We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Torey Haas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Torey, thanks for joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

This is actually something I thought about recently… when you hit middle age you get a little reflective on where you’ve been and where you’re going haha. My thoughts settled on this: you only have one life (at least as far as we know) and you owe it to yourself to spend that life doing what makes you happy. I was always good academically- I went to Georgia Tech, and while I didn’t study engineering (that’s a story for another day) I could have, and I certainly would be making much more money with a 9 to 5 job as an engineer than I am as a freelance film and video producer- but if I had pursued a more ‘normal’ career route I would just think, “Man, I really wish I was making movies.” Film and video production is my passion, and I’m just happier working on a video project than I would be doing anything else, even if that something else pays more money and is more consistent.

I also thought about what would happen if my nine-year-old self hopped into a time machine and met the current me. If I told him, “Yeah, I’m a civil engineer and I make $200k a year,” he would just politely nod. But if told this kid- who spends his free time drawing monsters and had just gotten his mind blown watching JURASSIC PARK- that I was a filmmaker who has directed, produced or written four feature films- all with monsters!- he would think I was just the coolest person ever, and that thought makes me smile. My teenage self would also really appreciate knowing that I set my own schedule and that I don’t have a boss.

Lastly, my late grandfather always used to say “Enjoy life”, and I think that’s a great adage to live by. Working creatively helps me to enjoy life, and I know I made the right career decision.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been interested in filmmaking since I first saw JURASSIC PARK as a kid. I was obsessed with dinosaurs as a lot of kids are, and I had wanted to be a paleontologist. Something clicked when I saw that movie though- I realized that a paleontologist only gets to dig up dinosaur bones (still pretty cool, of course) but a filmmaker gets to work with animatronic and animated dinosaurs. After that I began to read all the books I could about filmmaking, and this interest grew to include visual effects, scriptwriting, animation and video production, eventually culminating in my current career as a producer, editor and animator for both independent films (which are my passion) and commercial video production (which is how I pay my bills).

I have a pretty diverse skill set, and I believe this is what my clients like about me. I’m perfectly comfortable jumping from editing a video to designing motion graphics to compositing green screen to placing cameras in Unreal Engine to writing a script. In a pinch I can draw on my filmmaking background to direct and manage other artists as well. Also- and I think this is just as important as my technical skills, if not more so- I actively try to be kind and patient, and to treat others the way I want to be treated. Any kind of film or video production is very team-intensive (even if you’re the lone editor you still have to work with producers and directors) and being a good person goes a long way in my opinion.

Since I work in many different areas, I have a lot of work I’m proud of. I’ve directed, produced and/or written four feature films (THE NEON DEAD, DEAD BY MIDNIGHT, DEAD BY MIDNIGHT: Y2KILL and SPOOKT); they’re all microbudgets but a lot of heart went into their creation and if you can look past the budget limitations you’ll find something to enjoy. I also edited THE ELF ON THE SHELF: AN ELF’S STORY back in 2010, and it’s crazy for me to think that something I worked on has been seen by millions of people (it first aired on CBS at #1 in its timeslot and is currently streaming on Netflix). A few years back I created the visual effects for Project Involve’s BLACKOUT, a science fiction short film that is told entirely from the perspective of an astronaut working on a space station orbiting Uranus. Virtually every shot contained a visual effect, and I was the only VFX artist… to say it was a lot of work is an understatement, and I’m proud I not only delivered all of the effects on time but also at a high quality (especially for the budget). That sums up my overall approach to film and video production- striving for the highest quality while also staying on time and on budget… and being a good person as well!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The paycheck! Ha, not really but it is certainly nice, especially after completing a difficult job.

The most rewarding part to me is actually when someone genuinely responds to something you’ve created; as artists that’s the core of why we’re all making creative work- to express ourselves and connect with others. The feeling is even better when you take a risk and create something that may not be mainstream; if you’ve read my full interview you’ve probably gathered that I gravitate toward the horror, science fiction and fantasy genres, and I’ve also always loved stop motion animation (Ray Harryhausen is one of my heroes). I recently completed a claymation short film- my first- where I composited an actor’s eyes (in this case those of my lovely wife) onto the clay character. It’s a very surreal and quite frankly creepy effect (and one I admittedly didn’t come up with myself, since I was inspired by the Academy Award nominated MADAME TUTLI-PUTLI), and I had no idea how an audience would respond to it. The film recently premiered at Atlanta’s Buried Alive Film Festival, where it received a huge ovation and was nominated for several awards, including Best Animated Short. After the screening several people came up to me saying how much they loved it, including one lady who told me it had her favorite monster out of all the films in the festival, which to me is an enormous compliment. I’m still in shock over this reception, and I encourage any artist reading this to take a risk on their next project. As an audience member myself I want to see more adventurous and bold stories!

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Roger Corman’s autobiography HOW I MADE A HUNDRED MOVIES IN HOLLYWOOD AND NEVER LOST A DIME was very inspiring to me. Corman- who unfortunately passed away earlier this year- has always been a personal hero of mine, and reading this book only cemented that. Since it was written in the early nineties a lot of the specifics about filmmaking have changed greatly, but the general principles of shooting efficiently, stretching your budget, and expressing a personal vision while still maintaining commercial interest are all important today. He also strove to treat people fairly, and despite the often-exploitative content of his films (particularly those he produced) I’ve never heard anyone say anything bad about him as a person. These are all qualities that I admire and that I try to emulate myself in both my business and personal life.

If you only know of a Corman as a schlock producer (as is his general reputation) I encourage you to seek out the films he directed earlier in his career, particularly 1962’s THE INTRUDER, which I believe is an unsung cinema classic and the only film I know of that was filmed on location in the Jim Crow-era South. That Corman made this highly personal, aggressively anti-segregation film in an area that was outwardly hostile toward integration and at a time when Hollywood wouldn’t touch a film with this subject matter is a testament to his passion as a filmmaker.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mbevideo.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/torey-haas-795b9814/
• Other: https://vimeo.com/124055905

Image Credits

@lolascottart
@justinmakephoto