Director Interview: Hunter Hampton
Photo by Ryan Garber
Please give us a brief info of yourself Hi I'm Hunter Hampton, Im 28- Married for about 8 years and have 4 kids (all girls)- Crazy right? What the hell was I thinking?! I've been messing around with video cameras since I was about 14, began working freelance at 19 and love filmmaking more and more everyday. Currently I split time between Los Angeles, California and Portland, Oregon.
Please describe your typical day
Preferably I wake up, if so- then I make a cup of black tea with milk (I switched from coffee a few months back and have zero regrets on the decision) If I'm not filming something that day, I usually waste a few hours on
reddit.com
while sipping tea, then surf some random art blogs (mostly through
ffffound.com
) and catch up with emails and phone calls, maybe work on a treatment for a project in the afternoon. Around dinner time, I'm usually BBQing some meat on a grill hopefully with some sort of beer in hand. After dinner and getting the kids ready for bed, I'll watch a Tv series with my wife and then play call of duty for an embarrassingly long amount of time. If Im shooting something, then who knows!
How have you learned directing/filming skills and techniques?
I wouldn't consider myself very skilled yet as a director but Ive learned a few things, mostly through working as a Cinematographer with other directors. The majority of technical things I've learned were through Directing and Cinematography books, then I would try to put them into practice by shooting little "test" projects. I definitely learn the most by just trying things and failing, then the next time I try to do better or correct a prior mistake.
What are your future goals and plans?
I would love to make at least a few awesome feature length films in various genres. Right now I'm just working on getting a few shorts lined up to get more practice directing in which I could build the stamina needed for a longer term project. I also want to continue to collaborate with more musicians making music videos.
Were you interested in filming or other creative pursuits when you were growing up? How did you decide to directing/filming?
I was a product of the MTV generation, I can recall watching music videos since an early age and they always had an impression on me growing up. I also used to watch a bunch of skate videos with friends who had prosumer cameras such as the vx2000 or gl1 which allowed me some early exposure into video equipment. When Radiohead's Kid A album was released, the album art, the music and music videos were so inspiring to me that I knew I wanted to see more of what video was all about. After that its all been just meeting other people doing it, learning from them and trying new things.
What is your biggest regret?
Oh man, if we are talking career stuff- I wish I wouldn't have wasted so much time making projects I didn't really want to make- just chasing a paycheck- and spend more time filming things I was passionate about.
What advice would you give to a young person starting out?
To me the great trapping in creative work is that you hope you will make this great thing one day, but the truth is- you'll never get there because your too afraid of failure. The trick is to fail often and keep trying, eventually you will have made the steps to get to your goal. (at least this is the advice I tell myself daily ha!)
What are you listening currently?
Im listening to Bag Raiders, Bear//Face and The Soil and the Sun right now- also following "The Ones to Watch" feed on Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/onestowatch
Do you have any favorite movies or TV shows?
Movies: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Lost in Translation Into the Wild Fight Club Tree of Life TV: Any cooking show Any Tim and Eric Game of Thrones Any Vice documentary
Any other things to add?
Just apologies you won't get these 3 wasted minutes of your life back ; )
Thank you!
