Photo credit to Alice Frishman at www.alicefrishman.com.
Films can change the world, impact cultures, and leave a mark on history. But that influence is not direct; it comes from the impressions films leave on viewers. Sometimes people pick up simple things like names or wardrobe choices. For others, movies leave a more complicated legacy, like for award-winning filmmaker Dan Rybicky who was just a kid when a film shaped the course of his life.
“So many people love film because they saw one when they were really young and impressionable and it just stuck with them,” Rybicky said. “For me, I had that experience when I was maybe 10 years old. It was one that I was maybe too young to be seeing, but it was powerful. It taught me to live my life truthfully and what happens if you don’t. I thought, ‘Wow, if a film can do that to me, then I want to make films.’”
Born and raised in a small town in central New York outside of Syracuse, he did not need to travel far to get a quality education in film. He received his Bachelor of Arts at Vassar College, and then a Master of Fine Arts at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Then, he jumped headfirst into the industry, living in New York City where he worked with and learned from filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, John Sayles, and John Leguizamo.
“They’re teachers themselves, and they're incredibly positive people who are both passionate and humble, almost disarmingly so,” Rybicky said of the greats he worked with. “I worked on “Casino,” and was brought in to sit and watch the first cut with something like 50 other people. Scorsese came out to get feedback and was shaking like a leaf.”
He learned quickly that the very best rarely brag about their position and successes.
“There's a sense that if you're doing work, you always have to feel vulnerable and humble,” Rybicky said. “All the best people, the best directors, don't have an attitude; they don't let their egos get in the way of working. If you compliment them, they'll tell you that your compliment should go to another person.”
Eventually, he left the city and moved here to the Region. His best friend’s family needed help with a new project: Tyron Farm in Michigan City.
“I came to live here and help start that project back in 1998 or 1999,” Rybicky said. “I fell in love with the area.”
His initial stay was not permanent, as he moved to Los Angeles to write screenplays. As his film career matured, he got a job teaching at Columbia College Chicago and found himself looking for a place to stay.
“Because of where I grew up and the kind of person I am, I’d always been drawn to nature and quieter areas,” he said. “Even though I teach in Chicago, I was much happier to live in Northwest Indiana. So when searching for places that I could afford, I found Miller Beach which is just perfect for me.”
Rybicky is an associate professor at Columbia, teaching classes in documentary, critical studies, screenwriting, and producing.
“I love sharing my experiences and knowledge with other people, and teaching allows me to do that,” Rybicky said. “I believe the goal of life is balance. Teaching lets me balance my own work and share that professional experience with students. To me, students and younger people have really great ‘BS’ detectors. That allows me to constantly feel open, honest, and engaging with new ideas. Those students are my bosses, and I'm happy to work for them.”
Now, he continues to instruct classes, but he also directs his own films – short documentaries. He was not a fan of those types of films as a kid, but experiencing Hollywood filmmaking and witnessing the evolution of documentaries as an adult shifted his perspective.
“To me, growing up, documentaries were mostly just these boring films with narrators that were shown in classes,” Rybicky said. "As I got older, they became a much more interesting art form. I got interested not just in writing and putting words in actor’s mouths, but seeing how stories and scripts could kind of be seen in real life if you follow people. Documentaries are like stories in real-time.”
One of his most recent works is “Larry from Gary,” which follows Larry Brewer, a dance teacher from Gary.
“For me, the process of seeing and bearing witness to real lives is something that helps me learn about my own life,” Rybicky said. “More than being on sets with actors and things like that, documentaries have given me the opportunity to just do work and engage with real people, and learn from the process as a person.”
To learn more about Rybicky and his films, visit www.danrybicky.com.