Author: Dawn Cobalt

Beginning her education in art, Dawn made a natural progression into film and after graduating from The New York Film Academy, founded the production company FutureView Entertainment. Her entrepreneurial spirit and thirst for knowledge had her winning awards in numerous categories such as best director, editor and special jury prize. Dawn’s unique perspective and styling has made her the auteur of her films since the beginning of her multi-creative career now spanning over two decades. Her films have been seen all over the world, and her stories strike at the very chord of the human spirit. They are emotional, inspiring, comical and always directed with a compelling message of truth and humanity. “One of the joys of filmmaking,” Dawn exclaims, “is the collaboration when working with actors, both seasoned professionals and new talent. Being an actor’s director is a role that I take seriously, letting them shine is my intention.”

We have all done it. And we are all guilty of it. But we keep doing it. Most importantly, we hate it when it happens to us. So why do we say yes to it? Working for free is a hot topic in the industry, yet it has become almost a right of passage. And it is always what comes out of our mouths first: “I can get it for FREE.” “I can ask some friends to work on this for FREE.” “I can make this film for FREE.” When we start out in this industry we are encouraged immediately…

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Not all girls like pink, and not all women like romantic comedies. Women like all kinds of films. Women like action, suspense, horror, drama and even war movies. Women also enjoy comedies, dramas and time-pieces. And those romantic comedies, well, women like those too. Women like great stories, period. The original Mad Max was first filmed in 1979 and starred Mel Gibson. He played the no nonsense cop that was out to do good at any cost. In the 2015, Mad Max: Fury Road, they gave Charlize Theron the lead. She plays a tough, takes-no-shit woman, who can hold her…

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If I hate networking, how could I give you advice? I now consider myself really good at networking but I didn’t used to be. I used to really hate it. It made me nervous and uncomfortable to know that I was going to have to meet new people in a full room. I didn’t know how to approach a stranger and start a conversation. I wasn’t good at breaking the ice and keeping a conversation going. I wasn’t sure that the other people in the room would want to talk to me. I dreaded it. It took me a while,…

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When I was first starting out, I was fortunate enough to be on a set with Mickey Rooney and was able to spend some time with him. It was great; he talked about the old days of filmmaking and reminisced about past friends, Orson Wells and Betty Davis to name a few. He also told me about how the studios were set up to shoot films quickly, were able to crank them out in a couple of weeks and how Hollywood was a machine. He spoke of having knowledge and confidence on set. Of leading your cast and crew and…

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As a film director and producer I always want everyone on my team to think big. Because I have noticed that in the indie film world, people start out with too much constraint. They know it’s a small budget with a minimal crew so they try to help out by thinking small. From script, to art production, to costumes, to CGI, it’s best to think the biggest you can, then let the director and producer work out how to tell that story with what they have available. I want my writer to write the story the way they see it.…

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I think all film projects should have a press kit, even short films. Press kits make it easy for people to learn about the inner workings of your film and appreciate the little known aspects of what it took to form a successful collaborative project. Whether to quote key cast and crew, pull a line of dialog from the film or provide a list of screenings, a press kit makes it easy for others to know all that there is to know about your project. I do believe having a press kit is what made it easy for The Huffington…

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A couple of weeks ago I was on a panel at the Film Independent Forum in Los Angeles. The panel was explicitly named “Five F#@*Ups and How to Fix Them.” To me it wasn’t a big deal to discuss any past mistakes in my filmmaking career. More times than not, I was grateful for them because each held a valuable lesson. Case in point: contracts. I was having some contracts drawn up by my lawyer and found out that she was leading a panel about these film follies. Since she hadn’t obtained a person to help serve as an example,…

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As a director and producer it is important that I understand what I can ask for and expect from my crew. I found the best way to do this is to take the time to learn and observe all the jobs on a film set. One of the most educational jobs I’ve held is that of assistant director. Being an AD taught me what each department was responsible for and what they were capable of. I was able to see how each department worked within their budget and with the equipment they had. I saw where money could have been…

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As a director I always, and I mean always, have a shot list. I have been on film sets where there was no shot list prepared, and as a director, I find this very disrespectful to the cast and crew. When there is no shot list there is no guideline. The shot list is how I see the film play out in my mind. It also tells the assistant director and director of photography what I need from a scene and acts as the guide on set to let the rest of the crew know how I visualize the script…

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There will be bad days. Wait, did I just say something negative? Me? “The sun always shines and everything’s fine,” me? “Stay strong, positive, focused,” me? Let’s be honest here. Everyone is going to experience a bad day, or two or three. We actually need to have these experiences, they make us or break us. They show us what the strong are made of and weed out the weak. Bad days or bad experiences will tell us if we are on the right path. When things are not going right, it may be time to re-evaluate our direction. You may…

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I like to be in control, and since I’m a director that should be a good thing. Well, I have learned over the years that it is, but I have to let a lot of the control go for the betterment of my films. I recently shot a short that came at the worst time and learned to let things fall together. It really showed me how to let it go and create art. This little film, that I am so proud of, taught me to really let things happen as they should. Actually this short should not have been…

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Lately I have been hearing a lot of people talking about how they feel discouraged or disappointed about their lives at the moment. Things are not going their way or that break hasn’t come or someone has let them down. I look around and I hear and see people wanting to give up. Now I am an optimist by nature. Giving up is not an option in my book. Things will never go exactly the way you want them to. If you feel like giving up because things are not going the exact way that you planned, then you will…

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Failure is defined as: an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success. I decided a long time ago to remove the word failure from my dictionary. Why? Because I never fail. EVER. You may ask, “how can I make such a bold statement?” I make this bold statement because I believe that there is no failure, there are only experiences. An experience is acquired knowledge. From knowledge I learn and improve. Improvement is what makes me better at what I do. I could have called myself a failure at networking. When attending social functions, I did…

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As women in a male dominated field, we must always be bold. And we must never wait for permission to do so. Being bold for women is very different than it is for a man. She’s a bitch, but he’s in control. She’s nit picky, he has an eye for detail. She’s a complainer, he won’t stop until it’s the way he wants it. As women we must know that these labels may be placed on us if we are to be bold: confident, courageous, risk taking. We need to own our boldness without shame or modesty and prove that…

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