We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Joe Cunningham. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Joe below.

Alright, Joe thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

I recently wrapped principal photography for a father-son drama film I wrote, produced, directed, and starred in called “The Sentinel.” My son plays my son in the film and we filmed it over the course of 5 years. We shot in sequence and began when he was about 7, so much like Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” he grows up over the course of the film. The film tells the story of a combat veteran with severe PTSD who struggles to take care of his young son. I have PTSD and my brother is a veteran, and I know other veterans with PTSD, so I wanted to tell my own story through this one and I think it’s going to be a beautiful film. I’m editing it now and hope to release it in 2027. It’s my directorial debut feature even though I shot a comedy feature on my iPhone while I was waiting for locations and weather to be right for the drama film. I’m really looking forward to people getting to see this one. There are a lot of moments in there that are based on actual experiences growing up with my own father, and similarly as a father to my son, so it is special to me and cathartic at times.

Joe, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I always wanted to be an actor and make movies since I was a kid. I was always drawing and making up stories. I lived to watch movies and lived as the characters I saw there as much as I could. I would direct puppet shows with my siblings and skits with my friends. In college I worked in a drama program writing plays for an all-boys school and also wrote and read scripts for a Hollywood producer. I got rejected from every film school I applied to, so I ended up getting a degree in creative writing and subsequently getting into marketing and freelance writing and journalism, and eventually teaching it at Syracuse University in my hometown. I never loved any of that but longed to act and make films, I just thought it was out of reach and someday I would figure it out. I finally attended a local screenwriting group and networked with some independent filmmakers who showed me you could make a film on a micro budget and I’ve been doing that ever since, first shorts and now features. I also wanted to make my life easier in looking for actors for my films so I started The Syracuse Actors Studio (or SAS for short), a free monthly studio that welcomes actors of all ages and experience levels, with an actress friend of mine. Since then, it’s been really easy to cast anything I do and also improve as an actor there. We also started a local film festival every spring so we can show our films to the community, called SASFest. I have about 10 films in my head at all times that I’m trying to do, one at a time now though.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I really love seeing it all come together. These films come often from ideas while I listen to music, or from life experiences and my imagination. To see them go from just ideas to a script to actually filming them with people I love to work with and then cut together to feel a certain way and then seeing them on a big screen is, there are no words. It’s special and spectacular and I love seeing other people enjoy them also, but I mainly make my films for my own enjoyment and fulfillment, and I enjoy them very much. I also cast myself in my dream roles and that is equally as enjoyable as well, even though I usually make the roles very difficult for myself because I find complex characters very interesting.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before I made films I always thought I had to make a great deal of money to be a filmmaker or live in LA or NYC and get in by auditioning or getting into Sundance, etc. Meeting other indie filmmakers and talking to a life coach friend helped me realize, not unlike John Cassavetes, I could make movies now and star in them as long as I kept a job to pay the bills. Of course someday I would love to make it big, but I’m glad my focus can be on making the films I feel very passionately about and not just getting into whatever is available.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10812825
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.midnight.rider/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cunninghamjoe/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AmyLoosFilms

Image Credits

Featured in photos: James Marlowe, Joe’s cinematographer, and Harrison, Joe’s son, among others.