Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Chris Hall. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Chris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
Zig Ziglar among many others are quoted as saying “Success is when opportunity and preparedness meet” or some variation of that quote. It stems from a Roman philosopher, Seneca, that said “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” Whether you call it luck or success, it doesn’t happen without being prepared when the opportunity presents itself. I’m always big on breaking things down into threes. Much like a strong sturdy tripod has three legs, many facets of life can be broken down into three main points.
I believe that the first key to success is preparedness. That means being educated in whatever you want to be successful in. Seek out all means of education, practice your craft as much as possible, learn how to use equipment that you’ll encounter once you’ve “made it”, and begin investing in you and your craft by purchasing any goods and services that are likely to help get you where you need to be. The third key (yes I skipped the second), is to recognize and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. You never know when you’re going to find “the one” that carries you to whatever you may consider a success.
The second key is this… and I struggle at this myself… but before opportunities come to you, you must go to them. You may get lucky and someone just happens to reach out to you and offers you all the money you need to chase your dreams, but that’s not usually the case. You have to put yourself out there, and I mean out there. Do what you do, take pictures, videos, share to your social media, get your friends and family to share, find networking events where you can rub elbows with others in your industry, and really start building a name for yourself. Success can mean many different things to different people. But it isn’t free, it never comes to those sitting on their hands. You have to be proactive in the process. I always tell people, that no one will get more excited about your dream than you.
Chris, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Filmmaking has been a dream of mine since I was a child. I’ve always been attracted to the arts. Writing, drawing, music, you name it. There is something so pure about using different art forms to tell a story. It wasn’t the first time I saw The Wizard of Oz, but there was one time I actually sat down and watched it… really watched it, and it was then that I realized that visual storytelling could take us to places and experience things that are far beyond the stars. It was that movie and that viewing which led me to seek out a path in filmmaking. I didn’t come from money, so I didn’t have my first camera until I was already in my twenties. But by that time, I had done so much studying, researching, and writing, that I knew how to use every feature on that camera before it ever touched my hands, and I already had multiple scripts lined up to shoot.
I started this journey knowing no one. I was able to find a handful of folks and we made a short film called Cheatin’ Charlie. It was electric. It was awesome. I made a real film. From there, I started meeting so many people in our local filmmaking community and started networking and growing my team. I say my team, but the same cast and crew work on multiple people’s projects and our goal is to just grow the filmmaking community in middle Georgia. I’ve now worked as writer, director, editor, cinematographer, and more, on multiple international award-winning films. Many on YouTube and one on Tubi and other streaming platforms. While there is the potential to make huge sums of money in this industry, that only happens for so many people.
I find joy in creating art and telling stories to the best of my ability. Uncensored, unrestrained, just raw organic storytelling. If we happen to make money or get distribution, that’s great, but we’re not trying to meet any kind of quotas or virtue signal or in any way dilute the quality of story we’re trying to tell. I say we, because so many in the area have come together for this very cause. Some of us have been approached to do some work, like documentaries, pilots for shows, etc. We’ve jumped at the opportunities, because you never know where they’ll lead. Plus, it’s just another chance for us to do what we love.
Mayhem Productions, my company, works hand-in-hand with my creative partner’s company, Avizon Pictures, to produce high quality content for not just ourselves, but anyone that we work with. We are selective about the jobs we accept, because we want to be sure that we’re able to bring our flavor of storytelling, and do more than just point the camera at something/someone and hit record. There’s so many moving parts that go into this industry, and we’ve been blessed to find so many people in our local community that have the same passion and vision. Not only that, but everyone is constantly doing everything they can to get each other involved and help them find more work. In our little local middle Georgia arts community, we try to make sure everyone gets fed, and there is plenty of room at our table for more.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
When I was first starting out on this filmmaking journey, I knew no one. I had no resources, no friends in the industry, and nothing to really pull from. I made my own opportunities, and then jumped on other opportunities that I could find. I found a listing of someone looking for crew members for a small film shoot, on Craigslist I believe. I checked it out and worked on a short film for writer/director William Adams called Each His Own. Now, my circle had grown. William reached out to me for his next project, The Come Back, and I jumped at the opportunity. Shooting that was hit and miss for scheduling, and I was trying to also work with the late Don McGraw on his final film (which unfortunately was never completed due to his passing), Golly Gee Willikers.
It was while working on The Come Back, that I met a new guy on set, named John Carroll DeShazier. He was the first person that I had met locally that knew and had watched Film Riot on YouTube. Not only that, but he actually attended and graduated as valedictorian from Full Sail University. I thought, this dude knows what he’s doing. We got along great and really enjoyed working with each other. At the same time that I was trying to work with William and Don, I was ready to shoot my second short film, but was putting it off until we finished either or both of these other projects. I knew I wanted to grow my crew and get away from doing my own cinematography so that I could focus on directing and working with the actors more, so I asked John if he’d be willing to help.
Well, due to unforeseen circumstances, filming with William and Don were both put on hold. I had the opportunity to go ahead and pull the trigger on my second short film. John agreed to help, and with the rest of our cast and crew, we created a fun, Tarantino-like short film called This Day Sucks. From that point on, John and I would work hand-in-hand on all of our future projects. We concept together, write together, cast together, share different roles on productions, and even edit together. We talk daily about current and future projects. His drive and passion are equal to, if not greater, than my own. While we have our own “production houses/labels”, you could never tell by how dedicated we are to helping each other out on “their” production, because we want to see each other win.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The single greatest reward for me as a filmmaker, is seeing an audience be entertained by my work. In whatever capacity I work on a project (writer, director, cinematographer, audio tech, editor, etc.), I feel so much reward when I hear an audience laugh at just the right time, jump in their seats at procedurally placed scares, or have a tear rolling down their face as they engulf themselves into the world that I helped create. At festivals and other showcases, I’ve even witnessed hundreds of people applauding the work of myself and all other members of the cast and crew. That’s genuine. That’s real. You can’t fake that. That right there will get you on a high that nothing else will.
While that’s the greatest reward, of course I have to name two others because I work in threes. Another reward is just getting the story out. Sometimes there are stories and/or characters that live in my brain for so long that they start scratching and clawing their way out of me. When I finally get everything out on paper, it’s a huge relief. But the work’s not done. It still has a way to gnaw away at me until it is finally on a screen in front of an audience. At that point, it’s free to live out its life. No longer a prisoner in my mind or exciled to a stack of papers. I never know where the film will end up, and it’s not my job to. I make it, then set it free to reach anyone and everyone it can.
Lastly, there is reward in the recognition and reputation that comes from making films. When people see the quality of story, picture, sound, or overall entertainment value that you created, you end up growing your audience some. Others in the community begin giving you your earned recognition and you find new seats at the table that you didn’t know were there waiting on you. And of course there’s always the prospect of paid work that comes your way when you make a successful film. We’ve been very fortunate to have several people reach out to us for paid or the potential of paid work after seeing one or more of our films. But even with all that, nothing beats entertaining an audience.
Contact Info:
- Website: mayhemproductions.net
- Instagram: instagram.com/mayhemproductionfilms
- Facebook: facebook.com/mayhemproductionfilms
- Twitter: twitter.com/mayhem_films
- Youtube: youtube.com/@mayhemproductionfilms
Image Credits
Chris Hall, Terry Wilson, and John Carroll DeShazier