Interview with an indie filmmaker: Michael S.U. Hudson
Q: Share your profile, academics, and filmmaking career details.
My academic foundation started at Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom, where I studied film and media production before being invited to study in Belgrade, Serbia under the mentorship of Rian Johnson, best known for”Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017), and “Knives Out” (2019) and later mentored further by multiple award-winning writer/director Krzysztof Zanussi.
Professionally I have worked in television and cinema, writing and directing 2 feature films. I have also written for streamers as well as working in short formats and music videos.
Q. What is your experience with creating video content for different platforms?
I’ve created content for many different platforms from cinema and television to social media and they all pose their own unique challenges as the audiences are different. But the biggest difference between the platforms and formats is the expectations, the obligations, and the costs that are involved, so, they all require a different approach.
Q. How do you ensure your music videos are engaging and visually appealing?
I think like most filmmakers I’m constantly in this mode of being open to inspiration, so, I will take inspiration and references from social media, other films, museums, galleries, and other formats or locations. I then archive them away so that when I have a project I can look back over the materials which I have collected that may be suitable to the topic or approach and use them as inspiration visually.
I think my approach to ensuring a music video is engaging is to make it relatable. I try to base the core idea of the music video around something the audience can relate to and engage with whether that be about life, relationships or dreams, anything fundamental to an individual.
Q. When and how did you start your Director, Writer, and Producer career?
I initially studied Film in the United Kingdom after which I was invited to a film festival in Italy, Cinemadamare, where you travel around the country and make films every week. There I met Krzysztof Zanussi who became a mentor and was then invited to study in Belgrade, Serbia, where I was mentored by Rian Johnson. I then moved to Russia and ended up making my first feature film in Lithuania and later my second in Pakistan.
In the roles I took and was looking to place myself, I was always a writer and director, I ended up doing more producing, initially because I needed to in order to get my own films made, but, since I had the network and skillset I was able to contribute to other projects and by doing so build my network more.
Q. What inspires you as a film director?
It probably sounds strange, but “truth” is what inspires me as a director, even though that is quite a broad term.
For me, “truth” means, that even though it may be fiction, there has to be a heart to a film, and, when you look at that heart you don’t feel that you’re being lied to, you accept that in that moment, in that world and that situation what you seeing is truth and you feel that, you connect with that.
Q. You are the producer, writer, and director of the Canon – Knocked Out. How was your multitasking experience with Knocked Out?
When you create a project like this, in that I directed it remotely from Sweden, you require a lot of trust as you have to be prepared to give freedom. You plan everything you can and you prepare everything you can, but you have to be prepared to adapt and trust that those people you’ve chosen to work with can adapt in a way that works for you. So for me, multitasking wasn’t really an issue because I had support in the producing and the teams that worked on this were great so that was the majority of the battle.
Q. How is Canon – Knocked is performing at the film festivals?
I’m really happy with its performance at Festivals. It’s gone to some high-level festivals and is picking up Awards, which is of course important for myself on a personal level and the team, but, it is really satisfying that it’s getting seen and people appreciate it.
Q. Is there any other Music Video or Movie you are working on?
Currently, I’m finishing the post-production on a feature film I shot about 10 years ago. We had to wait for advancements in AI to be able to correct aspects of the film, so now we have the tools, we can complete the film.
I have a short film and a short animation which we are aiming to start production on towards the end of the year if the financing continues to go well but most likely we will start one of the projects towards the end of the year and the other at the beginning of next year.
Also, I wrote a series that has been optioned so we will see where that leads, but, if there is another offer to do another music video I’ll be ok with that.
Q. How motivated are you for your future as an independent filmmaker?
I think I’m more motivated now than I have been in the past. That’s probably because I have my own company which contributes to my projects so I’m not solely reliant on others.
But, also it just seems time to push ahead for me as there are more tools available to do more and reduce costs plus my network has reached that stage where we can take that leap of faith together.
Q. would you like to share your work with our followers?
https://www.michaelsuhudson.com
https://www.instagram.com/michaelsuhudson/
