Meet Andrew Burton | Actor, Writer, Producer, Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew Burton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I started Burton Pictures in order to make the movies and content which I want to make. I’m very keen on all aspects of making a movie, including writing the script, arranging the necessary logistics to get the script onto the screen, directing the film, and then shepherding the movie through post and into the marketing phase of its life. My movies are all made with love and I love doing all I can to maximise a movie’s impact. Indeed, movies have very long lives, and I look forward to giving my movies the best lives I can give them.

More specifically, through my company Burton Pictures, I aim to produce a very high-quality product for many magnitudes of funds less than the typical Hollywood enterprise. There are numerous ways to do this today, and I feel very fortunate to live in a time where technological progress allows more access to the creation of proper films.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m involved in the creation of motion pictures through my production company Burton Pictures, and at the moment my interests lie in creating the best movies that I can make. I am certainly a traditionalist in the sense that I believe in a rather formal filmmaking, where one lights properly, does sound properly, and uses true cameras and lenses of cinema with the best technical team one can muster, and I do endeavour to create something of a Hollywood product, which is to say to make content which looks and feels like ‘the movies.’ At the same time, I totally feel that it’s time to say adios to the typically Hollywood way of doing things which demands something cost one hundred trillion dollars when, perhaps, it could be done for, well, way less. And theatrical? Hmm. I’m honestly entertaining the idea of releasing a movie on TikTok, while I also had my last film, All the Lord’s Men, in theaters around the world. It’s certainly a new climate, and I’d say I’m quite keen on this so-called digital revolution. The larger effect of this aforementioned digital renaissance is that high-quality filmmaking becomes more inclusive and thus the probability of truly amazing films being made increases as the number of films being made increases.

I made my first feature film a few years ago, and it is called Roma 96. Before that, I made a few short films, the creation of which allowed me some necessary learnings as to the major how’s and what’s behind making movies. Before the shorts, I was a student at Dartmouth College, where I graduated with a degree in English in 2018. Since Roma 96, I have made four more feature films, respectively All the Lord’s Men, and the Pan American trilogy.

With each film, I am happy to say that I have become ever more efficient a director, which greatly pleases the producer in me, and does not necessarily bother the writer in me. I am rather pleased with myself for having developed a directing style which is at once distinctive and economical, in all senses. Indeed, I was my least efficient as a director when I knew much less about directing than I do now. I’d say the big takeaway here is that directing is all about knowing what not to shoot, and what not to do. There are an infinite number of ways to shoot a scene if you are coming at it as a, shall we say, amateur filmmaker, but if you know what you are doing and have a bit of a head on your shoulders, you may find that there is actually only one way to film a scene, and then the trick is simply to execute well.

Aside from the directing and producing, I act and I write. Indeed, I engaged more with the acting side of things before I began directing, and I began writing before anything else. Rather than call myself a specialist in only one of these areas, I prefer to treat acting/writing/producing/directing all as facets of a singular venture, namely storytelling. While I have certainly made some major faux pas in my acting, and while I have written the odd lame duck, and while I have directed things which perhaps are not landmarks of the American cinema, I believe that with time and effort I will only become better at all these things, and so I spend my days in pursuit of perfection, allowing the optimist in me to shine and to make friends with the budgetary constraints hoisted upon me by my production company.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I suppose the day could begin with a little smoothie at Kreation Organic, some coffee at Alfred on Melrose Place, followed by a second coffee at a nearby Starbucks. Once sufficiently caffeinated, it may be time to drive down Sunset a bit before making a left or right to circumvent the main routes into Beverly Hills, where one may find a variety of suitable lunch restaurants. After lunch, I would not advise driving much more, because traffic may become annoying as the afternoon wears on, and so I’d then drive us back home, and I’d be happy spending the rest of the day in the house simply ‘chilling’ and eating food.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My family is definitely the root of my success and has always been very supportive of my endeavours. My parents are very encouraging and loving, for which I am very grateful.

Additionally, I have been fortunate enough to work with some excellent collaborators on the casts and crews of my movies. Movies are certainly not made in isolation, so it’s a real blessing to work with the talent I have worked with thus far.

Website: https://burton.pictures/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burton_pictures/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/burtonpicturesentertainment

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAT6EpdXDuHEIdeAObJj17w

Image Credits
garage26, Sean Crowley