Bobby E. Goins

Filmmaker Bobby Goins has succeeded in taking raw talent, confidence, fierce ambition, a warm and professional manner and creating two distinctly different films, including the soon-to-be film festival darling "The Barbershop Chronicles." Using his experience as a barber and barbershop proprietor he fashioned a script that enables the viewer to experience the unique world he has inhabited for the past decade. Starting out with more confidence than experience he soon found out that calling on friends and calling in favors was the best way to go in order to get the job done. He treasures his first film because he got invaluable OJT (on-the-job training), the kind of experience that no film school can provide. As a former 'class clown' and world-class imitator of famous actors he hadn't realized how much work/strategic planning/diplomacy & negotiation went into filmmaking. But he was a fast learner! Red carpets and bright lights illuminating smiling actors gave way to middle-of-the night shoots where the catering crew was a 'no show,' 'stealing' shots because paying for locations would totally bankrupt the production, building his own dolly because rental fees were exorbitant, and lots of 'actor pick-ups' at Newark Penn Station -- none of the actors owned cars. Trial-by-fire, however ultimately resulted in a streamlined and efficient crew whose members eventually had a great way of communication via visual shorthand. Independent filmmaking at its finest resulted in a tight-knot crew that braved extreme heat and humidity, loud fire trucks, unhappy neighbors, and last-minute script changes necessitated by challenges 'the little crew that could' had to meet. Mr. Goins would not be as proud of his feature film had it not been for the dedication of his talented cast, all of whom met every unplanned situation with professionalism and humor. The trip from New Jersey to Hollywood is many miles, but it can be accomplished by a magical combination of talent, perseverance and luck. Bobby hopes that he's got the recipe just right.