Rehan Ally
Online Editor
Filmmakers are known to be storytellers with a story of their own. They are passionate about their craft and are dedicated to their vision. BC’s film professor, James Eimmerman teaches Film Appreciation and continues his work as a filmmaker outside the classroom.
Eimmerman is originally from New Haven, Connecticut, and moved to Hollywood, Florida when he was 12-years- old.
Eimmerman did his undergraduate program in History and did a graduate program in Theology. He taught high school for 10 years and he has a background in youth ministry. While he was going to school for Theology, he studied film on his own.
“I watched a lot of special features, documentaries, and things like that and I would do that in my own time when I wasn’t working when I wasn’t teaching or doing youth ministry,” he explains.
His passion for film stemmed from his childhood in Connecticut. He grew up during the time of movies like “Back to the Future,” “Jaws,” “Star Wars” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” As a kid, all he would do is watch movies.
As he grew older, his release from working and teaching was not only watching movies, but also watching behind-the-scenes special features.
“When you know you soak something up like a sponge like that and you can retain it, you know that that’s usually some kind of call to tell you ‘this is what you want to do’,” he said.
Eimmerman comes from a family of musicians and he utilizes his musical background for filmmaking by putting focus on audio.
“I put a very big emphasis on sound and music and the orchestration of sound in music to the visuals as best as I could in my short films,” he said.
His background in history theology also play a big role in his filmmaking since he has worked on faith-based films in the past.
In 2013, he went to California and attended Loyola Marymount University to study film.
He says that film school was worth it because of the lectures he received. He also appreciates film school for the way that it teaches endurance and competency for filmmaking. The test is meeting requirements, deadlines and sticking with the project from start to finish.
His thesis film was a short called “Force-Full Imagination,” which was an entry into the 2015 Spirit of Fandom Star Wars Fan Film competition. This was a huge success for him because it gained a lot of attention, including that of J.J. Abrams himself.
Family plays a crucial role in Eimmerman’s life. His daughter, Michelle, is the main actress in the film and he is proud of completing it because it proves that he can be a filmmaker and also be a father at the same time. He has since created part two to the short film, and is finishing part three.
Filmmaking is a fulfillment in Eimmerman’s life and he encourages everyone to pursue their passion. He says that by not fulfilling your desires in life, it feels like something is missing.
He says that even if you are not making a lot of money from something, do it anyway because you will feel complete.
“Find the thing that you love, live your life for it. That’s what you have to do, and if you do that you’ll be okay,” Eimmerman said.