SHORT BIO
Olympia Stone is an independent documentary filmmaker with a focus on art, artists and collectors. Based in Chapel Hill, NC, her production company, Floating Stone Productions, creates films that explore the personal stories and creative processes of a wide range of artists and collectors, providing viewers with a deeper understanding of their work and inspirations. Her films have been recognized at numerous festivals, winning awards and receiving critical acclaim. Her documentaries have been screened in the US and worldwide at festivals and gone on to be broadcast on PBS.
FILMOGRAPHY
The Collector: Allan Stone’s Life in Art (2006)
The Cardboard Bernini (2012)
Curious Worlds: The Art & Imagination of David Beck (2015)
The Original Richard McMahan (2017)
Double Take: The Art of Elizabeth King (2018)
Actually, Iconic: Richard Estes (2019)
Aldwyth: Fully Assembled (2022)
The Uncommon Garden (2022)
Under the Hat: The Complicated History of the Pith Helmet (2024)
Always Looking: Titus Brooks Heagins (2024)
1. Was there a particular event or time that you recognized that filmmaking is your way of telling stories?
The first film I made was about my father, who was an obsessive collector who had a gallery in NYC for over 50 years. He died suddenly while I was releasing the film, and the film became the way that our family and the larger community of artists and friends mourned him. This was powerful and important lesson for me: that a film could not only comfort people but also serve as a point of meaning, connection and memory.
2. Do you think it is essential to go to a film institute in order to become a successful filmmaker?
Hard for me to say, but I did not go to film school, so I don’t think it’s essential!
3. Is it harder to get started or to keep going? What was the particular thing that you had to conquer to do either?
For me, it is much harder to get started. Still, I am often struggling during the making of a film with some degree of self-doubt about whether I can actually do this, how will I tell this particular story, etc. That never seems to go away.
4. What was the most important lesson you had to learn that has had a positive effect on your film? How did that lesson happen?
To me, filmmaking is all about collaboration. I love collaborating and getting input from people I work with. At the same time, it’s important to be clear about your own ideas and not get lost in the ideas of others, so there is a balance to be struck there. Earlier in my career, feedback was threatening for me but now I appreciate it—assuming it is solicited.
5. How do you find or generate ideas for documentaries or is it a different process for every project?
Sometimes ideas come up while I am working on another film. Sometimes people give me ideas and sometimes I find out about a person or subject that intrigues me and that will start the process.
6. Can you describe your approach to writing treatments?
Research and then writing and revising.
7. Do you ever use the camera yourself?
In my earlier films—unfortunately—I did do some camera work. Now I will help very occasionally and reluctantly. It is not my area of expertise, so I like to leave that to the professionals I work with.
8. What do audiences want? And is it the filmmaker’s role to worry about that?
I think audiences want connection with characters and story. To the extent that you can control that in the way that you make a film, then that is your responsibility. Otherwise, trying to make a film that you think other people will want (as opposed to telling a story that genuinely interests you) is an exercise in frustration.
9. What role have film festivals played in your life so far? Why are they necessary? How do you get the most out of them?
I have mixed feelings about festivals. Earlier in my career, they were the only way to find distribution that I knew of, so they were more important. Now I see them as a good way to meet people and make connections and have different groups of people exposed to a film, but I am not as obsessed with getting into them as I used to be.
10. Do you believe that a filmmaker should be original and fresh or he/she should stick to classic but safe cinema style?
I think filmmakers should be true to themselves. It’s important to have fresh approaches always—but I also love a classically made film. Both are important!
