Fall/Winter 2016-17

Peter Berg

Director Peter Berg talks about the importance of community trust on Patriots Day.

BY BRANDON KYLE GOCO


Director Peter Berg on set for Patriots Day (Photo: Karen Ballard)

In making the upcoming Patriots Day, about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, director Peter Berg says the filmmakers had to meet with "families who have lost their children, people who have lost their limbs, police who were still very traumatized." Reactions were initially skeptical, if not completely closed off.

The solution was getting to know the community and gaining people's trust. "Once people understood that this was literally a story about love, not a story about violence—a story about a remarkable response to something horrific and how that community came together—they really did open up to us."

Adds Berg: "You've got to really take the time to work with the people who are the subjects of your story. Those relationships aren't necessarily formed quickly or easily, but if you're patient and your intentions are authentic, it can work out very well."

Problem Solving

Directors discuss overcoming challenges and, in effect, making lemons into lemonade when circumstances are less than ideal.

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