Robert Edgar - Interview
Robert Edgar creates and employes software engines to examine mediated artifacts forged at his zone of proximal development. Robert was born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Cocoa Beach Florida, in the early days of the U.S. space program. He received a Masters Degree in fine arts film production from Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. He’s been working in the overlapping fields of cinema, computing and audio composition since the early 1970s. He moved to Silicon Valley in 1978 and learned to program. He programmed Memory Theatre One in 1984, one of the first interactive art works programmed on a personal computer. He extended his programming into video interactivity with Living Cinema (1987), Sand, or How Computers Dream of Truth in Cinema (1994), his Simultaneous Opposites Engine (2008 – Present), his study of temporalities “Apperception” (2024), and his music video STOP LIGHT MOON (2025).
When did you decide you wanted to be an actor/director/ screenplayer?
Well, I didn’t… want to be anything… I just liked media. Before college I played mostly rock and roll. Then I started listening to Stockhausen, and then got to college at Syracuse, and started playing with Sony Portapaks and grease-pen editing in the very early 1970s. I was part of a video co-op called Synapse Video at Syracuse University, Bill Viola was too, and was a fellow art student there. At the same time I’d hitchhike to Manhattan and my high school friend Robert Polidori worked at the newly opened Anthology Film Archives, where he’d pull out a dozen cans and we’d watch Snow, Brakhage, Godard, Sharits, Markopolos, and others. And I became an art major and ended up spending my time playing with video, 16mm film, and Moog synthesizer. At the time, none of these pointed to a future career, but they were my present.
How did your family react?
My Mom was an artist and art teacher, so she was fine with it. My Dad was an engineer, and he accused my Mom and I of plotting somehow against him for me to go into art. He never really cared to understand what I was doing, but he calmed down after a while, and let me be.
Do you have a Muse or a Role Model?
Oh, a lot of them, I think. My wife Merrilee has been a muse for decades. Professors O. Charles Giordano and Larry Bakke in the Department of Synaesthetic Education at Syracuse, I was close to both of them. I mentioned Robert Polidori, as well as my mother… her art students included me, Polidori, and the graphic designer David Carson, who I used to surf (and draw) with back in high school. I’ve always thought Steve Reich navigated creation, philosophy, and history beautifully. Filmmakers Ken Jacobs and Michael Snow. And my son Robin who is a graphic artist; and daughter Meredith who is a singer-songwriter in San Francisco.
Who's your biggest fan?
Perhaps my dear friend Peter Matussek. I’m his biggest fan too, although he has many. I met Peter in Berlin, where he was a prominent Goethe scholar, who moved into an interest in memory theaters, and then into media aesthetics. In the late 1900s, Peter and Dr. Kirsten Wagner were teaching at Humbolt University and studying the history of memory theaters. They discovered my early computer art piece “Memory Theatre One”, and brought me to Germany for a conference. We’ve remained close ever since. They’re both beyond brilliant. Peter loves my music video “STOP LIGHT MOON”.
What brings you inspiration the most?
Of course people, but when a medium I’m playing with allows me to sense something new… that is what literally “brings inspiration”. How does meaning work? Usually not story lines or arcs… it’s media and how it makes our senses resonate. The rhythm and timbre of sound, the mucky color of paint and taste of bitters… how these flow out of the world and into the media and give us feeling. As an artist working with media, it’s like a divining rod, you move it around and follow it as it leads you toward the most powerful meaning. I don’t care about expression, that’s too far in the past to consider when I’m actually involved in creating.
Which actor or director would you like to work with?
I don’t work with actors much. Nothing against them, I just haven’t. I like talking with directors, but working with them would just lead to exasperation… they with me and me with them. Cinematographers are another matter.
Have you ever seen a film that was better than the book?
Polidori has a book “60 Feet Road”. It’s one of my favorite books of his. I worked with him on a project that lasted a few years, programming kinds of digital optical printer functions for reformatting footage he’d shot. At the time, he had film footage he’d shot in India at the site of where he did the still photography for the book. It’s been a few years, and while he’s not using those programs, he’s working with the footage, and I think I like it even better than the book. Pretty amazing stuff.
What's the movie that taught you the most?
By someone else? “Wavelength” by Michael Snow. By me? “Apperception”.
About your artistic career, have you ever had the desire to quit everything?
“Desire” is a strange word to pair with “quit”. Quitting everything would likely be due to lack of desire: anesthesia. For a few years in the late 1970s/early 1980s I wasn’t making a living with film or video, and I started feeling despondent. Then came personal computers and programming, and then video discs, and it came together for me when a friend and I started a company producing interactive video disc systems. I was synthesized anew.
On set what excites you the most?
For the last few decades I’ve existed between video and computers. I have cameras with me and I capture what’s there—like Brakhage. Of course, today, everyone with an iPhone. Then I bring it to software that I write myself and transform it. What excites me the most is when I have new ideas for relationships between image capture and image manipulation, with juxtapositions that I haven’t seen done before. I’m excited by 360 video capture, and used it in parts of Apperception, and elsewhere.
And what scares you the most ?
Fanatic authoritarianism, combined with a populace that misunderstands media. Scares the shit out of me.
What's your next project?
I’m working with a programming environment called MAX/MSP Jitter, one I’ve worked with for years, most often with my “Simultaneous Opposites Engine”. Right now I’m looking to design a compositional/performance engine that allows me to feed it musical compositions that I hack up and re-present, modifying it along an axis of single melody to varied note clusters up to the range of a 88-key piano. I’ll pre-program some of the modification, but will also program the ability to modify it as I play, triggering it with a MIDI guitar. This is about my third pass at similar musical performance systems, the first one “The Duchamp Examinations” I worked with in the early 2000s. My “Simultaneous Opposites Engine” is related, but is more a cinema system than just musical.
You can steal the career of an artist you really admire, who do you choose?
I don’t know how to answer that one. Artists create themselves. What would it mean to create someone else who already created themselves? The work’s already done. For better or worse, I’ll work with what I have, where I have it.
An actor/director/screenplayer is made of....
Stuff than includes and doesn’t include language.
For you Cinema is....
A movement between synaesthesia and apperception. (Please leave the “a” in “synaesthesia”) Do you think Black and white movies have a powerful impact?
Yes, even if you project them.
Have you ever dreamed of winning an Oscar?
No.
Do you think you're gonna win it?
Why would I?
Marla Eaton - Interview
Marla Eaton is a screenwriter drawn to original, character-driven stories that balance dark humor with emotional truth. She began developing story ideas at age twelve, when characters first started taking on lives of their own. Her work emphasizes strong female perspectives, visual storytelling, and twists that challenge expectations. Alongside her writing, Marla works as an activity director with seniors — a profession that grounds her work in empathy, resilience, and authentic human experience.
What’s the absolutely necessary ingredient to be a good actor/director/screenwriter?
As a screenwriter, it’s being willing to kill your darlings — even when it hurts — and remembering that film is a visual medium. Less explaining, more showing.
First and last cinematographic crush?
I’m not sure I’ve ever had a classic “cinematographic crush.” I enjoy films across many genres, but what excites me most is a twist I don’t see coming — because as a writer, I usually think I know how a story will end.
How old were you when you decided you wanted to be an actor/director/screenwriter?
I was about 12 when I started coming up with story ideas. The characters felt very alive in my head, and the stories flowed naturally — long before I thought of it as “writing.”
For you, a film is…
A really good story brought to life on screen.
What do you feel when you’re acting/directing/writing?
When I’m writing, I feel energized. The characters feel real, and it feels like something that needs to get out.
You can go to the movies with an actor/director/screenwriter you love. What do you watch, and with whom?
I’m drawn to original films with strong female characters, compelling stories, and twists that keep you guessing. I care more about the movie — and the conversation afterward — than who’s sitting next to me.
Audrey Hepburn said, “Nothing is impossible.” What do you think?
I believe nothing is impossible. The word itself has “possible” right in it.
Can you live just off your passion?
It’s not always possible to live solely off your passion, but it helps if you care deeply about what you’re doing. I’m not making a living from writing yet, but I work as an activity director with seniors — and I’m passionate about that work.
What’s more important: talent or luck?
Talent is critical, but a little luck helps make sure that talent gets noticed.
You’re going to a desert island and can bring only one movie. Which one?
Music and Lyrics. It’s endlessly rewatchable, and I’ve always had a passion for ’80s music and that era — it’s something I’d never get tired of.
Have you ever accepted a project you didn’t like?
No. If I’m going to commit to something, I need to believe in it.
What’s the best compliment you’ve received about your work?
That someone understood the humor, was rooting for the characters, and genuinely didn’t see the twist coming.
Are you satisfied with your career?
I’m satisfied with what I’ve written so far, but I’m already developing the next project and starting to think about bringing this one to the screen.
Do you have a good luck charm?
I don’t. I rely more on imagination and creativity.
What’s the worst moment on set (or in the process)?
As a writer, it’s realizing something didn’t save and having to recreate it.
How do you feel when a project you’ve worked on ends?
I’m glad I got the story out. I may go back and tweak it, but usually I move on as other stories and characters start demanding attention.
Have you ever lied to get a job or part?
No. I’d rather be upfront about what I can do.
If you won an Oscar, who would your first thought go to?
My mom — without question. And the people who’ve supported me along the way.
Dean Morgan - Interview
I have over 650 awards including Indie Oscars, tony, emmy, grammy, golden globe and more. Every film I have made has won an award, I was given the title of best comedian 2025 by the critics as well. I write, produce, direct and star in all my movies. I currently own a healthcare company call healthcaresmc or Standard medical Co-Op. Transport business called Baby Boomer buddies, and production company Mashugana Productions. I play 2 characters, Sheldon Mashugana and The Macher in my movies. I'm also a Rabbi, and did a show on Netflix called Love is Blind. I have a wife and 2 grown kids. Live in Dallas Texas.
Do you prefer Comedy or Drama?
Comedy
Life imitates Art or Art imitates Life?
Art imitates life, I always take my experiences and put them on camera
Which is the best Moment on set?
When I'm playing Sheldon
Did anyone ever tell you weren't good enough?
No
How can you stay focused on your goal?
Yes, be consistant and don't back down, this is how you get things done, whenever there is an obsticle, keep right on going, don't stop
Have you ever had a breakdown because of your Job?
When I was young and learning, I was sued for the first time, then I lost it
Talent is a blessing or a curse?
Blessed. talent is inside you, you have to bring it out with experience.
What would you like to improve about yourself as an
actor/director/screenplayer?
Nothing at the moment, just trying to put together movies, Sheldon Mashugana returns to the future is a project that is ready to shoot, but we are having issues with funds.
What's the worst critic you have received?
None I have ever seen. I don't like people making fun of sheldon as if hes a joke in the sense of the actor, maybe I'm too sensitive. As for any professional critics, there has been nothing but praise and delight from everyone.
If you weren't an actor/director/screenplayer what would you like to be?
I own a healthcare company called healthcaresmc and we are saving the world by helping with mental health and emotional well being.
If Cinema was a color what would it be?
Red for the attention you get to the screen.
A day without a movie is...
...a day I go travel.
If someone offered you to play/direct/write in/a movie that you despice
but that for sure will make you rich and famous...would you accept the job?
No, you have to love what you do
What's your greatest ambition?
To make people laugh. I also sing. there will be a bunch of new songs coming out this year with sheldon singing.
What's your biggest fear?
Not being able to finish my projects
Does music helps you to play/direct, write?
No
You have the chance to make a Silent movie, what's your message to the
audience?
I did one called Picture me This, it's a short you can watch on YouTube. The key is the music.
Share your speech if you should win an Oscar.....
Thanks to my family and friends for putting up with my craziness, and all my cast members for helpng me make my dream come true. Thanks to the Academy for giving me this award. Sheldon wants to hay Hi. HI THERE, AM I WATCHING TV OR IS THERE A LOT OF COOL PEOPLE OUT THERE!, SORRY I POOTED.!!!