Meet Marissa Goldman | Filmmaker

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

Hi Marissa, how do you think about risk?
I think I was more risk averse for a while, but as I have been in it for a longer time I have learned to trust myself more, which makes you go for riskier things, but also I guess makes it feel less like you are taking a risk, when you believe in yourself more. I used to worry more about what was popular and try to do what I saw doing well, which was making online videos. It was always less of a risk to film a video in a few minutes, even though I knew in my heart I wanted to be making films. Making my short Max Distance felt like a risk, because it was a huge undertaking, and cost a lot of money, but I followed my heart with this one, and made something more true to me, and then it got into SXSW. It isn’t the only risk I have taken, and certainly, I have not gotten to where I wanted to go with past big swings. The risks I want to take now are going with my gut with my projects, and aiming as high as I can, and not being afraid to fall on my ass, because we can always go the route of Chumbawumba and get back up!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a bit of multi-hyphenate (which some people say calling yourself is cringe, but I am going to reclaim it…..) and dabbled in many different art forms. I went to RISD and studied film there, where I did a bit of video art and narrative work. That’s where I started realizing I loved comedy and that the dumb videos I made in middle school with my friends were what I still wanted to do. Post college, I moved to NY and worked in brand marketing while performing comedy at night, and making films on the side. This is a schedule for your early 20s, and the second you either turn 30 or have a global pandemic, you have to pare down a little. I stopped performing and started to focus on writing and directing. Was it easy? Great question. I’m still in the process, and I would love to think I am just getting started. But so far, there are challenges over and over again throughout the career of an artist. I have lost faith in myself, I have been rejected from 1 million things, I have thought I was delusional, I have compared myself to others, and I am sure it will happen all over again. Being a filmmaker, you almost have to tune into a temporary (or permanent?) madness, because at the indie level, the process is absolutely grueling. You have to Sisyphus it pretty hard for a while and persist on pure inertia. Working long hours, watching 4000 cuts, writing 3 million drafts, for seemingly nothing. But then, and unfortunately Sisyphus never experienced this, but you do get moments of magic, seeing your ideas come to life and hopefully connecting with other people and that’s what it’s all about. It’s like if he got a break with his rock every once and a while and got to have a feast. But then again would have to go back to it. I am hoping that one day I can get an assistant to help with the rock.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Ok well first of all, I am excited for you to come girlie!!
We start with a walk in Mount Washington during sunset. Then I’m sorry, but we are going to the Americana. We park at Glendale Galleria (free parking!) and eat at the rotating sushi restaurant, then we will go to Sephora to do our makeup and then watch a movie at the AMC. Probably a friend is having a birthday party at Edendale or 4100, one night this week. And also, a friend’s comedy show at the Lyric. We would also go to every David Lynch spot and see the house from The Long Goodbye. And go for a swim at Malibu Creek State Park. We’d get food at Kitchen Mouse (Gluten free!!!) In and Out, and Bacari if we want to splurge. Oh and you have to meet my cat, Judy.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh man, well I feel incredibly grateful to all my friends and family that were supportive for most of my life. And right now, I am hardcore grateful for my cast and crew from Max Distance. My producers Rachel Moss and Jack Fatheree really kept me sane and helped me feel confident when I was dry heaving in 100 degree weather (that’s filmmaking!) My actors, Anna Seregina, David Brown and Jon Daly were totally game and excited about this project and helped really bring it to life. I am a bit sentimental so I could go on, but I can’t dedicate this Shout Out to too many people so let’s keep it to them!

Website: https://marissagoldman.com

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