Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Caden Butera. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Caden, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Like all creative professions, the film industry comes with a near paradoxical conundrum: Make an objectively fair profit on products with a subjective value. In other words, in art there is no clear right/wrong answer. And yet, this art form is also a business, whether I like to admit it or not.
And balancing the idea of subjectivity can be tricky. If your favorite movie is Terminator 2, then it’s your favorite movie! Who am I to say otherwise? Or in a more personal example: if the script I wrote is “boring and slow paced” to a reader, then it’s “boring and slow paced”. But hold the phone, Reader #2 says it’s “perfect and quick-paced”! Which person to I listen to? Reader 1, reader 2? Mix the two up and meet in the middle? Perhaps flip a coin!
What I’m getting at here is, as a film director, I’m expected to make 200 decisions on the daily. And those 200 decisions will be met with 2,000+ opinions. And it can be terrifying. To the point where the easiest option might be to not make a decision at all and throw in the towel. But that to me is half the fun: the risk. Every creative choice I make is a risk, ie stakes. There is no manual to reference, there are no instructions. Just your gut, the creative team around you, and your will.
With every project I take on, it’s a risk: both monetarily and creatively. That’s not to say every shot you take is a shot in the dark, we aim for every decision made to be informed, calculated and discussed. But the end stoping point has to be instinctual. It can be an easy temptation to rely on algorithms and viewership statistics to inform your creative process. And I’m not denying that a little research ever hurt. In fact, sometimes it’s necessary if you want your creative pursuits to get funded. However, leaning on mathematical predictions to craft a moving story is a recipe for uninspired storytelling.
So as I continue to learn my craft, I remind myself: go out there make make the thing I want to make, because even the most calculated creative decision is a risk. Best have fun doing it.
Caden, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Caden Butera is a self-taught filmmaker and photographer. For better or worse, he shares nearly every short film he has ever made on his public YouTube Channels, dating back to his 10th birthday. He often looks back at his works as a catalog of what not to do as a filmmaker; yet, they are a forever a part of him, and his personality shines through each of them.
As Caden has grown as a director/editor/writer, so have his works. Moon Knight–A Fan Film garners a lot of positive press, sci-fi short Recursion can be seen on the Dust sci-fi channel, John Thick–A John Wick Fan Film and zombie-western short Dead Men Ride Again are currently gathering laurels on their festival circuit. Swap Me, Baby (2021), the first feature Caden directed, has distribution on several streaming platforms and is about to have its European debut.
A true cinephile, Caden spends most of his free time watching and then discussing movies…passionately. His biggest inspirations are filmmakers JJ Abrams, Christoper Nolan, David Fincher and Edgar Wright.
With help from his family, Caden runs his production company, Paradox Studios, in his hometown of Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho. His younger brother Rylan is his main collaborator and musical composer, his father Mark is his Executive Producer, CEO/CFO and well-intentioned prop-maker, and his mother Jackie is his Producer and organizational mastermind. Caden is currently nearing the end of post-production for his full-length, sci-fi thriller Recollection. To see the teaser trailer and sign up for updates, visit his website https://www.paradoxstudiosco.com/.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
A reoccurring topic I continue to wrestle with is creative confidence. Sometimes it’s a lack of, other times having too much. I’ve learned that in a creative leadership position, there’s a sweet spot. Having too much confidence can cause one to bulldoze through outside feedback, and make hasty, impulsive decisions. On the flip side, a lack of confidence can cause one to cave too quickly and comprise on their vision too early.
Here’s a specific example: in 2018, I set out to create my most ambitious film venture yet, a Superhero fan film about Marvel’s Moon Knight. I had never made a film at this scale before, nor had an ever taken on anything in the action genre. And I was terrified. I knew very specifically what I was aiming to achieve, but I feared in my ability to pull it off. So I put pedal to the metal and fought with every ounce of my creative being to make this fan film as best as I could, fear of failure being a big motivator. I fought for what I wanted, and put my 13 page vision to screen. And all things considered…I think it turned out pretty well! Looking back now I of course took a handful of wrong turns, and with my current sensibilities I can point out the problems it has. But back in 2018? Mission accomplished. I set out to make something specific, and managed to follow through with relative success. It even gained a decent online view count and positive press from a few entertainment websites.
Now for the second part of this story: coming off the high of my moderately successful Moon Knight fan film, I set out to make my next short. With a heightened sense of confidence, I pushed forward with an even longer, more ambitious project…and to make a long story short: it sucked. Without realizing it, I had taken my foot off the gas. I had leaned back into my metaphorical chair, foolishly thinking I had this whole “film” thing figured out. My fear of failure had shrunk, and I had lost my main drive to push myself to be better.
That was a huge lesson for me, and really put my job into perspective. The job of a film director is to lead the set. And a leader can’t be so fearful of failure they break at any sign of pressure. But they also can’t ignore good advice every time it’s given. In the director’s chair, you’ll have loads of opinions thrown at you on the daily. And the job is to know when to listen, and when to shut it out. When to be confident, and when to take advice. And the lifelong challenge will be trying to figure out that ratio: The goldilocks zone of creative confidence.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
When I was a senior in high school, I was knee-deep into pursuing film. For better or worse, I was watching, writing, and making films practically 24/7, much to the dismay of my math class grades. The mom of a close friend was sisters with a friend of a friend who was some “big-shot movie guy” who ran a production studio in Hollywood. And out of the kindness of her heart, arranged for me to have a one-on-one phone call with the man. Now in hindsight, this “big-shot movie guy” wasn’t a huge film celebrity by any means, but did run a legitimate production company based in Los Angeles, and was pretty high on the film totem pole comparatively. So I have a call with the man, who was kind enough to take the time in his busy schedule to talk to 17 year-old Caden. And the conversation pretty much went down as follows: “Hi there! My name is Caden and I wanna become a movie director! Is there any advice you could give to a young, starting out filmmaker?”
His response (the abridged version): “My advice would be to find a new profession. Everyone these days wants to make it big as a film director, kid. Mathematically speaking, no one gets there. I’d suggest finding a career that’s a little more predictable, one that’s easier to get into.”
Ouch. Statistically speaking he right of course, but didn’t make it any less discouraging. I thanked him for his time and that was the end of the call. And right there could have been a huge crossroads for me. But rather than calling it quits there, I decided to take those words of discouragement and use them as encouragement…to prove him wrong. And who knows, if I had followed his advice it would have saved me a lifetime of financial hardship, but at least I know I’m giving it my best go. Since that call I’ve managed to direct two feature length films, none of which would have happened if I had taken the advice of that one disgruntled film professional. And although I’ve by no means found massive success, I’m incredibly privileged to get to work every day towards my dream.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.paradoxstudiosco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caden__butera/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/recollectionfeaturefilm
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCanIZUuftedBQBkE03bJuMA
Image Credits
Photos captured by Joe Cruzaedo-Wagner. Featured in photos: Rylan Butera, Actor Stephen Morton, Charles Fletcher,