Sue Stockdale talks to Brendan Davis, a writer-director-producer working internationally in film & TV about what his work involves; what makes an award-winning film, and how filmmaking can transcend some of the silos that people find themselves in.

Brendan's career began his entertainment career in Atlanta in 1990, moved to Los Angeles in 2002, and has split his time between Beijing and Los Angeles since 2013. Davis has been a producer on films premiering, competing, or winning at Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, and other festivals. In 2013 Davis produced the first Los Angeles-based season of Chinese TV hit "Jia Pian You Yue" for CCTV-6, featuring Stan Lee, Justin Lin, M. Night Shyamalan, Sean Astin, and others.

He is a former Producing faculty member at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles, served a year as Chairman of Adamas Film International in Beijing, and has guest lectured at the Beijing Film Academy. In 2018 he wrote and directed the documentary “Yibin: An Elemental Journey” for CCTV. In 2019 he and director Eric Raine completed a 5-year journey making feature documentary CRAZYHOT, about the world of ultra hot chile peppers, now available on VOD worldwide. Davis is currently in pre-production on Paris-based feature film MY FAVORITE SEASON and producing a documentary on US-China relations with writer-director Larry Sullivan, cinematographer Naeem Seirafi, and partners.

Quotes

'Film is a way for me to connect with greater experiences outside myself, but also have my internal interpretation of it.'

'Film is as much driven by the use of sound and music, as it is the visual'.

'The most successful films in general have a sense of cohesion internally. It feels like a finished piece of work'.

'A lot of things inspire me. I think that overcoming long odds is, something that's very relatable to people in general. I think that especially moves me'.

'I feel like there is interest in how can I benefit my family and my society, my cohort. That's a generic difference between the Chinese culture versus the American culture. But I do think it's changing'.

'I have a lot of hope and faith and confidence in filmmaking to transcend some of these silos that people find themselves in. And I feel like that's what is going to be even more necessary than ever before, as we move forward'.

Find out more about Brendan Davis:
Website https://www.crazyinagoodway.com
the podcast "How China Works" https://www.howchinaworkspodcast.com/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brendankdavis/
Twitter https://twitter.com/VeritasInLux

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Sound Editor: Matias de Ezcurra (he/him)
Producer: Sue Stockdale (she/her)