Neil Hollander is a U.S. born independent filmmaker who moved to France as young boy. He was born in New York but has found the sea to be his home. He has lived in numerous places but loves his home in France. Neil spent 3 years on the water sailing around to different ports experiencing different cultures who still live on the water. He found a love to explore different cultures and telling their stories in an honest and respectful manner. 

On October 20th 2017 Neil Hollander and his producer Barry visited Lane Community College for an artist talk and to preview their new movie. They gave a 2 hour presentation where they told stories of the trials and tribulations of being an independent filmmaker. The ins and outs of large movie companies and how they try to conform you to what the sponsors want instead of telling the real story. Neil was a bit of a conspiracy theorist as far as that went. He lead off the presentation asking for a show of hands for people in the audience who wanted to do independent films and joked that you shouldn’t want to do it. He was just getting us ready for the door being shut in our faces and being told no and that we need to change what we want. It was a little discouraging but I also found it as a challenge because I would much rather be told that it’s to hard to be done so that way I know what to expect.

At the end of the presentation Neil and Barry answered questions and were very knowledgeable about the movie industry as a whole. The ways that different ideas would be dealt with and the different networks and what they looked for as far as content. He had a huge problem with social media and the internet, which coming from his time I completely understand because your work was yours and you protected it with everything. I don’t believe you can totally hate modern technology and be able to move forward. I believe the key is to figure out how to use tech to further your cause and get what you want done. Neil was very good at doing what he needed in order to accomplish an idea but in this one major area I believe he is tying himself up for no reason

Im very glad I went to this event. I learned a lot and got a good sense as to what it’s like in the travel and film industry. I’m looking forward to the challenge of getting in places and getting the shot. I’m a thrill junkie and a truth gatherer so this is going to be perfect.