Pro Moviemaker Spring 2018PMM_SPRING 2018

FOOD FILMMAKER CASE STUDY

Some may see it as the ultimate formof bland fast food, but to George Motz the classic American hamburger is a culinary delight and icon

WORDS TERRY HOPE

I f your idea of a hamburger is a mass-produced offering in a plastic box with some skinny fries on the side, then it’s probably no great surprise that youmight regard it as nomore than tasteless junk food. Cast your search a little further however, especially in the USA which is indelibly associated with this particular dish, and you’ll find something altogether more palatable, a classic that’s been lovingly created by artisan food producers who take great pride in what they’re serving up. For Brooklyn-based George Motz, the hamburger is something else again, a potent symbol of his love for hearty, no-frills American food that has seen himbecome a filmmaker, presenter and creator of a hugely successful and utterly unique festival that manages to combine the sensory experience of eating with the pleasure of film-going. That’s quite a list of achievements, and when you catch up with George his enthusiasm for his subject leaves you in no doubt that he’s in the right business.

“My mother is a photographer and she was handing down pro camera gear tome as early as 13 years old,” he recalls. “Then I landed a job as an assistant to a stage manager at a live action special effects stage in New York, and at a very young age I foundmyself immersed in the world of filming for commercial advertising. Following that I took a job running still life wizard Greg Ramsey’s stage, and here I learned everything there was to know about food filmmaking, ranging frompure know-how through to the need for tons of patience. “I then struck out onmy own at the age of 28, shootingmostly commercials for about the next decade, then became fascinated specifically with food photography as the Food Network and other similar cable networks began tomake stars out of chefs.” What George is particularly well known for, however, is the documentary film Hamburger America , which he produced in 2004. “It was a total fluke,” he says disarmingly. “I was shooting a lot of commercials

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SPRING 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER

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