I spoke with director, William Wedig, who is starting to make a dent in the world of movies.
Having done work for brands such as PBS, MTV, Sports Illustrated, People Magazine and Time Magazine, his work has been shown on broadcast and cable television, in AMC and Clearview theaters, on Times Square billboards and in festivals such as Sundance and the Toronto Film Festival.
In 2012, William began his television-directing career. 145 shoot days, 550 script pages and 5,000 shots later, William completed directing 26 episodes of the half-hour action-comedy kids show, Team Toon, set for release winter 2013 on Cartoon Network.
Utilizing a mixed-format presentation, the show fuses live-action with animation to allow for the adventures of four friends whose imaginations tend to blur the line between reality and cartoon. Part Scooby-Doo-style mystery, part monster madness action, Team Toon was a technically challenging show as well as a lengthy and action-packed production.
Most recently, William co-directed and edited the show Exposure: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011. Starring Brooklyn Decker, Irina Shayk, Hillary Rhoda and 14 other supermodels, the show is available on the Playstation Network and DVD.
In 2011, Wedig’s feature film, Forged, was released theatrically. Forged won Best Film at the HBO New York Latino Film Festival and the Outstanding Film Award at the Providence Latin American Film Festival, and screened in the Los Angles Latino International Film. The film stars Manny Perez and Emmy award winner Margo Martindale. Variety’s Ronnie Scheib said that the film’s powerful ending build kinetically and that lead-actor Manny Perez is frighteningly convincing as a man ruled by desperation. For more, visit www.ForgedMovie.com.
He also post-supervised Josh Crook’s La Soga, which is opened at the prestigious Toronto Film Festival and was released in theaters in August of 2010 through 7th Floor.
In the fall of 2008, he completed editing on a one hour documentary for This Old House and PBS,The Life a House Built: The 25th Anniversary of the Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter Work Project. The film details the experiences of volunteers and homeowners working to rebuild the Gulf Coast in connection with Habitat for Humanity in the summer of 2008.
William began his career with his thesis film from the School of Visual Arts, entitled Rise of the Dead. The film was released through Lions Gate Entertainment in November of 2007. The film has been described as a “smart and original take on an equally old genre” (Fangoria) and William’s directing as “a breath of fresh air” (C.H.U.D.).
William was also post-production supervisor on Salvage, a horror-thriller, which premiered to a packed house at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. The foreign distribution deal included a theatrical release and Echo Bridge Entertainment handled domestic distribution.
He graduated with a degree in film from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and lives in Brooklyn.
We covered a lot of ground in this one!
William’s background- where are you from and how did you get to NY,
How did you get bitten by the filmmaking bug?
Take us through what you have worked on . . .
When do you know you have a project you are interested in directing? Are you writing it?
How do you read a screenplay and know if it’s good? If it’s for you?
How do you interact with the writers, producers, talent?
What makes a good partnership?
How would you describe your working style?
When did you know you were good? And could make a go of this?
How do you keep the business angle from overwhelming the creative process?
When do you compromise v. digging your heels in?
Impact of the Editing background- how does that help?
Surfing and SI Swimsuit work- what did you learn from those experiences?
Use of light, how do you make people or landscapes look good, how do you drive a story?
Animation- what makes that difficult or interesting? How do you interact with the artists and voice talent- is it harder or easier than live action?
Team Toon- working with kids- easier or harder than normal actors?
Horror- what were your influences in this genre?- what makes working in this space challenging?
What makes a William Wedig film? What features always stand out?
Who would you like to work with? Actors, other types of films?
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