Robert Brogden
May Filmmaker of the Month
Robert Brogden is a director and producer from Kansas City, working in Los Angeles. Be it guiding performances as a director or empowering the voices of others as a producer, Robert is thoroughly enamored with the inherently collaborative nature of filmmaking. His goal is to use unique perspective to create character-driven stories and bring attention to people and places not typically seen in film. His work has been selected and awarded by several festivals and institutions, such as the Austin Film Festival, the Denver Film Festival, and the Student Academy Awards.
His work can be found at www.brogdenproductions.com and he’s available at
@robertbrogden_ on Instagram.
Filmmaker Interview
Tell us your backstory. How and why did you get into filmmaking?
I’ve always been a filmmaker, but it took me a long time to pursue it professionally. My best childhood memories involve running around with friends and a camera, coming up with increasingly crazy stories. It wasn’t until I was finishing an undergraduate degree in something completely unrelated that the lightbulb came on for me about pursuing what I loved as a career.
What are the specific qualities that, in your opinion, make a film great?
Empathy makes for a great film! Roger Ebert said that films are like empathy machines. I’m paraphrasing, but he said something to the effect that watching films can allow us to be everyone, to experience realities that are completely outside of ourselves. Watching a film that can take you away and put you in its world or in the head of its protagonist will always be time well spent.
What films have been the most inspiring or influential to you and why?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Lost in Translation were the first two films I really fell in love with, as an adult. I’m a sucker for ethereal melancholy. Gondry and Coppolla also ended up being great jumping off points for filmmakers that I would go on to love as I continued to study film, like Antonioni, Wong Kar-Wai, or Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
What’s harder? Getting started or being able to keep going? And what drives you to continue making films?
For me, getting started is much harder than continuing to work. The white page or blank canvas can be quite intimidating because there are an infinite number of directions you may decide to go. Once I put something down, even if I don’t think it’s any good, it still gives me the clay to start forming something better. As to what keeps me going, I think the great work of others is a huge motivator. Whether it’s a big-budget blockbuster or a peer’s web series, when I see great storytelling in action it always pumps me up to get back in a creative space of my own.
How do you know when your story’s finished, when to walk away?
I try not to write in stone, because as a writer/director I know things will end up changing when we go to set. They’ll change all over again when we get to post, too. As for knowing when I’m done with an edit, that’s something I’m still working on. I’m an eternal tinkerer. Up until this point almost everything I’ve produced has been a student project, so I’ve had the blessing and the curse of a due date. It’s a careful balance of diminishing returns. If I feel myself hesitant to finish over extreme minutiae, endlessly trimming two frames from the head or tail of a clip here or there, it probably means I’m ready to be done.
How many films have you completed? What is your favorite project you have worked on and why?
I’ve directed about a half dozen short films since I really began my career, and I’ve had the pleasure to work in various capacities on a handful of others. Six Nights is definitely my most personal project, and for that reason I would say it’s my favorite.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I watch a lot of movies, but I try to pull inspiration from a variety of media. I’ve found inspiration from stories in newspaper articles. I enjoy going to art galleries, and it seems like every time I visit one I come away with a new story idea, spun off from some painting or sculpture. I’m always having little half-ideas and noting them down in my phone, so if I’m really sitting down to write something new, that’s usually where I go first.
What is your favorite aspect of film production?
I’ve always had a love of post-production. If writing is watercolor, post is building with LEGO. The pieces are all there and fixed, rigid. But they can be configured over again a million different ways. There’s nothing so satisfying as going through, cut by cut, in a scene that just isn’t working and moving the pieces around until, like magic, it all falls into place.
Why did you choose to submit to the Breckenridge Film Festival? What do you look for in a festival where you hope to show your film?
We submitted to Breckenridge because we heard good things, and saw great films that have screened there in the past. We’re always looking for filmmaker-focused festivals with networking opportunities, and Breck hit it out of the park on both accounts!
Can you describe the business behind independent filmmaking and how you are trying to get your film seen?
I think, at our level, it’s all about connections made. Unless it’s a proof of concept for something bigger, there’s really no money in short films. Our goal with our shorts has always been to use them as stylistic calling cards, finding other like-minded individuals with skills or resources to build towards something like a feature or pilot.
What are the hurdles you have had to overcome in order to recoup the costs of producing the film? (If you feel comfortable discussing exact financials, you are welcome to do so.)
We were fortunate to have a successful crowdfund campaign that funded most of our film. In addition, our school provided reimbursement for most of our catering costs as part of the thesis program. Once all of this was taken into consideration, we weren’t looking too bad out of pocket.
What are the next project or projects you are beginning work on?
I’m currently finishing a short documentary. It’s a love story, about my grandfather and grandmother, centered around a town called Nicodemus, Kansas, in which they met and eventually raised their children. It’s a very personal project for me, but I’m really pleasedwith how it’s coming together.