Spotlight on james hughes
How did you make the leap into directing? Many people consider a career for a long time, what’s your best advice to get them to make the switch?
After graduating from University, I got a job as an Editor for a local production company. A short while later, the director at the company brought me to a pitch meeting where he was putting himself forward to direct a feature period costume drama. At the meeting I made the better connection with the Producers who loved my ideas for how to do this on a low budget. After the meeting they brought me onboard to direct their ninety-minute period costume drama for local television. We shot for six months across the U.K. It was the best film school I could ever have wished for. After that, the directing bug and experience was embedded in me. The best way to learn how to make films is to make them. If you study filmmaking, all that happens, is you invariably learn how others make films. You must find your own way. Your own voice. That comes from doing it yourself. Learning from your own mistakes. Through that process you will discover your voice. Your own way of telling stories.
What is the most unexpected challenge you’ve experienced on your road as a director, and how have you overcome it?
Time is the most unexpected challenge I first encountered. When you start making films, you naturally believe you will have all the time in the world to shoot. However, one of the first things you learn during your first shoot is just how limited time can be during a production. From experience, you overcome this, by planning economically. Your shot list is designed with time in mind -- what you know from experience that you can achieve during the schedule. In addition to this, I add luxury shots to the shot list. So, if we have more time, we can cover off some of these shots during the shoot.
Success is often viewed as a destination, as opposed to something you’ll experience in differing degrees across your career. When do you think you first felt successful?
When I made my first short film, I had no money at all. We had no film camera. So, I utilised what I had access to: a photographer friend, an actress, and my ability for prose. I combined all three and made a short film called ‘The Stars & The Stones’ with black and white photography following a character around locations, as we hear detailed narration about her partner who is now dying of Aids. It was as low budget as a film gets. However, the first three festivals it was accepted into were all Oscar Qualifying festivals. One of these was the Raindance Film Festival. On the day of the screening in their cinema location, I sat there awe-struck at what I had achieved. When I saw my name on the screen at the end a buzz of electricity raced through my body. I had a huge proud smile and even a tear in my eye. I was no longer an audience member dreaming of being a filmmaker, I was a filmmaker.
Do you have any experiences that you wish you could have avoided, and if so, what lessons did you learn from them?
During some productions you will discover that the dynamic of the team is not what you would have wanted. People have different reasons for being there: to impress the DP, to meet a cast member, to take selfies next to the kit. These are so many people distractions that these productions never result in your best work. But these experiences are essential, to help you learn how important it is to cast your crew with a process of meetings and recommendations. You need to build the right dynamic on set. When you do that, the end result is always better. You can see the shared passion for it up there on the screen. The positive energy of the set encourages everyone to pull together to do their best work. The people on set lesson is one of the most important you can learn.
What is, hands down, the best career moment you’ve had so far?
Like many I attended talks at BAFTA, sitting in the audience looking up at the greats. The stage of the Princess Anne Theatre felt a lifetime away for me. However, a few years ago BAFTA asked me to be a Speaker on the very same stage. Not because I had a feature or TV show, but for a short film, The Velvet Abstract, that was still in post-production, starring Emmy Winner Tobias Menzies. To be on that stage, in front of a packed audience, speaking and answering their questions was something I thoroughly enjoyed. The industry door was finally opening for me. So, career wise, it remains my proudest moment. A defining one for me.