiteration of cliché. And then there was art school, for an awareness of scale and focus.

Filmmakers? Jacques Tati, Michael Haneke, Jean-Luc Godard, Zhang Yimou, and Kurosawa are clustered around the top of my list. On any given day one rises to the top, even if only to be replaced.

bruce, i dunno if you are aware of the 3 disc criterion SE SD-DVD that have been recently released. it looks AWESOME compared to all previous editions. the sound source is punchy and very clear. FYI =). PS there is an interview with kurosawa himself for the Japanese DGA =D. it rox. his advice is learn by doing. excellent advice indeed from THE sensei.

My inspiration
 

My inspiration is my wild imagination, and wanting to play with cool toys. Still photography was cool and I still do lots of it, but video uses more of my geek skills.

What really drove me to video production though, was being an extra in a film and getting to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff. I love movies, but I've always been more interested in "how'd they do that?"

The first thing I check out on DVD's is the extras dealing with production.

I attended two of the Star Wars Celebration conventions. Most fans wanted to hear the actors speak and collect trinkets. I spent all my time listening to the people from visual effects, sound design, set construction, wardrobe, and other crew. Those people are the real stars of the show.

The Evil Dead series along with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction really got me into film. Tarantino, Sam Raimi, Tony Scott, and Robert Rodriguez would have to be my directorial influences.

Great shock-cinema from Japan also really sparked an interest in film making with me. Films such as Story of Ricky, Ichi the Killer, Battle Royale, Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and my fave Lady Vengeance.

My inspiration is the legends and myths of world cultures. I've been obsessed with them since childhood. I want to tell my own myths and stories and realized that the most potent way to do it nowadays is through film.
The idea at first was to make animation films, but I'm a crappy artist with my hand and most of my artist friends are too inserious and too hard to hold together for even one project.

My favourite filmmaker is Maya Deren.

What really got me into filmmaking was Kill Bill Vol. 1 funnily enough. The way he shot the Crazy 88 fight sequence blew me away.

That being said, nowadays its films such as Oldboy and Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai that inspire me to keep on going and learning to one day hopefully make a film thats even halfway as amazing as those.

The reason I got into making movies was my dispair at the quality of horror movies being made. Being a fan of the Exorcist the modern tripe being churned out wasn't doing anything for me.

That being said I've not tried horror yet!

Directorial influences = Friedkin, Kubrick, Stone, Mann, Aranofsky.

Standing on the shoulders of those before us...
 

I have always had the need to express myself artistically in some way...be it painting, writing, or playing around with making computerized music.

My passion for films began very young...My very first memories to do with movies was watching the James Bond films with my uncle. The first major theatre experience that made an impact (maybe leaving a scar is a better phrase) on me was seeing the original Re-Animator.

I have over 700 DVDs and love watching the outakes, the making of's and listening to the commentaries.

Tarantino and Rodriguez have definitely been major idols for me. (Getting to briefly meet and talk to Tarantino, a person wish come true, at the Matrix Reloaded premiere was awesome and will forever be a highlight in my memory!)

Some other major influences who have left a stain on my psyche are David Lynch, the Coen Bros., Tim Burton, Darren Aronofsky, David Fincher, Ridley and Tony Scott, Christopher Nolan, Jim Jarmusch, and of course Martin Scorsese.

I definitely seem to gravitate towards the more bizarre, cerebral and indie films. But I do think that my collection of DVDs would be considered very eclectic.