How an unsatisfied ‘Star Wars’ fan became the internet’s premier ‘filmumentary’ maker

Most everyone is at least somewhat familiar with films like Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the original Star Wars trilogy; DVD extras have typically sated those who want to go a bit deeper into a film. But for those who really want to get to the heart of these films might want to look documentaries from filmmaker Jamie Benning — back in 2006, he made his own documentary covering The Empire Strikes Back, and since he’s become a noted maker of these “filmumentaries.” Vulture sat down with Benning to talk about the inspiration behind his work, which originally stemmed largely from dissatisfaction with the extras included with the original Star Wars trilogy release, as well as the massive amount of work that goes into tracking down all of his source material. Fortunately, the internet is always willing to help with that. “One great thing about these films is that there’s a huge community of fans,” said Benning. “With the birth of Facebook, Twitter, and other forums, there are people out there willing to share information. You trade with people. Film fanatics are a very giving community.”

Update: This post mistakenly attributed the interview to Variety, rather than Vulture where it was published. We apologize for the error.