Meet Paul Hemmes | Producer, Director, Editor and VFX Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paul Hemmes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paul, why did you pursue a creative career?
I was always interested in film. I’ve worked in one capacity or another for most of my life. Sometimes creatively, sometimes in a corporate setting. I’m curious and enjoy the opportunity to express myself and push myself beyond my comfort zone. I can and have worked many different types of jobs; I’m happiest when I’m creating. Now that I’m getting a bit older and my family obligations are settling down, it’s time to push a little harder into filmmaking as I can take on a bit more risk.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I was born in a time of transition. Filmmaking was moving from film to video. I have an affection for each version of filmmaking independent of the other. While I have some concerns about how technology has changed the industry both artistically and financially, I can’t help but see the new technologies’ broad possibilities. I went to school to learn filmmaking (On film), and within a year of graduation, the technology began to change, and much of what I learned was not relevant anymore. (Or at least I thought). After relearning filmmaking as a digital process, I realized that my more profound understanding of the older methods was an asset, not a liability. I now integrate the two into their own thing. Much like in the silent film days, there is a sense of experimentation available to us now if we choose to use it. My films use both digital technology and old-school methods like mattes and miniatures, plus really old-school effects like peppers ghost and double exposures. Many of those filmmakers that came up even a few years later got little exposure to the old-school methods, so they don’t utilize them. I have a lot of tools in the toolbox.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Arizona is an exciting place. If I have one criticism, it’s that Arizona tends to run away from its history. I shot a film out near the Superstition Mountains. This is hollowed ground to film fans (Or at least it should be). Films from John Ford’s Stagecoach to Elvis Presley’s Charro were filmed out there. I could do a whole week just touring the Phoenix area for old film locations besides the Old Tucson studios.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I owe much of my passion for film to my parents, who supported me for as long as I can remember. When I was eight years old (circa 1977), I remember seeing a monster movie called Tentacles at the local drive-in with my parents. A fun, campy Italian Jaws rip-off about a killer squid with big Hollywood stars like John Huston and Shelley Winters. Unbeknownst to my parents, though, who were not particularly drive-in savvy, there was a second feature called Squirm about electrically charged worms that attack the people of a small Georgia town. Squirm was a serious horror film Rated R with a low-budget ambiance that added to the mood. While I sat there enjoying the movie, I noticed the adults sitting in their cars around me kept jumping and hiding their eyes until whatever was going to happen happened. Then they would laugh out loud, which fascinated me to no end. It was the film equivalent of a haunted house, and as far as I was concerned, whoever made these types of films were like magicians. I’ve been hooked ever since.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.hemmes

Other: imdb.me/Paul.C.Hemmes