Se7en Questions with Filmmaker
Jozsef Gallai

Who are some of the artists or some of the works that inspired you to get started in your field? Of today’s current artists, who do you draw inspiration from?

I decided to deal with filmmaking after I watched Lady in the Water, a film directed by my favorite director, M. Night Shyamalan. Oddly enough, I was already 18 years old. I am also inspired by the works of the Wachowskis, Bennett Miller and Gus Van Sant.

Of indie filmmakers currently working, I admire the films of Jamin Winans, Patrick Brice, Yulene Olaizola and horror directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.

What have thus far been some of the negatives of being an indie artist in your field?

Faceless online parasites, would-be producers and filmmakers, fake festivals, fake reviewers and cowards who have never had the courage to finally stop masturbating in front of their computers and rather stand up and complete a film. These are some of many.

What have thus far been the positives of being an indie artist in your field?

On the other hand, there are many great indie filmmakers who are happy to cooperate with others. I also like the creative side of this area, when you have to solve a problem somehow and the freedom with dedicated people who we can inspire each other.

What have been your favorite completed projects to work on up to this point? Can you tell us a little bit about them?

I love every feature film I have already partaken either as writer, producer or director, though shooting A Guidebook to Killing Your Ex and Echoes have been my best experience during my filmmaking career.  In case of Echoes it was a great fun filming in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the woods and complete silence. The closest village was about 4-5 miles away from us.

What projects are you currently working on or have planned for the near future?

Currently I am working on a feature horror titled Spirits in the Dark, which is going to be an exciting project. I am more than grateful to work with many great guys again. My frequent collaborator Gergo Elekes will be working as editor and composer as well as he will be responsible for some camera work, too.

I consider myself lucky as one of the producers is actually my wife Beáta Boldog. And I am more than honored to work again with Jay Sorensen, Chuck Harding and Roy McClurg Jr., producers who stand by my works and me.

Dedicated and talented actors such as Piroska Bodoki, Peter Cosgrove and Shawn Michael Clankie have already been on board too.

Where do you see yourself in a few years and what would it take for you to consider your career a success?

I like to think that I have already achieved many great results. On a Hungarian website I was once called the “Pope of found-footage films”, which I believe is quite an appreciable achievement. In my country only a few, I mean really few, filmmakers write and direct horror films and I am happy that I am one of them and I have the opportunity to work internationally.

In a few years – actually in a few months – I will not only be a filmmaker, but a father as well, so 2018 looks to be a pretty busy year for me.

If you couldn’t do this anymore, what career path do you think you would have followed and why?

However hard I try, I cannot see myself without working on films.