WHAT INSPIRED ME TO GET INTO FILMMAKING?

Actually, in the beginning I wasn't interested in film making at all. After the military I wanted to be an architect and went to college for that. While there I discovered radio and realized I had the voice and the talent for it. One day I met an architect at a coffee shop in Manhattan and he said find another field, this one is dying. He was right, I took his advise and switched to broadcasting under liberal arts. After school I worked at a few radio stations until I was laid off.

While on unemployment I saw an ad for extras needed for a major film in New York. It was The Bonfire of the Vanities, my first film and that's when the bug hit. After that I extra'ed on a few more indie and major films. The pay was ok, but far and between and I had a family and I needed to make a steady income, so out of necessity I started working behind the camera and made much more money. The hours and days were long, but I really liked it. I worked in many departments and learned so much about filmmaking. I did everything from set construction apprentice to set lighting apprentice, food prep to boom op, camera assistant and of coarse production assistant.

But after a few years I wanted to move up. I was lucky to meet really cool people that taught me so many things, including sound recording for film. It wasn't hard because I worked on the radio and knew all about studio audio recording, I just had to learn how to do it in the field. I worked on many indie films over the years as a sound recorder and loved what I was doing but eventually I wanted to direct a film. So I went to film college to get my degree in directing, writing and cinematography.

Since I had years of experience in the field, film college was easy for me and in fact I was able to contribute my knowledge to the class. I'm still writing my history and it isn't easy, but it's the ride of a life time.

So basically, I got into film because I needed to eat and pay the rent. Love for the art came later.

Rick James Co-owner of Denver Pictures LLC www.denverpicturesllc.com