A Million Miles is 23 year-old director Bryan Sipe’s first feature. It’s a coming-of-age story which is not unusual coming from a first-timer. What is unusual is that it actually works. Most “coming-of-age” films from first-timers are unbearable and pretentious. A Million Miles is fresh, original and unpredictable. In addition, Sipe was able to secure Bruce Springstein music for the film. Not bad for a first feature.
Having spent his entire life on the Jersey Shore (Tom’s River), he went away to school at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. He found the South is a strange place. “I guess I first realized I wanted to get into movies around my sophomore year. Had a class taught by Frank Capra Jr. Got into writing and playing around with video cameras. Just for fun though. I interned as a PA on the set of ‘Dawson’s Creek’ for a semester, which was my first look at how the mechanics of a set worked. That was pretty much the extent of my film education before we made this movie. Everything else I just bluffed.”
I sat down with Bryan for some quick questions about his own coming of age experience as a director…
Get the interview in part two of DIRECTOR COMING OF AGE: BRYAN SIPE>>>
