Meet Faryl Amadeus | Filmmaker

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

Hi Faryl, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I’m a cliff jumper. (Not literally, because I have a terrible fear of heights, plus I cherish being alive.) But FIGURATIVELY I love going to the edge and jumping.

Talking to other people is scary.
Being on stage is scary.
Singing is scary.
Daring to be ambitious is scary.
It’s all just terrifying. I guess that’s the fun of it. Roller coasters and horror films, what have you.

I make movies.

Making movies is impossible. It’s “no” after “no”, challenge after challenge, and yet it’s my favorite thing to do in the whole world. Problem solving your way past “impossible”. And you get to do it with a team of incredible people. Being an artist is being a risk taker. Will I starve? Will I fail? YES! And it’s okay. And it’s our only choice, to be relentlessly risky.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
In 2020 I wrote and directed my first film, Mary Meet Grace. Having spent the majority of my life working as an actor and a photographer, I found making a movie a perfect synthesis of my passion and skills. It is the most incredible feeling to bring something like that to life. A seed of an idea, written and rewritten, and rewritten, and rehearsed, raising the money, planning the shoot, shooting, post production, and then, THEN, you share it! With an audience who cries and gasps and laughs and nothing compares to that connection. I’m addicted to the entire process.

I’ve now made five films. And I’m in development on two features and a limited series.
I feel as if my entire life I’ve been pulled back into the elastic of a slingshot and suddenly in 2020 someone let go and I’ve been catapulted forward, snapped into the atmosphere, fast and dangerous. I have so many stories to tell.

My stories thematically orbit family, grief, isolation, and yearning to belong.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Alright here we go: Gotta get some bagels at Belle’s on York. Then let’s take a “fiercely non-competitive dance aerobics” class at Pony Sweat. Hike to see the turtles in the secret pond on top of Deb’s Park. Hunt for the dollar tags at Out Of The Closet. Roller skate at Moonlight Rollerway. Walk on the slanted cement of the LA river with a coffee from La Colombe. Dinner at Joy or Town Pizza. Ice Cream at Scoops. Karaoke at the Fable. Once we’re zonked, take a Yin restorative class at Highland Park Yoga.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shout out?
I’d like to give a shoutout to Mr. Joe Maggio. I met Joe via my frequent collaborator, kindred spirit, (and best actor in the whole world,) Clint Jordan. The three of us co-wrote a feature called Bliss that just had its World Premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival. Joe directed the film and Clint and I starred in it. Joe has been a total joy to have as a friend, mentor, sounding board, and commiserator. I love exchanging scripts we’ve written and discussing movies. He has such excellent taste and has introduced me to so many films and directors, such as Hamaguchi’s Asuko I & II, Beineix’s Betty Blue, Louis Malle’s Murmur Of The Heart. The list goes on and on. The Dardenne brothers, Aki Kaurismäki, you get it. THINGS TO KNOW ‘BOUT JOE: 1. He’s smart as hell. 2. On set he wears more hats than is good for him. 3. Because he teaches film at Emerson College, I’ve had the absolute pleasure of having MANY recent graduates work on my sets. 4. He is about to go on tour with his standup comedy! Go Joe!

Website: www.farylamadeus.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/farylfilms

Image Credits
Lauren Desberg, Cameron Jordan, Julia Swain, Nell Teare, Ruoyu Li, Vaughn Greve