Name: Gregory Lamberson

Title: Screenwriter, Director, Producer, Founding Director, Executive Director

Organisation: Digital Guerrilla Cinema LLC, Amazing Fantasy Fest, Cinema Arts Collaborative, Inc.

Gregory Lamberson is a motion picture screenwriter, director and producer. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America, International Thriller Writers, and the Horror Writers Association. He makes his own films and frequently writes screenplays for clients. Gregory teaches Screenwriting at University at Buffalo.

He has been a film festival director for fourteen years, and his company, Digital Guerrilla Cinema, LLC, produced Amazing Fantasy Fest, a celebration of genre cinema which runs for seven days in Buffalo, New York every September. Gregory is an advocate for film production in Western New York, and is the Executive Director of Cinema Arts Collaborative, Inc., a new nonprofit intended to educate and grow the local film community.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Gregory's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

In my different roles, I must juggle numerous and very different personalities at all times to achieve my goals. But I no longer find this a challenge; I've been doing it for so long that it comes naturally to me.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I've been obsessed with movies since I was a child, and decided early on that I wanted to be cinematic storyteller, both a screenwriter and a director. A screenwriter is not a leader; he works in isolation. But a director is a team leader, and must be able to communicate his vision to actors and crew members.

On my most recent production, I had 60 cast members and 20 crew members. Unfortunately, I am also my own producer, and that is another form of leadership, and involves working with all of the above plus investors and distributors.

I say "unfortunately" because I wish I had someone else to do all that work, but I've never found someone who could go out and raise money for me, so I have to do it myself. I made my first feature film when I was only 21 years old.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

There are different stages of motion picture production. Once the financing has been secured, I generally have two months before production begins. My wife Tamar co-produces with me. To save money, we do the work of four people. From the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed, we work, planning all the details that will go into our shoot.

During production (filming), we work 12 - 14 hours a day on set, then go home and do a couple more hours of work for the next day. We used to shoot six days per week, but now we shoot five. My shoots generally last 15 - 20 days.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

I've now worked in my field for almost 40 years. I've learned lessons over four decades, and I share those experiences with others. I believe in paying it forward. But at this point, I have it all down. My philosophes and practices haven't changed over the last several years, only the people and personalities around me have. But I don't just make movies; I run a film festival and other events, and I have learned that if someone doesn't share my vision or commitment, or if they slow me down, I have to remove them from my process.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

You can't learn what I know about film production from a book or from a school; you can only learn by gaining experience on set. You can learn basics from a book, but that's it. In addition to my other achievements, I'm a professionally published author; I've written fifteen books, including twelve novels, two novellas, and one instructional filmmaking book. I've been told my filmmaking book was extremely helpful to others.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Surround yourself with the best people possible, and encourage them to do their best work for you. This means being flexible, and granting a certain amount of freedom. It also means listening to their ideas and advice, but only utilizing those idea which best serve your goals.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

I shot my last film, an action film called "Guns of Eden," at the height of the pandemic, under difficult circumstances. Because I had a low budget (raised through crowdfunding), I had a small crew and several unpaid interns. I told the interns that I was going to teach them the basics of filmmaking, so they would emerge from the experience with set experience that would give them an entrance into the film industry.

I think everyone thought I was just paying lip service, but I was true to my word: I addressed them in meetings, I rotated them among different departments, I would stop shooting to explain things to them. And they came out of those three weeks fully trained to become paid production assistants going forward.

We had a great time, they helped me, I helped them, and we came out of the experience with a complete motion picture which has since been distributed and has been seen by over four million people around the world.