Cory Line - Director

Bio:

Cory Line was born in South Korea and adopted by parents Mary and Robin and siblings Chris and Julie in Atlanta, Ga USA. Always interested in film, he attended the University of Virginia where he double majored in Filmic Studies in Critical Analysis and Production (a program he created) and English Language and Literature. As the sole student in the Filmic Studies program, he thought he was a sure thing thing for Valedictorian, but was instead last in his class.

After a too short but enjoyable two years in Paris earning a culinary degree in cuisine and patisserie and working in a one-star Michelin restaurant off the Champs-Élysées, he was offered a full-time position at said restaurant. However, Cory decided that if he really wanted to work in film, he better do it before he started making serious money in another field. He still cooks though. Don't worry.

Soon, he was in Los Angeles where he met his muse, Amanda Thomas, and started working in feature film lighting under the tutelage and eventual friendship of David Tayar. The two filmmakers then decided to make some movies of their own, and Cory thought that in order to do so, he better write a biography first. "And [he] has and this is it."

Director's Statement:

That bio was definitely not written by me by the way, and Amanda certainly did not ask "Hey what about me, your muse?" when I first read it to her.

An Endgame will be my first directed project since college, and I'm very excited about it. I've spent the last few years working in the lighting industry, which is admittedly where my filmic education thus far had been most lacking. In college we moved around the two lights we had and would sometimes use "that red plastic" on the light. Working on set as a best boy grip, which is where all the art in lighting happens (don't tell the electrics), has obviously expanded my knowledge of lighting and many other colored plastics, but it has more importantly taught me how a good set operates and how a good director conducts the set.

That being said, this project would not be nearly as successful without David Tayar as my Director of Photography and Mayon Denton as my Producer.

Now, if you're interested in a lengthy and mostly theoretical director's statement here it is: 

Right now, at this point at the start of my career, I think that movies are meant firstly to be enjoyed. That doesn't mean they don't challenge the audience, and they don't have to be liked by everyone (though that would be nice). I don't agree with the crop of movies gaining traction that are seemingly designed to alienate the audience. There are better ways, more complex emotions, and deeper connections I'd like to have with my audience than making them feel resentful of the time they've given me. 

I want my movies to be beautiful and look beautiful; in that order (any good DP would agree). 

I lament the trend of independent cinema starting to have the same aesthetic as television. I supposed with (potentially) less people going to the theater and being content to watch movies at home, that the visual style would gravitate to that of TV (and this is a general comment obviously). A lot of that comes from some directors being laser focused on their monitor and not seeing it beyond a television sized canvas. It's difficult for a huge wide shot to pay off on something the size of a TV screen. The Searchers doesn't look or even feel like the same movie on a TV versus a theater screen. While I don't think the trend of home viewership can or should be ignored, there is something about having the huge wide shot slap you in the face in the theater, or to see the nuances of an actor's entire body that may not be as impressive or apparent on the small screen. 

I strongly believe in filmmaking as a collaborative effort. That doesn't mean I'll be asking the caterer how to compose shots (something my mother though would happen if I was the caterer*), but I think that once you think that your way is the only way or even the best way (unless you're Mr. Welles, M. Jeunet, or Sig. Fellini) that you've started to lose your way. 

I also tend to be on the side of a the script as a loose guide. I can write something that I think is amazing, but if it doesn't work then it doesn't work. I remember watching the special features of Gosford Park, and seeing Mr. Altman with the actors (not glued to a monitor) and after the take asking the scripty if they hit all the important points. I really like that idea. It's the actors' (gender neutral) performances that carry a movie, and if you've done the leg work and talked through the aesthetic design and camera moves with the DP, then you can concentrate on the performances. Letting the actors be the characters you've hired them to be seems like a no brainer to me. Unless of course I'm adapting a Mr. Gaiman work, then the actors need to just say the f-ing lines. 

I think it's naive to ignore the economics of filmmaking i.e. not wasting money, people's time, or making movies that no one wants to see (or at least movies that are more expensive than the audience who is willing to see it is large). Does that mean that movies can't be everything I've listed above because I'm not ignoring the economics of filmmaking? Hell, no. Look at Kubrick. He was the master of knowing his audience, of making movies that were sensational, looked amazing, and that always made their money back. 

This statement is embarrassingly open, and I don't mind. I don't think creativity in general is something to be hoarded or hidden (unlike ideas in their gestative state). I think it calls into light the ideas of responsibility and openness. I don't want someone to feel like they've wasted their time and money in making or experiencing my works. I want to stay true to these tenants, and I also think that anyone supporting me at this stage deserves to know how the mind that is spending their money works and thinks.

Finally, I don't think that the movies I want to make are the only ones that should be made. I love movies, going to the movies, and watching movies with my muse (that time was me... well, they both were but...). I gain inspiration from all types of movies, books, TV, and often from the most random and oddest places.

But mostly, of course, from my muse.

Cory Line

August 3, 2013

* My mother would like me to clarify that this is humorous exaggeration and that she is not in fact, in her words "an idiot."