Interview

Interview on 9/16/10 with writer, producer, director Bo Buckley of

Wilmington, NC

When working for himself, Bo’s jobs as a writer and producer include:

Business and creative direction, deciding which projects to work on, finding everyone to be involved, making sure that, creatively, everyone involved works toward a common goal, handling distribution, responsible for finding money for shows, responsible to investors if anything doesn’t go right, reports to investors, finding the director for the project

When working for other, his job is generally assistant director and/or production manager.

As production manager – oversees the nuts and bolts of production, budget, crew , equipment management, insurance, paperwork, business, working with department heads, handling workers compensation when necessary

As an assistant director - works on set, letting everyone know whats going on with schedule, maintaining set, work outline

*at times needs to be assertive and at times needs to be sensitive in any of these rolls, takes it personally when people don’t do their job

Getting started: When he was a kid, he played with VHS camcorders making movies and commercials. For college, he went to USC (SoCal) for film and bounced around Wright State in Dayton, OH and finally at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh studying special effects, to learn a skill. He decided that wasn’t his path and moved toward people that were talented and stayed working with those friends, made teams with people that he wanted to work with to put together the elements of a project. His creative outlet is writing.

Telling people that he answers to that something can’t get done: It’s a difficult thing to tell someone that something hasn’t gone as planned and a fine line between a good delivery and a bad delivery of such information. It’s important to spin things as best you can to emphasize that you can make something positive out of something negative. Always focus on the fact that, out of bad things, good can come. “We couldn’t do this but we can do this.” Always maintain honesty, don’t throw someone under the bus, be responsible for what you do.

To anyone interested: whatever your dream, make sure you have a plan. Don’t just meander and say you want to do something without understanding what that career entails. Know what your role is before you commit to it and know what is involved and work towards that goal. The business is difficult and a large percentage of people that work in this industry are unemployed, have a backup plan or a different skill set. Network and don’t burn bridges, make friends and maintain contact with them because they may be able to offer you opportunities in the future. Watch others do their jobs and learn from them.

His websites: fearmakers.com, strangestuff.com