Review Fix Exclusive Queens World Film Festival Coverage: Inside The Waiting Room

Review Fix chats with The Waiting Room director Debra Markowitz, who lets us know all about the creative process behind the film and what to expect from it at this year’s Queens World Film Festival.

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for your film?

Debra Markowitz: The Waiting Room was a 72 Hour challenge, and the actors themselves inspired me to write the story (I had to see the actors I was to work with, and I wrote the story around them). This was very much like a jigsaw puzzle to me, who would be what to whom.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself while making?

Markowitz: That I am meant to make movies. Movies that mean something and heal people.

Review Fix: What was the most challenging part of making it?

Markowitz: We only had enough money to shoot one day, so we needed to complete this, no matter what, within the time allowed.

Review Fix: How do you want it to be remembered?

Markowitz: As a beautiful film that makes people think, and perhaps give them a different perspective on what love actually means.

Review Fix: How does it feel to be a part of the festival?

Markowitz: Great! I love the Queens World Film Festival. It’s a difficult festival to get into, I love the directors who run it, I know they put their heart and soul into everything they do, and that they adore their filmmakers.  I know I’ll also have a great, attentive audience.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Markowitz: I’m raising money for webseries pilot, Couple of Guys, and holding a fundraising concert with the incredible former Phantom of the Opera, Ciaran Sheehan,  performing, on April 15 at the North Shore Towers Cinema (www.couple-of-guys.com), writing feature, The Only Woman in the World, which I hope to direct this year, then continuing on writing feature, One Day at Christmas, based on a novella by Michael Fedele (which I will also be directing in the future), casting and producing short film, Italia, for Greg Cioffi, and whatever else comes up that I am interested in. The Waiting Room, The Choice and Chosen will continue on their festival journies for the next couple of years.

Review Fix: Anything else you’d like to add?

Markowitz: If you make your own work (and you’re good at it), you’ll never be out of work, and no one can stop your dream. I will never say that diversity in movies/tv etc isn’t an issue, but when you’re the boss, no one can stop you.
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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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