Kasra Farahani

Chromista

1) How did you get into directing? 
After working as a concept artist and art director on studio films for 8 years, I wrote and directed a short film called “NOON” which was optioned within 24 hours of its release by Chernin Entertainment and 20th Century Fox.

2) What is your most recent project? 
My most recent project is a feature film called “TILT.” I am currently in postproduction on the film and hope to complete it in the Fall.

3) What is the best part of being a director? 
Coming from a drawing and painting background, for me the best part of directing is the sense that you are painting with the largest brush available. The scope of motion picture to me feels that largest in terms of my ability to elicit an emotional response from the viewer.

4) What is the worst part of being a director? 
The worst part is easily all the waiting! So many logistical variables go into making a piece of motion picture content that waiting for all the pieces to line up just right can be a real trial.

5) What is your current career focus: commercials & branded content, TV, movies? Do you plan to specialize in a particular genre—comedy, drama, visual effects, etc.? 
I truly love all facets of motion picture. I love the in depth investigation that is allowed in long form filmmaking, and I love the experimentation and innovation that is uniquely suited to short form work like commercials and branded shorts.

6) Have you a mentor and if so, who is that person (or persons) and what has been the lesson learned from that mentoring which resonates with you?
Unfortunately I do not have a formal mentor, but in the course of my career as a studio art director I have had the good fortune to work with several extraordinary directors—Michael Mann, Steven Spielberg, David Fincher, James
Cameron,  JJ Abrams to name some. I have learned an enormous amount watching these guys prep and shoot their films.

7) Who is your favorite director and why? 
This is nearly impossible to answer. Kubrick and Kurosawa have been favorites since I started really paying attention to films in my teenage years. I suppose if I had to pick a contemporary director, I might say the Coen Bros. I love the spectrum of emotions that they throw at their audience in the course of a single film.

8) What is your favorite movie? Your favorite television/online program? Your favorite commercial or branded content? 
This is a brutal question. “Barry Lyndon” is up there for me. In terms of short form, I think Jonathan Glazer’s Guinness ads are masterworks.

9) Tell us about your background 
I was born in Iran but have lived in LA since I was a year old. My education is in industrial design and I was a feature film concept artist, art director, and production designer in the studio world for many years before I started directing.

Contact

Contact EP Sandy Haddad at Chromista