Catherine Hardwicke is the sort of mentor young filmmakers should have to duel at dawn for. Not only is she exceptionally generous with her time (in addition to Project:Involve, she also mentors for Women in Film and the Sundance Institute) but she also has a habit of hiring her young mentees: the very first Project:Involve Fellow she was sent, ended up with an Associate Producer credit on Lords of Dogtown. Before she embarked on the odyssey that was the making of her first film Thirteen, Hardwicke had an entire career as a Production Designer, a job that gave her a front row seat to the good, the bad and the decidedly dysfunctional side of film sets. That experience informed not only her understanding of the filmmaking process but also the different standards to which she would be held as a woman working in Hollywood. With the box office smash Twilight now behind her, Hardwicke is devoting herself to a radical reinterpretation of Hamlet with Emile Hirsch, and has signed on to direct two young adult novels: If I Stay with Summit Entertainment and Maximum Ride with Sony.

EP: What are the misapprehensions young filmmakers tend to have about the film industry?

CH: I feel like it's just an incredibly frustrating and difficult industry to be a part of... I mean from the outside you could look [at me] and say, "Oh she must be successful." My last movie [Twilight] made a lot of money, but it's still just an unbelievable battle, an unbelievable daily battle to find any way to move forward, so, you know, that's a reality that I guess is good for people to know. If you really want to be in this business, there's just like a crazy, inner reserve of strength and work ethic that's needed to have any kind of chance of making it.

EP: One of the Fellows spoke of overcoming the impatience of youth. It's easy to forget just how long it took a lot of successful people to break through.

CH: It's such a hard business. My heart breaks for all of us that are in it (laughs). I'm close friends with so many directors that, you know, again, from the outside are considered like the most successful ones of all time, and we just know the heartbreak of trying to survive. Of course by that process, these Fellows, I think if they work with us, they see what it takes and you just kind of have to find out if that's something you can do and you want to do and you're willing to put that kind of effort into it.

EP: Economically speaking, it's becoming harder for young people who don't come from privileged backgrounds, to afford the choice of a creative profession.

CH: Our country does not support the arts in any way, shape, or form. And so when I took the leap to make my first movie Thirteen, I had been working already as a production designer for a long time, and even that doesn't pay that well, but I saved up my money because I knew that I was not going to be able to work at all for two years minimum while I worked on the film. And in the end I made $3 total, forever: to make it legal they paid $1 when they optioned the script and then $1 when we into production for the writing and then $1 for the directing to make it like a legal thing. I could have probably said, "I'm not going to do it unless I can take some of the money out of the budget and pay myself," but I wanted to put the money on the screen... I wasn't in the Directors Guild or the Writers Guild so there's no residuals or anything like that... if you want to make an independent film, usually you're going to have to take a big leap, you're going to have to save up money so that you can survive for a long time without getting paid.

EP: A lot of young filmmakers think of themselves as one thing: writer, director, producer, but with independent film, being able to cross between those disciplines can be a huge advantage.

CH: I speak almost once a week at a university or an organization where I'm asked, "How do you break in?"... You need like a five pronged approach. You're of course studying every director's commentary... and every movie and every book they've [written] about it. And [you're]... going to film school and making your own short films and posting on YouTube and showing them to people and getting comments and trying to raise your game and your skill level. And [you're] trying to work... on other people's student films and also trying to work for the best person possible that you admire in the film business so you have somebody at the top of the game who's working as well as [someone] just starting out. So I always talk about every way that you can work it and if you do have another skill, like production design or costume design... that's great because you get a front row seat to the filmmaking process. I was lucky enough to be able to work with 17 or 18 different directors before I directed my first movie and [to] see the good and bad aspects of how each person worked and work with them, you know, on a very high creative level. It took me a long time to get to make my first movie but at least I was ready by the time I did it and it came out enough that I got to make more films.

EP: With Twilight you had the highest grossing opening weekend by a female director. Can you talk a little bit about working as a woman in Hollywood?

CH: I've been on sets, as I said, with 17 or 18 male directors and seen a whole range of ways people work and how they're prepared or not prepared on the day... . And I know that... I'm as prepared, if not more, than every single one of the directors I've worked with (laughs), or most people... But I've seen plenty of guys who weren't; [who] would walk out there and just be like, "Oh. What should the first shot be"...Now, could a woman get away with that? Or keep getting away with that?... I've personally witnessed an extreme amount of abusive language, yelling behavior from the director, up to 90 people fired on one movie and these people still get hired... but women, if you have any little thing that comes out... for example, if one tear comes out in quiet and in private, then suddenly the woman is emotional. And, you know we are making films that we hope are very emotional, I mean that is the whole point of a film, that you feel something. So the idea that a woman couldn't feel something in a way that she might feel it but a man could yell and scream... it's pretty wild.

EP: Do you find the more success you've achieved, the less you have to deal with it?

CH: Oh no, no, no, that's the thing, that's what's surprised me. You know before I did Twilight none of my movies were giant financial successes or anything so I could understand why I would be a second class citizen in a way, since I hadn't achieved financial success but now I have achieved enormous financial success... [and] still, I feel so many doors are shut in my face and its incredible. Like literally, [the] direct feedback about this movie I'm interested in, this family drama... is "we want a man to direct that." And I'm thinking, wow, the most girlie movies ever you were happy to have a guy direct those, you didn't try to seek out a woman to direct those: Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Sex and the City, Hannah Montana... A guy can easily direct female movies, but a woman can't?

EP: Was there a moment in your career, which at the time felt like a disaster, but that you look back on now as a huge learning moment?

CH: I was on a very low budget movie and I did the job only because the producer was Ed Pressman who produced a lot of very beautiful movies... the whole budget of the movie was like a million dollars and the art department was probably like, $7,000 total budget or something. One of the first sets, like, the first day was supposed to be a newscaster and I knew it was just going to be a little video insert in the background... so my art department guy was making this sign and it looked really kind of cheap to me. I go, "I think it looks too cheap, the letters aren't raised," and he's like, "Catherine it's going to be like a tiny little quarter of the screen in the background." And he kind of talked me into it... I let it go because it was such a minor thing compared to all the other sets in the movie. Well, that was the first thing that Ed Pressman saw the first day and when he saw it, it was big and it looked cheap and the only reason I made the movie was to impress this producer. The first day I get a phone call from the guy telling me, "That sign looked cheap and we don't want this movie to look cheap." And I would rather have had no sign than that... and I couldn't tell him, "well the other guy talked me into it," because I was the head of the department and it was my gut instinct that told me it didn't look good. And that was one of those things that you can never forget because you realize... I was hired for my gut instincts and my feelings and I should never let somebody talk me out of them.

--Emily Poenisch

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As President of Participant Media, Ricky Strauss presides over a deftly calibrated union of commerce and conscience. With the success of such acclaimed films as Good Night and Good Luck, An Inconvenient Truth and Syriana, the company established itself as an incubator of substantive stories that both entertain and illuminate. This year, two of Participant Media's documentaries exemplified this approach: Food Inc., which pulled back the curtain on the corporatization of the food supply; and The Cove, which exposed the shadowy and altogether sinister black market for dolphin meat in Japan. On the horizon are two projects with impeccable pedigree: Steven Soderberg's The Informant, starring Matt Damon; and Doug Liman's Fair Game starring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts. Strauss is a repeat mentor for Project:Involve and continues to counsel the very first Fellow assigned to him by the program.

EP: On the business side, what are going to be the main challenges for this next generation of filmmakers?

RS: There's a lot more competition for consumers' time... years ago movies and then television were the primary forms of entertainment, then to some degree video games and certainly music, then you started getting into... home entertainment... and now the incredible use of the Internet for story-telling purposes whether it's YouTube videos or other ways of expressing yourself artistically online. There's just so many options for people especially for filmmakers and aspiring storytellers... you have to try to discipline yourself in what area do you want to focus on. And in the world of independent film... there's less people supporting [it] but at the same time I think there's always an audience for great content and so I think really talented, creative enthusiasts can find their way to success.

EP: How important a role can new media play for emerging filmmakers?

RS: Well there [are] a lot of programs that you can enroll in that sponsor short film contests or short film festivals... I think representation is key... you want to get an agent, you want to get representatives behind you, and one way to do that is through these festivals and sponsored programs and so I think there are online options in which you can showcase your work and there are festivals through the country, in fact throughout the world, that will take that product.

EP: Participant Media has always sought out socially conscious material. Is this going to get harder to sustain in terms of economic pressures?

RS: Well it's about the ways in which those stories are being told. For us socially relevant story-telling is part of the experience of Participant, it's our mandate. The mission of Participant is to be the leading provider of entertainment that inspires and compels social change. The key word there of course is entertainment, so what's essential going forward is that our movies, and ultimately any kind of programming we're producing... be as retail and commercial as possible. The wider the audience that sees the product the more people [will] be inspired to take action.

EP: Naturally young filmmakers are consumed with their craft, but how important is it for them to balance that with an understanding of the business side?

RS: It's very important and I think it's more important today than ever because of that competition: for consumers, for viewership and also among other like-minded, talented emerging filmmakers. There are a lot more people trying to break into [the] business so the more that you understand the business of the business, the smarter you'll be as an emerging talent. The other thing I would add is that the most important thing is to remain authentic and to stay true to your vision and what you are passionate about. I find that the... [more] passionate about the movies filmmakers are working on... the more successful those efforts are.

EP: What are some of the things a young filmmaker should be doing to set themselves apart in these challenging times?

RS: Be true to yourself and in pursuing something that you believe passionately about, what can you do with that kind of material that's different? What's the unmet need from a consumer standpoint? What can you bring that other filmmakers are not bringing...I think that having a voice is really key. I think that what Diablo Cody did with Juno was a recent example of somebody who had a very clear, specific voice and so while there [were] many, many teen dramas and comedies that were being written and being sold or being developed, it's something that brings a unique voice to market that gets attention. So I think it's about looking at the competition and seeing what you can do that's different than others.

EP: What was the best piece of advice you got when you were coming up in the industry?

RS: I think it must have something to do with relying on your instincts... if people are speaking louder that doesn't mean that they're right. If there's a more popular opinion but you know... in your own soul, it not to be the case, it's important to, again, retain that sense of authenticity and just rely on your instincts and what you believe to be true.

--Emily Poenisch