Actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, Lazar Ristovski has led a vibrant and illustrious career as a Renaissance man of the film world.

Born in Yugoslavia on October 26, 1952, Ristovski went to Teachers High School before pursuing his acting career at the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Belgrade. Since then, he has appeared on stage 4,000 times, and in leading roles on television series and dramas over 40 times.

The Serbian actor’s extensive filmography, which stretches back 30 years, contains many films that have appeared at independent film festivals worldwide. After playing the lead role of Blacky in Emir Kusturica’s Underground (1995), the film was awarded the Palme D'Or (Golden Palm) at the Cannes Film Festival. The Second Wife (1998), in which he also starred, was screened at the Venice Film Festival. That same year, his film The Powder Keg (1998), won Best European Film (FIPRESCI) and Best Film in all categories by the Critics at the Venice Film Festival.

Ristovski wrote, produced, directed, and played the lead role in The White Suit (1999), a comedy/drama about a man’s memorable experiences on his train ride home to his mother’s funeral. The film made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in the Critics Week Program, and was proposed as the Yugoslavian candidate for the Oscars. It won ‘Best Art Film’ at Gibelina, Italy, and ‘Best Film’ in the European Competition at the Panorama of European Cinema, Athens, as well as ‘Best Photography’ at the Mostra de Valencia.

Following this success, the film savant produced and starred in a comedy called Boomerang (2001). Written about a cast of crazy characters set against the backdrop of a Serbian café, was screened at the Berlin Film Festival . In 2006, Ristovski played Kaminofsky alongside Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench in the James Bond action thriller, Casino Royale. More recently, his projects have included Honeymoons (2009), Devil’s Town (2009), and St. George Shoots the Dragon (2009).

Lazar Ristovski’s films can be found on Raindance TV (http://raindance.tv/), including the highly acclaimed Belo odelo (The White Suit) (1999); Boomerang (2001); A Little Night Music (2002), a comedy-thriller about two silly men who work at a morgue; and the fairy-tale horror film, A Tailor’s Secret (2006). Other films featured on Raindance.tv are Sutra ujutru (Tomorrow Morning) (2006), which won awards at the Brothers Manaki International Film Festival, the Cottbus Film Festival of Young East European Cinema, and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Lastly, Ristovski’s Optimisti (The Optimists) (2006), a film in which he acted and produced, was awarded at the Festroia-Troia International Film Festival, Geneva Cinema Tout Ecran, and the Valladolid International Film Festival.

Ristovski is the sole owner of the Zillion Film Company, which offers co-production services for feature films based in Serbia. For more about the actor/director/producer/screenwriter or any of his films, please visit http://www.zillionfilm.com/eng/zillion/index.html.

My name is Jarl Olsen. I am a middle aged white man living in the American Midwest. I lead a glamorous life. I’ve just spent this summer rehabbing a house that was so dirty, the people who used to go there to smoke meth would go to the neighbors’ to use the toilet. I swear this is true.

Once, while cleaning out an apartment storage unit, I found a box with some Swedish porn and lots of short films inside. I sold the porn right away, but no one wanted the short films, which had odd titles and starred actors no one had heard of. Some of them weren’t even in color. If I had been thinking, I could have Xeroxed the cover art from the porno and bought some blank DVD jackets, but those are the kind of “Eureka” ideas that only occur too late, like when you’re sitting at the Department of Motor Vehicles and it occurs to you what you should have said to that witch of a second grade teacher when she held up your crayon unicorn for ridicule before the entire class.

About the films. It was clear someone had spent a lot of time making them, even the black and white ones, so it didn’t feel right just chucking them. Besides, all that video stuff is really toxic for the environment. I sent them out to film festivals that take short films. Some of them didn’t get in. Some of them did. The important thing is, none of them came back.

I still use that box, because I move a lot and boxes are handy. Sometimes when I unpack it, I find things that I don’t remember having packed. Screenplays. A novel. Scribbled ideas for movies or TV shows. Nothing of value. No porn.

The latest thing I found was like a giant comic book, all carefully hand drawn by someone who clearly was not a professional artist. I read it and I thought it was like an entire movie drawn out, picture by picture. The story took place in Los Angeles and their were some references to other comics that I didn’t really get, but the main characters were pretty girls who I found myself rooting for, even though they kind of blundered their way through the world and didn’t treat others very well. Maybe when I look again, this comic will be a movie.

My name is Jarl Olsen and I live in the American Midwest and I am very grateful to Raindance for their support of filmmakers big, small and imaginary.

Jarl Olsen is a freelance copywriter and commercial director. His work, including some short films, may be viewed at jarlolsen.com and web.mac.com/smugglersinn.

Daniel Yost lived in Los Angeles for 20 years, working principally as a screenwriter but also producing and directing several films.

He was contracted by studios and production companies to write 19 screenplays, and is best known for the Avenue Pictures release, "Drugstore Cowboy", which won five "Best Screenplay Of The Year" awards from critics’ associations in 1990. He writes and directs for Cascade Sky.

Daniel just finished shooting "A Star For Rose" about three homeless people on the streets of LA, with Debbie Allen, John Savage and co-writer/actress (from Oregon) Tara Walker. "Lovechild", also starring Tara Walker, is in the final stages of post production. He is currently prepping a follow up to "Drugstore Cowboy" for Joel Eisenberg and Timothy Owens' EMO Films.

Watch his interview below!