Meet Cole Mitchek | Filmmaker

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

Hi Cole, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I believe that it’s something that I’m naturally attracted to, just creating things. I like to try and make things regardless of my circumstances. The more time I spend doing things that I love to do, the better I tend to feel. So it’s not even necessarily about what creative thing I’m doing, it’s mostly just the choice to do it. I’m then automatically opened up to possibilities that I wouldn’t have otherwise considered. So I want to continue to stay open in that way as I get older through the act of creation. Also I love to collaborate with other humans who will expand on ideas and make the process so much more exciting and fulfilling.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I don’t really care that much anymore about what other people think about me, so I try not have a message or an agenda that I’m trying to convey. I think I used to and I think it’s almost always disappointing when you’re making things to try and get other people’s approval or praise. The dream to become a filmmaker I think used to partially stem from this self centered mission to be this interesting & inspiring & cool human. But I also know that I wanted to make movies when I was little kid before I had any notion of people watching them. I wasn’t thinking about these things as a kid, but I can recognize now that it was intuitively always about the process instead of the finished product. This idea I think is breathing new life in to my music video series smallsongs, for example, because I’m opening myself up more in the collaborative process each time I meet a musician with a completely different view of the world. I’m here & I’m present in the making of thing, instead of focusing on whatever the thing is going to turn in to. That’s the part of the process that really matters to me now. Because afterwards it’s really out of my control once the thing is done & shared with the world, if you even want to end up sharing it with the world.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well currently I’m spending my time in Liguria, Italy in the process of becoming an Italian resident. It’s beautiful here. The food is amazing. I’ve never lived this close to the ocean for an extended period of time. We’d take the train to the different towns around here like Sestri Levante & Santa Margherita & maybe go down to Cinque Terre. We’d eat pizza & focaccia. Life is a bit slower here. So I think we’d take our time to relax & just try to enjoy the moment.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Some teachers from film school come to mind for me like my film history teacher Jesse Hawthorne Ficks & my documentary teacher Janice Engel & my music video teacher Mark Kohr. I don’t believe going to University is necessary for a lot of people in today’s modern world, especially if you want to pursue an artistic career. But all these teachers just happened to be so motivating and supportive as inspiring mentors in my life. I think mainly I recognized that they each saw the world in such unique & personal ways based on their own filmmaking & film viewing & other life experiences. They allowed me to begin seeing the world in alternative ways. Their reflective insights helped to lead me in the direction I’m still going in.

Website: www.smallsongworld.com

Instagram: @smallsongs_

Twitter: @smallsongworld

Youtube: www.YouTube.com/smallsongs

Other: https://www.patreon.com/smallsongs?utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator https://www.tiktok.com/@small.songs?_t=8iyPCPR03w6&_r=1

Image Credits
photos by andy ventura & carlota flâneur & eric cannata (I think)