Dan Sachar is a prolific Israeli filmmaker who juggles between directing, cinematography and VFX supervising.
As a visual effects supervisor and 2nd unit director, one of his recent shows is FAUDA, which streams on Netflix worldwide. His name-baring VFX studio won the Israeli Academy Award for its work on the second season, and his 2nd unit directing contribution includes many of the scenes featuring "Captain Ayub", one of the most striking characters of the series.
As a director, Dan has released 3 sci-fi shorts, with the most recent one being LAST OF YOU. They all had a successful festival run. His last one won best Sci-Fi and Judge’s choice award at Comic Con and Best Director at Shanghai International Film Festival, among many other awards.
“ I wish I could be able to direct and also be a VFX supervisor and artist because I feel really comfortable in the studio, but I really love the set as well - as a director. I love being behind the monitor and working with actors. I think it’s the perfect mix which I really hope to do in the future as well.”
In this episode we talk about how we first met - when our short films competed against each other in a short sci-fi film contest, and how our paths crossed again when we collaborated with the same people.
He told me what it was like to direct one of FAUDA’s most compelling and complicated characters, Captain Ayub.
We discussed how shorts should be perceived as their own form of creative expression rather than just a step in the way towards long-form entertainment.
And we noted how crazy post-production schedules can get in Israel, and how small the VFX industry is there. Which at one point forced Dan to on-set VFX supervise two of Israel’s biggest shows that were shooting at the same time.
We also mentioned other interesting directors, like Denis Villeneuve and Wes Ball. Wes was my guest on episode 8 - which I highly recommend listening to if you haven’t already.
Relevant links:
Dan's directing website:
http://dansachar.com/
Dan's VFX company website:
https://www.dansacharvfx.com/
FAUDA on Netflix:
https://www.netflix.com/title/80113612
LAST OF YOU trailer:
FAUDA trailer:
FAUDA VFX breakdown:
LAST OF YOU VFX breakdown:
Show notes:
Looper proof of concept:
NEXT FLOOR - short by Denis Villeneuve :
VIDEO COPILOT - After Effects tools and tutorials by Andrew Kramer:
https://www.videocopilot.net/
SECULAR QUARTER 3 - my own short which one the Jersualem 2111 sci-fi film contest:
OUTPOST VFX website (my VFX studio):
http://www.outpostvfx.com
Opening and closing song: "14 Days" by Akın Sevgör.
Stay tuned for episode 11, when I’ll be hosting director, writer and executive producer Tomek Baginski, to talk about his long road from directing award-winning CG shorts to executive producing the new Netflix series WITCHER.