Filmmaker Cristina Kotz Cornejo Interview - Part 1

In this special edition guest episode of XCU: The Viewfinder, Raymond De Felitta interviews the legendary Adell Aldrich, whose illustrious career as a script supervisor spans back to 1962 and includes notable projects like Wayne’s World, Pretty Woman, The Long Goodbye, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, on his podcast Movies ‘Til Dawn. Adell carried on the hardworking legacy in film of her father, Robert Aldrich, whose films include What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, The Dirty Dozen, and Kiss Me Deadly.

Award-winning filmmaker Iman Zawahry reveals the challenges and nuances of the culture of submitting to film festivals that she worked to overcome when she began sending her feature, Americanish, to festivals, the current state of hijabi female filmmaker representation, how her short films and the awards she won for them, including a Student Emmy and the Princess Grace Award, helped advance her career, and the advice she has for being authentic in your writing and art.

Filmmaker and educator Iman Zawahry, whose feature film, Americanish, won the 2021 CAAMFest Audience Award. Iman discusses her path through making short films to making her first feature, how social media has played a role in her career, and her thoughts on cancel culture.

Scott Rosenfelt, Robert Bruzio, and Raymond De Felitta discuss Scott and Robert’s work on their new screenplay about legendary jazz club owner Skinny D’Amato, how much freedom actors should be given with the script in their performance, and whether or not films and TV should be dialogue or visually-driven. They also discuss the possibility for their screenplay to be expanded into a limited series and how Scott enjoys working with up and coming talent in the entertainment industry.

Scott Rosenfelt, Robert Bruzio, and Raymond De Felitta discuss the trend of remaking movies, Scott's experience switching between the roles of writer and producer, and Scott and Robert's work together on a screenplay about legendary jazz club owner Skinny D'Amato.

Screenwriting team Kristin Ilagan and Patrick Mediate discuss their award-winning screenplay, Soul Passage, and how their friendship influences their process of writing story lines and characters, their research and inspiration for the screenplay, and how real-life stories of Haitian Voodooism and Zombification has influenced Soul Passage.

Screenwriting team Kristin Ilagan and Patrick Mediate discuss their award-winning screenplay, Soul Passage, and how their friendship influences their process of writing story lines and characters, their research and inspiration for the screenplay, and how real-life stories of Haitian Voodooism and Zombification has influenced Soul Passage. Part 1 of 2.

Writer/director and Chair of Emerson College's Department of Visual and Media Arts (read: Filmmaking), Cristina Kotz Cornejo, discusses her multi-cultural background and her past struggles in getting the stories of marginalized people and groups she identifies with made for film.

Writer/director and Chair of Emerson College's Department of Visual and Media Arts (read: Filmmaking), Cristina Kotz Cornejo, discusses screenwriting as a the foundation of filmmaking and her own journey in recognizing herself as a writer.

Screenwriter Robert Bruzio reveals how Joe Manganiello, Sofia Vergara and ultimately director Raymond De Felitta became attached to his movie "Bottom of the Ninth". Raymond and Robert discuss how the project bounced back from the loss of collaborator and the film’s original director, the late John Avildsen. This is Part II of our two-part interview with Robert.