Film Courage: So I'm taking a quote that you have here "I'm at my best when I'm telling extremely
personal stories." Justin Warren, screenwriter/director: Hhmmm. Film Courage: Would you say you're an open book? You're
okay with people knowing things about you? Justin: Absolutely, yeah. I like to in fact
I try to challenge myself to be even more open I don't feel like I'm as open
as I need to be and what I mean by that is like I I've always had like sort of
an outsider perspective growing up and I've always felt like I have a reservoir
of almost like pain and truth from which to draw from and I've noticed that like
whenever I'm telling stories that aren't very personal there's like something
kind of missing about it there's like there's like it's almost like an athlete
in the fourth quarter who doesn't have their legs under them you know what I
mean to shoot a jump shot but I noticed that when I when I really lean into my
truth and I lean into the things that mean a lot to me and lean into the
things that have value and things I can talk about it at length and just kind of
keep keep going on and seem to never really run out of energy those are my
best stories that did I tell and I also think there's something to be sad about
because a professor of mine when I was at school
it's a Vincent Robert said this to me he said why do we tell stories and he asked
that one day and everybody in class was like raising their hands saying all
these different things and we were all wrong and he said no no we tell stories
to heal that's why we tell stories and I had a moment where I
I almost couldn't breathe because I realized he was totally right at least
for me I realized that's why I tell stories because there's something about
opening up an old wound trying to heal it in a way where other people can see
it that absolutely heals them too at least that's what I've experienced so
like in in in my film my film is all about these two strangers who are
actually brothers who learned become brothers that's what the whole
movies about and it's based on like a true story of my actual extremely broken
relationship with my older brother and you know we both grew up like total
opposites like he I was very much a private-school try to make straight A's
kind of kid and and my other brother like basically hung out in the streets
and you know had a very vibrant very successful life in crime and I just
didn't understand it I didn't get it and it hurt me for so so so many years and I
knew that like oh man if I tell a story about that and I can like I can make fun
of myself make fun of all the things that that are I'll basically make light
of all the things that cause me pain I know for a fact there's gonna be other
people out there that are experiencing something similar that can relate to it
because a lot of times when you're super specific about the things that that
caused you pain you can achieve almost like a universal sense of connection
with other people because other people can see themselves in very specific
stories and I knew that and that was something I learned throughout school
and so like I I've noticed that every single time I do that every single time
I'm honest and I'm open I usually connect with way more people
than if I tried to be someone else or tried to tell someone else's story that
didn't fit me I didn't I didn't have like a I always have to find like an
emotional end that moves me deeply to my core
something I can speak about at length and when that happens whenever I know
sort of thematically why I'm telling the story then I can I feel like I could
make a 10 hour movie about it you know but yeah so I always try to tell stories
are extremely personal and try to be as open as possible about it I'm trying to
be even more open about the just the process of what it takes to
put a movie together and the pain that goes with that - yeah see people respect
that honesty cuz a lot of us don't show different things we just want to put oh
no everything's great I got this kind of you know that's become this new term and
I feel like we've become a society of like I got this I'm good and I'm not you
know yeah and and the reality is like human beings we are created for
community like we're not really created I know our society is very individual
you know we celebrate the individual like the the accomplishments of the
individual like I did this I'm awesome you know and you know there's there's
something to that about like living up to your potential ISM
as a person as a as a creator or whatever it is that you're doing but I
think when we deny the fact that we need to connect with other people we do
ourselves and everyone around us a disservice because something magical
happens when when people open up to each other and you sort of take a risk and
you wanted to trust another person something kind of beautiful happens in
that and I think in today's day and age like it's very easy to like open up
Instagram and look around it'd be like man everybody's crushing it but me
and in the reality like we're all super broken people like all of us are broken
there's not one person on this planet that's not broken and when you can sort
of embrace that you embrace a part of your humanity and I feel like if you
deny that suddenly you're you're trying you're running away from the from
basically your own fingerprints the thing that the things that make you
uniquely you and I think the more you embrace your faults your weaknesses and
and even your strengths because sometimes there can be shame involved in
embracing your own strengths just embracing who you are the the good and
the bad only makes you a more valuable contributing member of society how does
it feel to come here and and want to tell stories you came
from where it was very embracing and a warm
family that welcomes you but do you feel a sense of of like freedom well now I
can tell other new stories or is it scarier or how is that because it seems
like maybe people really knew you back home and and now not saying that people
don't know you but it's there's so many people here yeah that it's different so
how is that is that freeing is that scary is it kind of both or I think it's
a bit of both I think the only thing that I think this entire process has has
taught me is that to not have shame in telling stories that excite you of it
might because there there are some stories I know for a fact that my mother
would hate it if I told that story what if like oh if I put that scene in a
movie my mom's gonna kill me yeah but like I I've now to the point
where like yes I do know that there are a lot of stories and me that I I'm
confident we'll probably make someone mad or you know who perhaps like my
other films and things like that but the reality is that like we're all
constantly evolving as people and you know just because something makes
someone uncomfortable doesn't mean there's not truth in it
because a lot of times I mean I mean we just right now in our society like we
all we're all running from the truth I've got a lot of things because it
makes us uncomfortable and I think like as long as I can find and tell stories
that I feel are authentic to me where I can lean into truth and embrace it lean
and pain and embrace it then I'm going to as much as possible aggressively
pursue those types of stories and I'm I think one thing about perhaps like ever
since ever since I finished my my feature I think I've really begun to
realize like you know just how much effort it takes to make a film and how
much how much craft and and work and sweat and
all these different things it takes to craft a story to where someone else can
enjoy it and and get what it is you're trying to do that now like for instance
my films moving forward like I'm gonna make them even more when try my best to
make them even more honest and even more
embrace like the parts of me that are in the movie more because with as much
effort as you put into these things like yeah might as well make them as potent
and as sharp and as resonant emotionally as possible
you