Actress Gena Rowlands and her hubby (r.i.p. John Cassavetes) were(are)everything DIY stands for- by definition. Gena told me that she permanently lost her hearing in her left ear while shooting 'GLORIA' due to a gun being blasted directly next to her ear in a scene, and also how she and John designed their own movie posters for the films that they created and would seek out movie houses that they thought showed interesting films and would negotiate screenings of their films with them. John cast his films sometimes in the 'classified' section of local newspapers and placed his family, neighbors and crew members into the scenes of his scripts. Gena's brother played her shrink in 'A Woman Under The Influence' and the doorman in 'Opening Night' and John's Mother played Peter Faulk's mom in 'A Woman Under The Influence' and also a clairvoyant in 'Opening Night.' Gena and John represented everything that filmmaking should and must be about - pure passion and the need to tell and make stories using visual, sound, and theatrical performance tools. "John was always in the garage of our house working, passionately working and editing his movies. Our movies. "
