Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrew Huggins. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Andrew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?
Freelancing full time as a filmmaker definitely has its challenges. I’ve been doing this for about five years, and I sometimes think about going back into retail management for the stability and opportunity to help people every day. I worked in retail for eight years, and even though I technically have my dream job right now, I get a bit wary of the unknown. Sometimes I don’t know what work I’ll have two months out, and it’s one hundred percent on me to create that money. The trade off is that I get artistic fulfillment with almost every single gig I earn. Most of my work is done in narrative film, and that’s what I’ve wanted since I started film school thirteen years ago. I do get beaten down sometimes with the uncertainty, and primarily with dealings with people’s egos in a predominantly artistic field, but I always come back to being extremely grateful to tell stories for a living.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My product is my ability to write, direct, shoot, edit, and produce videos. Those videos may be narrative films, corporate videos for internal distribution, commercials, or social media reels. Something I love about filmmaking is that I can bounce from any of those five disciplines at any given moment of production. It’s very rarely a boring occupation. I focused primarily on writing and directing in film school, but I’ve worked as a cinematographer on forty films, shorts and features, during the past four years to grow my abilities and diversify my skill sets. I pride myself on being able to distinguish between the logistical and artistic areas of filmmaking. I work to tell the story in the most effective way for an audience to understand it, and I strive to do this in a way that makes sense in the real world. I’m available to perform any of the five disciplines of filmmaking for your story and take immense pride in maintaining the integrity of what you’re trying to convey to your audience, whether they be five hundred people in a movie theater or a specific casting director in a major filmmaking hub.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
Freelancing as a filmmaker started as a side hustle. I was still working at Adidas when I started to make a legitimate push to pay my bills as a storyteller. I learned valuable skills in film school, but it took about three years of further honing those skills for me to offer a unique product. I was able to fill my schedule with more gigs as a videographer/cinematographer, quit retail, and pay my bills with a camera. It’s difficult to do this, as you simply have to shoot hundreds of hours of content to get better. There are no shortcuts or replacements for being able to frame a subject in the most interesting way or light a room in the most appealing way in the moment on set. I tried to be patient, and with every gig booked, I tried my darndest to get better at the craft. While I was actively trying to learn more about every aspect of filmmaking, as I still am and will be until I retire, my primary focus was always to be a more effective storyteller.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
It’s important for me to be clear and honest with people in regards to my successes and failures as an artist. My films have been screened at over five hundred legitimate film festivals with live screenings all over the world, and we’ve won something like one hundred and fifty awards. That sounds cool, and I do take pride in so many different juries showing us love and respect in that way. But my films have also been rejected more than five hundred times. I understand that art is completely subjective, but it’s still not pleasing to get those emails. In regards to resilience, I was rejected four times by the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival. Last year, they accepted our film, And Then the Darkness. I kept plugging away because I valued and respected that festival, and as a filmmaker trying to tell worthy and significant stories, it means so much to be given the opportunity to share our stories publicly.
Contact Info:
- Website: sagenightcinematics.com
- Instagram: andrewhugginsfilms
- Facebook: Facebook.com/andrewshuggins