Story & Lesson Highlights with Debra Markowitz of Long Island, New York

Debra Markowitz shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Debra, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What do you think is misunderstood about your business? 
What some people misunderstand about the independent film industry is that they think it’s easy. It’s not easy. The amount of hours spent dreaming, preparing, being in the trenches of creation, and the hours and money spent after to make sure it’s the best it can be, is brutal. I call it the most amazing torture. I love almost everything about the creative process, but I also know the time and things I will have to give up to bring it all to fruition. There are great highs, and significant lows, imposter syndrome, and you are constantly fighting your ego to make sure you don’t buy into your own PR. It takes skill, even if that skill is only finding the best people who will love the project as if it were their own, and bring their own skills to the game, but who understand that your voice needs to be clear as well. Passion, while necessary, is the bare minimum to make a good film.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I created and served as the Director of the Nassau County Film Commission for four administrations during my 33-year tenure.
I also serve as President of the Long Island Film-TV Foundation, Long Island’s most established and largest not-for-profit agency which runs the LIIFE, the Long Island International Film Expo, which is headed into its 29th year in July 2026.
I am also a novelist (the Karmic Wind Trilogy: Naked in the Rain, Sarah and Caleb and Karmic Wind), award winning screenwriter and director of shorts, features and TV pilots, film consultant, casting director and taught director to actor workshops. I was a judge for potential incoming drama students at the LaGuardia Arts High School (The FAME school) for several years. One of my favorites things is finding new, exceptional talent.
Several of my films and screenplays have screened at or moved up to the semifinals in Academy Award Qualifying Film Festivals.
My main company is Intention Films and Media, and I make a point of only working on projects that align with my world or soul vision. If I don’t “feel” someone’s films, I will happily refer a client to another professional.
I work from my heart. That, and some serious hard work, have helped me succeed in this industry.
I have one feature waiting to be released to the public (Wait List: A Love-ish Story), a feature which has just gone to editing (From the Embers), two shorts (A Brimstone Lullaby and Silent Harmony) which are completing post production now and one which is just entering the editing phase (Just Sex), and we have two films on the festival circuit (Brimstone and Assassin). I am currently rewriting and developing two feature films (Couple of Guys and Yule Tides), and we have started developing a trilogy of horror films, working title, Franklin.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My husband and partner, John Marean. He believed in me way before I ever believed in myself. He’s not just partner/husband/friend energy, he also has a type of father/protector energy. He’s lets me fight my own battles, but he’s always in the background watching, ready to jump in if I need him.
He believes I can do anything, and that’s rubbed off on me during the last 20 years.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Almost every film! The first one, The Last Taxi Driver, we had six different weather patterns in three days, we were filming 98% exteriors and filmed during a blizzard. It was freezing outside, and we had our gloves and shoes packed with heating packs. At one point, I walked out of the holding and catering building into the quiet snowfall, looked towards the sky and said, “Okay, if you want me to make this film, you will give me a way for this to happen, and if not, I’ll pack it in after that, it’s up to you.”
We got the film done, it won a lot of awards and even got into the monthly screening of an Academy Award qualifying film festival, HollyShorts.
Every film shoot has issues, and you either rise and become a better filmmaker or you give it up.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Is the public version of you the real you?
What a great question. I believe I present the truth about myself, always, but people may interpret how I appear differently.
I can appear self-confident, and to some extent I am, and I adhere to the Eleanor Roosevelt philosophy that, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” So I don’t buy into other people’s perceptions of me, I just do what I do.
People have told me that I’m a bigger deal than I think I am. I would like to buy into that, but I also feel that if I am special it’s because we all are. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and we are all capable of great things.
One thing pretty much everyone agrees with about me which is true, is that I’m probably one of the hardest working people you’ll ever meet. I love to work. I work through my pain, my grief, I feel that I came here to tell stories, and for now, at least, that takes the form of making movies and writing.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I am doing what I was born to to do – tell stories.
I was born to be feminine and marry a rich man and have children and be a good wife. I was born to not make waves. I failed at those, miserably lol
I wrote my first book at six years old, gave it to my father and said, “I’m going to be a writer.” He looked at my book and said, “no you’re not.” It hit me that, “oh, I guess not.”
It took me a long time to get back to it, but a high school English teacher gave back our papers one day, but mine wasn’t returned. She told the class that one paper was so exceptional, she wanted to read it to the class. That was my paper. I was never a good student, but her comments made me realize that I could be a good writer. Her words changed my world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.IntentionFilmsandMedia.com
• Instagram: @debramarkowitzfilm
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-markowitz/
• Twitter: @debramarkowitz
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debramarkowitz

Image Credits
Charles Chessler
Michael Zinn