I'd love to say that every move I make is completely calculated and I'm sitting on a pile of scripts, sifting through them for the perfect role, but the fact is that there are a lot of talented people out there and there's a lot of competition in our business.
Eric BalfourAt a certain level, great actors who are successful actors don't have to worry about it. They can just go for it because they believe in themselves.
Eric BalfourI'm not a trained chef, so I end up making stuff up. It either turns out brilliant or an absolute disaster. I just go for it.
Eric BalfourHaving been an actor, I always want to leave room for the actors to find their comfort zone, so I don't like to be too rigid in how I plan my shots. It's different if you have weeks to rehearse and you can rehearse on your sets or in your locations and you can plan that out with your actors, but in modern independent filmmaking, you don't really have that time. You have to have a certain level of improvisation.
Eric BalfourAs an actor, I've always paid attention on sets. I've always watched, learned and listened, and you start to see things differently. You always leave yourself an out.
Eric BalfourAs a director, you want to be really connected to every part of your set, from your actors all the way to your camera operators. Everybody is a part of the creative process, and if they feel like they're part of a team versus just being a tool, they're going to give you something special.
Eric Balfour