We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andrea Malloni a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrea, thanks for joining us today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

It is critical to continually remind yourself that filmmaking is storytelling – it is testimony documented. An idea needs to be steeped in question and context before its ripe to commit to film. I had the good fortune of working with some talented Art Directors and Designers in a prior life who allowed me to witness their creative process and best practices. Tools like concept boards, mood and color theming, references and abstract relational material that helps you creatively flush out the concept and understand it at a deeper level are incredibly helpful. To produce a truly juicy piece of film, I like to immerse as fully as possibly in the concept materials on a full sensory basis. These references can be historical reading, scientific reading, literature and poetry of the time, music, creating a colour palate for the film, I then structure the ideas into 4-6 core concepts. This “blocking” helps me structure the storytelling and further sew the narrative together and ensure that I’m thinking about how visuals will be “stitched” together in editing. This doesn’t mean that the end result is rigid or linear. Part of the fun of filmmaking is inverting the expected flow, or stitching a story together in a unique and original way. Sometimes, while on set, a shot will emerge as the winning final scene and you simply know that the method will flow from that.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Filmmaking is a second (and late) career for me. I had always felt a pull to the practice but didn’t have the maturity or confidence to attempt it. The democratization of media tools has also made entry easier in the last 15 years which allows creatives of all levels to produce and experiment. Suddenly, microbudget projects could be presented on a global scale. It was a game changer to making the industry more inclusive and accessible.

More than a decade ago I worked with a brilliant leader in a corporate setting who invited me to participate in a leadership group he was mentoring that would help team members explore their “Why”. To my shock, my why was TESTIMONY. And I realized that documentary filmmaking was my true passion. Bearing witness and telling stories that are typically in the margins or uncommon, and revisiting a place/industry/time that hasn’t been explored with a new or original lens is where I find my purpose. I am charged and inspired by the stories that are beneath the bombast we typically see in the media. My approach is to peel back the veneer to hear the testimony underneath.

The moment that a subject tells their story in one of my films, or has a platform to showcase their talent or life’s work is a profound moment of shared humanity. I have tremendous gratitude for that generosity and vulnerability. Its a sacred gift.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During filming of “Smoking Hot” in spring of 2024, we were filming in rural Cuba in a region called Vinales where most of the tobacco farms are located. I was thrown off of a horse down a small ravine with the horse landing on top of me. It was harrowing and terrifying. I was very lucky the injuries weren’t catastrophic and limited to a severe leg wound and some terrible bruising. At one point the only local doctor we could find in the region treated the wounds with rum. The crew and I drove three hours back to Havana with my badly wounded leg raised on the headrest in the van. We had limited first aid supplies and the road back was unpaved and through small villages. We were only two days into a five day shoot.

The shock of the accident was deeply traumatic but months of preparation had gone into our week including seeking permission from the government to capture several places that are normally off-limits to film. The doctors who visited my hotel had limited supplies and had to hunt for antibiotics. The next morning I tore a linen shirt up into strips and wrapped the wounds and met the crew at 8am in the lobby to begin our day. It was a dig deep moment to follow through and finish the job and seize the day in spite of set backs. I knew that this was a once in a lifetime moment of access and opportunity.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Being too rigid with your vision or getting too attached to a particular outcome can creatively stifle a project. Gifts are offered during production and post-production that can only arrive if you make space for them. I’ve encountered the loss of footage that I thought was crucial and very emotionally attached to and discovered that it wasn’t the powerful ending to the film I had planned at all. I have been unable to secure music rights for a scene that instead would lead me to discovering a local artist that enriched the film in a new way. During voice over recording, an audio engineer provided insight into tone delivery that I hadn’t considered. Running late on a scene somehow meant there was a breakthrough in cloud cover or the lighting being just right. Being open to the unexpected is crucial. Every single film is a new road. Orson Welles once said that the director’s job is to preside over accidents. These accidents are treasures.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.andreamalloni.com

Image Credits

All photos taken by Andrea Malloni with exclusive rights.