Sean Durkin

Sean Durkin
Sean Durkinis a Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. He won the Dramatic Directing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival for Martha Marcy May Marlene. His short film, Mary Last Seen, on the same theme as Martha, won the award for best short film at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight. In 2013 Durkin directed the Channel 4 drama series Southcliffe starring Sean Harris and Rory Kinnear...
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth9 December 1981
soccer player coaches
What I learned from directing, I learned from soccer, where it's like a coach-player relationship.
writing matter no-matter-what
When you write, no matter what, it ends up personal.
writing please
You can't write something to please someone.
actors film bigs
A big fear of working with an actor that's never been a lead in a film before is that you're going to have to work really hard to pull a performance out of her.
morning prayer school
I remember being at school during morning meeting and looking around at everybody, 350 kids, saying a prayer. We're all very young and no one knows what it means, and I remember feeling strange that people were just repeating words that they didn't understand. I refused to participate. For some reason I always rejected it, but respectfully.
cutting creating editing
In editing, it's amazing how you choose the in and out points. What you cut on is everything for creating tension. It's amazing how expanding a shot by five seconds can just ruin the tension.
long way subtle
The way brainwashing works is subtle and takes a long time.
trying actors feels
I always try to keep the confidence of the actors, and try my best to make them feel comfortable or confident.
firsts anticipation horror
I love the first hour of a horror movie, the fear and anticipation. Then, when it gets bloody, I lose interest.
photography kids writing
I was really into writing short fiction and also photography when I was a kid.
soccer player goal
I wasn't good enough to be a professional soccer player obviously but that was my first goal in life.
soccer college play
I went to my first college to play soccer.
fats
I won't rewrite on set, but I'll just trim the fat.
writing ongoing process
It's sort of one ongoing process where writing ends and directing starts.