Filmmaker Profile: Ezekiel Goodman and Hannah Zipperman
Hannah Zipperman
Hannah Zipperman is an actor, filmmaker, and theater maker from Los Angeles. She has a degree in Drama from Kenyon College, and has produced and acted in various plays and short films in the LA area. Sylvia is her directorial debut.
Ezekiel Goodman, co-director of Sylvia
Ezekiel Goodman is an actor and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. His first short film, Peacocking, won Best Narrative Short Film at the Oakcliff Film Festival. As an actor, he can be seen in Amazon’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, and will appear in the upcoming series Cruel Intentions, as well as Fernando Andres’ feature Rent Free, which premiered at the 2024 TriBeCa Film Festival.
This Q&A is part of the Bushwick Film Fest Filmmaker Q&A series.
What inspired you to create this film, and how did the initial idea come to you?
I wrote “Sylvia” during the quarantine portion of the pandemic, when my life felt very small and isolating. Living alone for the first time, I missed caring for and sharing physical space with someone else. I started watching a lot of Fosse and Twin Peaks and I just felt I needed to make a silly, but dramatic dance piece.
How do you want people to feel after they see your film?
I want them to feel hopeful! There is light on the other side of loneliness if we listen to ourselves and take care of ourselves.
What was a big challenge you faced while making this film?
My biggest challenge was money. Who has thousands of dollars lying around to make a short? I had to move back to my parents house for a year and work three jobs to make one 7 minute movie.
How do you approach storytelling in your films? What’s your process for developing a script or concept?
I like to write something and then come back to it months or sometimes years later. If something has been percolating in your brain for a while, you will have a more clear vision of what you want to actually write.
What’s your history with the Bushwick Film Festival?
This is my first time and I'm so excited!
What’s the last film you watched?
My Old Ass
Early bird or night owl?
Night Owl!
Ezekiel Goodman and Hannah Zipperman’s Q&A is part of the Bushwick Film Fest Filmmaker Q&A series.
