Today we’d like to introduce you to John Carstarphen.
Hi John, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Though I was born and raised in Philadelphia Pa., I moved to Texas in the 80s wanting to make a difference in the film and television community here. After having worked in television in various parts of the country, I felt the independent spirit in Texas was most to my liking, since I was about to embark on a career as an independent, off-Hollywood, off-New York filmmaker.
In between working in Texas-based broadcasting and commercials, I did graduate school at the famed American Film Institute in Hollywood to bolster my knowledge of narrative/fiction filmmaking.
After moving back to the Dallas area, I became the first black film instructor at SMU; the first black independent feature film writer-director (for Stealin’ Home) in Dallas since the days of Jim Crow, and the first black filmmaker in this region to have an Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival.
With my latest film, I am also the first black director in this area to qualify for an Academy Award nomination in 2026 for my doc feature, The Last Philadelphia.
In my own way I feel I’ve made a difference here. Many of my SMU students have also succeeded in this business, including James Faust, the current artistic director/programmer for the Dallas International Film Festival. Making films here has never been easy, but I’ve met and worked with helped train some amazing talent.
As for a career in Hollywood: never say never, but my main goal has always been creative control of my work, and that will always remain my first consideration.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say my main challenges have been in three categories, in no particular order:
1. Racism. This is not to suggest that Texas is unique in this way because it definitely isn’t. But overcoming this particular brand of Southern racism has been a challenge because of the deeply embedded sense that blacks belong in one part of the city and should never venture into other parts of Dallas. This has shown up in numerous meetings, on various production sets and in personal interactions. When producing my own films, I would often train my own crews, pulling from the top students in my classes, because local professionals refused to take the work of a black writer-director seriously.
2. Raising money. Always a struggle in filmmaking, but regardless of my level of success as an independent, I felt my work was not deemed “Hollywood” enough in this community, even though my films routinely win awards and accolades worldwide. My first film, “The Weekend of our Discontent” came about in spite of being laid off from a teaching job after the president of the school embezzled student funds.
I ended up getting a small local grant and made the film anyway. The Weekend of Our Discontent went on the win a Paul Robeson Award for Best Film, an award which has also been given to filmmakers like Spike Lee and Ava Duvernay.
Interestingly, I think the biggest advantage of living and working in Dallas is that it is NOT Hollywood. Meeting and befriending non-industry people has helped ground me and contributed to a richer, more honest style of storytelling, free from the expectations and pressures of fame and money that seem to drive mainstream media creation.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a writer-director for film in a career spanning 35 years. Please look for the book about my work in Dallas on Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com! Dispatches From Texas: The Cinema of John Carstarphen
I’ve spent most of my career working for clients in commercials and television, and now concentrate on my own artistic projects.
I create a variety of films, spanning multiple genres, from sci-fi to documentary to comedy to drama.
I believe what sets me apart is that I never limit myself to stories about a particular ethnic group, history or belief system. I like exploring the seemingly infinite and diverse experiences that we encounter throughout our lives as human beings, and then converting those into compelling stories for film. That said, if I had to select a main theme which intrigues me the most in my work, it’s the idea that humanity is interconnected, often in surprising and dramatic ways.
I suppose I am most proud of whatever it is I’m working on at the moment.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I would say the primary quality for my success is having a poor memory for failure or negativity! No matter how difficult things have been for me—including being homeless more than once—I’ve always had the ability to problem solve and look for solutions. Failures or rejections from the past are simply meaningless.
I would also have to acknowledge that having and developing talent and skill through education is crucial to success, in my opinion. I learned through trial and error but also because I had great teachers as well.
Education teaches you how to learn (solve problems) and in some learning environments, how to network and reach out to other people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://carstarfilm.com
Image Credits
Rebecca Rice
Cannes Film Festival
