Mastering Digital Media with James Bland

WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO EXPLORE FILMMAKING?

James: I auditioned for a student film at Florida State and that ultimately opened my mind up to filmmaking. I wanted to do a little bit of everything related to film, such as directing, writing, and acting. Around the time I pledged Alpha Phi Alpha at FAMU, Will Packer was working on a new movie called Stomp the Yard. He reached out to a few of the current chapter brothers to step in the film.

I met Will Packer when he came back to FAMU to premiere the movie. I told him I wanted to be a filmmaker. He asked me if I have ever made a film and when I responded no, he told me to make a film and then come talk to him. I ambitiously accepted his challenge. Will and Rob Hardy made their first film, Chocolate City, while they were students at FAMU so I knew I could make a film while in college as well. 

The challenge was set and in 2007 during my senior year, I wrote and directed my very first film, Dreaming in Color, without any training. I met a talented filmmaker, Lamont Carsewell, who agreed to work with me on the film.

Dreaming in Color premiered in the Lee Hall Auditorium at FAMU. I sent the film to Will Packer, excited to have completed the challenge. I asked him for an internship. Although I didn’t hear back from him on this for months, the experience solidified my desire to become a filmmaker. I knew this was it; I realized that filmmaking was my purpose and wanted to spend the rest of my life doing it.

AT WHAT POINT DID FILMMAKING BECOME YOUR PURPOSE?

James: I was an intern for Will Packer on a movie called Takers starring Idris Elba and Chris Brown. It was my film school and first time experiencing call sheets, deal memos, schedules and seeing AD’s work. I learned about gaffers, grips and other terminologies relative to the film business. However, when that internship ended, Will packed up and went back to Atlanta. I stayed in LA without a job. 

Luckily, I was able to reach out to a few folks at the studio who decided to bring me back as a production assistant on a movie called Death at a Funeral starring Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, and Tracy Morgan. Although I was only a production assistant, I knew I wanted to get to set. I eventually got promoted and became an assistant to a creative executive on the movie Burlesque starring Christina Aguilera and Cher. That gave me the onset experience I desperately wanted. The experience at that position was valuable.  However, it soon became an office job which is not what I wanted to do. Thus, I took another leap of faith and left Screen Gems.