Meet Film Director James Hughes

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James Hughes is a Film Director.

His debut short film, The Stars & the Stones was an official selection of the Calgary International Film Festival and the Raindance Film Festival, to name just a few.

The success of this short led to him being hired to direct Global Revolution, which was performed in front of a live audience of four thousand in Tuscany and was simultaneously broadcast on Italian television.

The following year, he was hired to be a Speaker for the Screenwriting Expo in Los Angeles, where he taught a popular class on short film-making, working alongside such luminaries as William Goldman.

His short film, The Velvet Abstract, is a global production produced on six continents, featuring talent from an array of Hollywood productions, including The Hunger Games, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar, Lost, The Martian, and many more. It is narrated by Tobias Menzies and scored by the world-renowned Composer Jean-Pascal Beintus. The film was part of a BAFTA event where James was a panelist on stage for a live Q&A about the film.

Producers James Hughes and Emily Haigh – Photography by Georgia Donati Clarke

The follow-up short film to this, The Inuring is an anti-bullying drama starring Emily Haigh and Sarine Sofair that is on release across the festival circuit and is now being developed into James’s debut feature film The Inuring.

Check out his interview below.

Was there a particular event or time that you recognized that filmmaking was not just a hobby, but a career choice?

When I was first starting out, I knew no one in the film industry and couldn’t have felt more isolated from it. It seemed to be an exclusive club reserved for those born with connections. I fear many today perhaps share those apprehensions as they embark on their own career. But I was fortunate to experience something very early on that changed my perspective. A natural extension of being a filmmaker is having the desire to write – to structure your own stories, rather than direct the scripts I was being attached to. So I began writing short film scripts, lots of them. These stories covered a range of topics and genres. But I was not showing them to anyone. The purpose of them was to discover my voice as a writer first. This voice could then shape the films I made. But I reached a point whereby I had so many of these scripts, that I decided to try and sell one. As anyone knows, receiving any kind of money for a short film script is challenging. Often writers take the credit as payment. The challenge to sell the script I had chosen was made even more difficult by the fact that it had no dialogue. I’ve always had an ear for dialogue in scripts. It is something I still get very kind comments about when they read my work. Yet I had decided to sell a script that didn’t have a single line. The script in question, Aperture, was a six page visual thriller about a photographer. I sent it to a UK based production company who had advertised their search for thriller scripts. They contacted me within forty-eight hours to say they loved it wanted to buy it. I was expecting a tiny offer, as is so often the case in short filmmaking. However, they sent over the contract and it was for far more money than I could ever have envisaged. In fact I knew an agency repped screenwriter who had just sold their feature script for less than my short. I was in a daze. They sent me the payment by cheque which made the event seem all that more tangible. Before paying it into the bank, I photocopied the cheque and framed it. The production company never actually got round to making it as far as I know – it was a very ambitious script. But the significance of the sale led to ‘Aperture’ being in the title of my production company, Sunset Aperture. The Sunset of which refers to Sunset Boulevard where I one day hope to live and work – the culmination of two dreams. So there is no question that the Aperture script sale was a defining realization for me. It was the exact moment where I knew that filmmaking was no longer a hobby, it was something I could form a career in.

James Hughes — James Takes A Moment Between Takes – Photography by Nicola Morris

What was the most important lesson you had to learn that has had a positive effect on your filmmaking? How did that lesson occur?

When you first become a Director, you have bottled up years of watching films, learning the craft from books, that once you get your hands on a camera, it can blurt out in elaboration – you simply try and do everything at once. Although it is good to get it out of the system early on, the camera is not on camera – it is meant to blend into the story and not get in the way. Story and performance comes first. Whenever you ask someone about their favourite movie, you see their eyes light up about particular scenes and moments the characters share. What they are excited about and what has made the film memorable, is the story and its structure. No one cites a movie as a personal favourite because of a camera angle. It is a lesson I learnt early on and it has stayed with ever since. A Director should serve the story and not themselves. Be visual for the right reasons so that the shot enhances the scene, and not the ego. Anyone can throw a camera around. But we as Directors are not meant to distract the audience. We are meant to keep them in the story, in the moment – to engage them. This lesson has endured and will always stay with me.

When do you know a script is ready to shoot, and what is your process of getting it into production?

I have been writing scripts for a decade, across all mediums. In addition to this I was a Story Analyst for a Los Angeles based talent agency for a year. During that year I read hundreds of screenplays and had to write story notes on them – some of those notes I have even seen were taken on board by watching the film at the cinema. I was also the sole judge for a short film script competition in Los Angeles, and read hundreds of scripts for that contest. These combined experiences have developed my instinct for a locked script. You just know when changes are being made for the sake of change. I myself am very meticulous by nature, especially in filmmaking and writing, so I am my own toughest critic. Consequently, I will not go before the cameras until I am confident the script represents the film I want to make. To add to this certainty I put the script away for two weeks to allow it to breathe – to fill my thoughts. I have always discovered moments during this time that find their way into the shooting script. At the end of those two weeks I know I have my locked script. Bringing that script to the screen usually follows the same process. I start by securing the key members of the crew. This is obviously a critical part of any production because the right team are essential to ensure the vision for the film is shared. In this Industry you often come across two crew members who are very talented for the same position, but one of them just understands the story more – they see the same film as myself. This process of recruitment and elimination is challenging, because you have to be firm and say no to extremely talented creatives. But for me, the film is far bigger than anyone involved, including myself. Therefore everyone has to be pulling in the same direction. Film sets are intimate spaces where cast and crew are on top of each for long hours. So it is essential that it is the right environment – a cocoon of creative harmony.

James Hughes Directs Sarine — James Directs Sarine Sofair on The Inuring Set – Photography by Nicola Morris

Films evolve through the creative process – sometimes most dramatically in the editing process. It’s often really hard to reconcile the difference between what we desired and what we achieved. Have you encountered this? How do you move beyond it?

The old adage that a film is made three times is frequent in the Industry – once in writing, once on set, and once in the editing room. However, although I have experienced it on a couple of my own productions over the years, it would be less so than perhaps for most. In large part because my first job in the Industry was as an Editor. It wasn’t where I wanted to be, I wanted to be on set Directing, but the editing room taught me all manner of skills that honed my screenwriting and filmmaking. So much so that I always write and direct with the edit in mind. I can envisage the Editor assessing the footage and know instinctively what they would cut – the lines of dialogue that would never make it to the screen because their emotion is elsewhere in another line, or the frame that wouldn’t transition as well as another. This immersive editing experience I had at the very start of my career has allowed for my vision for a film to very rarely waver during its production. This is not to say it is a singular vision. The creativity of my team is there to see as well. All I mean is that I am less disappointed than other filmmakers I hear who say a particular shot never made it into the final cut. I know at the start what shots won’t, so I don’t waste the time and money shooting them. In a rare instance on a particular film of mine, two inserts were requested by the camera team. Inserts I knew would never make the final cut. But their insistence for coverage was met and we shot them. Our Editor, under no direction from me, cut them from the first cut. They believed they upset the balance of the storytelling and were wasted frames. I knew this on set because I shoot as an Editor. It is why I rarely digress from my shot list. I would highly recommend any storyteller spending a great deal of time in the editing suite. Either as an Assistant Editor, or as a quite observer. When you see the flow of a film in that suite. When you immerse yourself in how footage comes together, you will write and shoot more economically, and certainly more precisely.

Several directors have told me the main part of directing is casting. Would you agree? Why?

When casting a film, it can be common for directors to go for the most talented, socially networked actor they can get. It makes their job easier. Not only are they getting someone experienced, but their marketing is done for them. I myself however, have never truly shared this sentiment. I have worked with hundreds of actors, from a variety of backgrounds and experience, most recently directing Tobias Menzies in my film The Velvet Abstract. What this extensive experience with actors has taught me is how unique and extraordinary they are. Too often actors at the beginning of their career get a tough wrap. A perception that because they were not able to deliver in their first self-tape or first audition that the talent is not there. It couldn’t be further from the truth. Some actors are blessed with an innate ability to perform on queue. You give them the right tools and it is only a case of gentle maneuvering and direction to keep them on track and allow for their own creativity to elevate the character. But there are other actors who need more guidance and help to understand the characters and their motives. It takes time to help them get there. Many Directors or Casting Directors will dismiss them because time is a valuable commodity that they don’t have. I never like to do this. You can see a glimmer. You can see the talent there. One of the greatest buzzes as a Director is to work with actors. As an extension of this when you do take the time to help an actor develop and transform into the character where at first they were struggling, it is extremely rewarding for both of us. You have to put faith in actors. Especially those that are struggling or apprehensive. Encouragement and guidance is what they need, not rejection. Actors pour so much energy into these auditions, often draining themselves. They do this daily. They are extraordinary creatives and I will never tire of helping them and supporting them.

What films have been the most inspiring or influential to you and why?

Anyone who knows me knows about my love for Buster Keaton. His genius on and behind camera was decades ahead of its time, and has been a constant source of inspiration and sheer joy ever since I first watched one of his short films when I was seven years old. Subsequently, I have watched hundreds of films that have been inspiring to me as a filmmaker. But inspiring in that they made me want to be a filmmaker and continue to be one, not in that they influenced me to tell stories in those ways. For every voice is different. So I always try and block out other films when I am working on one of my own. So much so that I don’t actually watch any films during pre-production because I don’t want to be influenced by another vision. I want to stick to my own framing. And that is not meant in an arrogant way at all. When I lock a script I can see the film in my head shot for shot. Every frame. If I watch other films, especially similar stories, I could be persuaded to change something in my own that upsets the balance and jars with the whole. That said, some of the films I would take to a desert island are; Casablanca, Seven, Taxi Driver, Gattaca, The English Patient, The Godfather, Goodfellas, Annie Hall, and Singin’ in the Rain.

Is it more challenging to start a film project, or to keep it going?

Anyone can start a film project. It takes minutes and very little effort to announce a project on social media or list it on IMDb. It is an altogether different beast to keep a project going. Momentum is everything in film. Maintaining the energy, buzz, and excitement for a project is a weekly challenge for every filmmaker. Because that energy is infectious. If you can persevere with your enthusiasm and never allow it to wane, others will share it, and help you with your own project and feel inspired to do the same with theirs. Obviously, it takes an extraordinary amount of energy to bring a project to the screen. On all the short films I have made to date, I was also the Producer, and the zeal I have for building the right team can consume the majority of pre-production. Fortunately, on The Velvet Abstract and The Inuring – the first two projects of my new production company, Sunset Aperture, I was not alone. I worked alongside my fellow Producer Emily Haigh, who is a fantastic Producer, and my projects always benefit significantly from the partnership we have. We are very attuned to each other’s sensibilities about the creative process ahead. As a result, we spur each other on throughout the production of the films. And this is essential for anyone. Find someone you completely trust and share the workload. Don’t try and do everything yourself. Film is a collaborative art form. There will always be someone that will make the journey through production easier for you than the solitude of the independent filmmaker. Keeping a project going is always challenging, but less so when that challenge is shared.

Tell us about an upcoming project you’re preparing to shoot.

My new short film, The Nomophobe, is a drama about smartphone addiction – something that is rife in the society in which we now live. We are always looking down. Those devices in our pockets now dictate our lives. The Nomophobe explores what this addiction has done to the personal life of its protagonist in a very visually ambitious script. It is a real passion project of mine and as such I have spent almost a year fine tuning the script and developing its characters. As well as Writer / Director, I am also wearing the Producer hat again. And as such I arranged a meeting with Emily Haigh to discuss her possible involvement as its lead. Having previously worked with Emily on my last film, where she gives one of the best performances you will ever see in a short film, it was inevitable that she would be the first actress I would turn to for my follow-up. Fortunately, Emily loved the script, and through my production company she was signed up within two weeks of that meeting. As we also work together as Producers, I also asked her to join The Nomophobe as my fellow Producer and help bring this film to the screen. Emily really shares my passion for the story and so she quickly signed up to be the Producer as well. We are now actively working on the film and cannot wait to share it with audiences.

In conclusion, are there any additional projects you would like to share?

Perhaps the most notably is my debut feature film, which I am now developing. It will be the feature length story of The Inuring, my current short film. I actually had the story of the feature in my head, long before I wrote it as a short film. So I am now enjoying bringing those scenes to life on the page – seeing the back-story in black and white. The moments that the short film only touches on and the history that it implies is becoming real in the feature. These are characters I really love and find fascinating to explore. So it is a feature film screenplay that I am thoroughly enjoying writing. Details of this feature will be shared on the social media accounts of the short film and the official website itself.

Featured image credit: James Discusses Sound Design on Set – Photography by Nicola Morris.

Connect with James:

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7563709/

Website: http://www.thejameshughes.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/theJamesHughes

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theJamesHughes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejameshughesfilm/

Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/thejameshughes

Other Links:

Sunset Aperture

Website: http://www.sunsetaperture.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SunsetAperture