"do: live" with Ethan Romaine
Hey guys — trying something new this post! This time we’ve got a podcast version of the interview/conversations I’ve been doing. Had a couple people saying that they’d like an audio/video form of the interviews, so I’m branching out to see how it feels. Definitely reach out if you like it!
As you may have heard, I mentioned a short film came out that has a score of mine in it! It’s called Eye to Eye, written and directed by today’s guest Ethan Romaine. If you haven’t seen it: watch it! The conversation above will make a lot more sense that way…
We also released a soundtrack for the film, which you can listen to on all major streaming platforms! It includes all of the score cues from the film, all of the underscore beats, and a couple unused/process tracks as well!
Before watching Eye to Eye or the podcast above, I suggest you watch the other films from Ethan’s hometown love-letter series, 301 Stories (301 is our hometown area-code), of which Eye to Eye is third and final episode. Both Ep. 1 Lover’s Leap and Ep. 2 Family Dinner had festival, online, and 301/Brooklyn premieres. Eye to Eye follows those same characters, so it’ll feel that much more impactful having watched the whole series.
My high school band, Golf of Mexico. Ethan is drumming, I’m playing guitar. Also pictured is Sam DeMartino on lead guitar and John Rossi on bass.
Ethan and I have known each other for a long time. He was my “first friend” in the town where I grew up. We began our filmmaking journey by making embarrassing amateur films together. We also shared a love of music which culminated in throwing many house shows in his basement with our high school surf rock band, Golf of Mexico (pictured).
Since our high school days, Ethan studied at NYU’s Tisch, made those first two shorts I mentioned, and has really found a voice as a filmmaker and artist. I’ve truly enjoyed seeing him grow. He’s always had a great knack for bringing people together in a shared vision, and it’s been amazing to see him bring that talent into film directing.
Our talk was filmed in Frostburg, MD outside of Ethan’s parent’s house, the day after the local, 301 premiere of the series.
Topics discussed:
how filmmaking can be like dentistry or acupuncture
how comedy is like “the Blues”
why you should be open when it comes to what your “next short film” is
why Ethan thought of me in particular to score Eye to Eye
& the problem with “results” directing
Watch or listen on Substack! And let me know if you want more!
will dinola (he/him) is a film composer, musician, and writer currently working in new york city
he is interested in people’s passions and pushing the art of film scoring to new horizons
he writes about his experience in a newsletter called “do”
