Oscar-winning director Chuck Workman to speak as part of film series

Only Chuck Workman can show you 470 movies in seven minutes.

Workman’s Oscar-winning short film “Precious Images” is a love letter to cinema, and it’s one of several films being shown at the IU Cinema that capture segments of popular culture.

Workman will be present for screenings of his films at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, as well as at a seminar in the cinema at 3 p.m. Friday.

He’ll discuss his work as an editor for the Academy Awards ceremony since 1988, the premiere of his latest short film, “The Possibilities” and his documentaries, such as “The Source,” which IU Cinema Director Jon Vickers called “the best documentary on the Beat Generation ever made.”

IDS What intrigues you about popular culture?
Chuck Workman I’m interested in how we look at movies and certain things that stay with us in a movie. There are certain things that stay with us and we remember that are part of our lives. I’m trying to work with those images and ideas constantly and turn them into films in some way or another.

IDS How is working on the Oscars?
Workman The Oscars are fun. With a good producer, they’ll basically just give me an assignment, and I take it from there. I’m able to make my own film up to my own standards. It’s been a very good experience for me most of the time.

IDS What is it like knowing “Precious Images” is so widely seen and is giving people a love for the movies?
Workman It’s great! I’m very happy I made it. I think every filmmaker should have a hit like that. It’s usually totally on accident. You do your work as well as you can, and occasionally something hits the popular culture you would never expect.

IDS I’m racking my brain thinking if I’ve ever talked to an Oscar winner before.
Workman (Laughs) What happens in Hollywood is that when you win an Oscar, it makes your career a lot easier. It doesn’t make it that easy, but you have a certain amount of cache, where they say, “Well, he’s won an Oscar. He must know what he’s doing.”

IDS Tell me about “The Source.”
Workman I’m very interested in the counterculture. Even though I make films that are mainstream Hollywood films, I’m very interested in what’s not the mainstream. There are people that came before us that were ahead, whether they were filmmakers, artists, poets or writers. “The Source” was about people, the beats, who came before the hippies, who led the way for a lot of people in art, politics and in just living. They opened up life to less structure and rules and allowed people to be creative and experimental. I think that’s incredibly important.

IDS What can you tell me about your most recent short, “The Possibilities?”
Workman I’m making five short films all about the same family that will be put together as a feature. “The Possibilities” is the third. Each one is about a different member of the family, and each one has a particular style to it. It’s a complicated story told in an unconventional way about the randomness of life.

IDS What’s your philosophy when you work as an editor?
Workman Shut the door and work very hard. I try not to play down to the audience and let the audience have the same experience
I have. So I’m always working toward that sweet spot where they’re getting it, but they have to engage with the material.

IDS What advice can you give to a young editor or filmmaker?
Workman Take it real seriously. A lot of filmmakers are just happy to do it and learn what’s expected of them, but I think people have to go past what’s expected of them and find their own style. Find something of your own that you can bring to the material, and use that as something that’s personal. It’s so hard to make films. People will ask how someone does it, but after a while it’s how you do it.