Today we’d like to introduce you to Owen Hollander
Hi Owen, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Where there was storytelling in my life, there was filmmaking. Film had always been a transformative medium for me to explore other worlds and stories that gave so much more depth or insight into my own life. The exciting escapism of filmmaking made me addicted from a very young age when I would make awful stop motion videos on the family video camera in grade school. This hobby would flourish into creating these amateur ‘films’ with my friends and allowing the story to flow in whatever direction our imaginations would take us.
I was able to properly begin my educational journey in filmmaking in high-school with my early documentarian works. In my sophomore year of high-school, I directed a 47-minute documentary interviewing veterans from World War Two to modern day service and interweaving the lives and experiences of these people throughout the last 80 years. This documentary received a few awards from various film festivals as well as winning Best Documentary at the Victory International Film Festival. I then created other documentary shorts over various topics, such as the Tuskegee Airmen, the services of the Red Cross in local communities, Gucci, and the Concorde Airliner.
My overwhelming passion for narrative filmmaking was able to flourish even further at my time studying at Savannah College of Art and Design with my degree in Film & Television. I have directed a number of narrative short films during my time at SCAD that range in a wide variety of stories and genres that commonly explore themes of self-exploration and purpose in one’s own life. As I complete my Senior year and my accompanying Senior Thesis, I cannot wait for the next steps ahead.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My biggest challenges are always within filmmaking itself and the consistent resilience required to keep pursuing forward with every project. I have lost every variable imagined for a project before shooting (sometimes within days of production) just like every other filmmaker. Whether it be a loss of location, money, actor, crew, equipment, or whatever force the weather wants to strike down upon us, we are always able to overcome these obstacles with our commitment and dedication to our craft. I will only see a job through to its fullest execution, which frequently calls for very irregular working hours, sleepless nights, and overbooked weekly schedules, yet I continue to overcome these obstacles because of my infatuation for film.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a writer, director, and producer of narrative films, I am always most proud of the characters I create and the themes in which they explore. I frequently explore the concepts of family & identity, obsession, societal disconnect, and religion. My films possess an ever-evolving style that I am continuing to shape into my own unique voice as I grow as an artist. I believe that my style is educated by the structure and techniques of classic cinema while I am stylistically influenced by more Avantgarde or experimental works that flip these techniques on their head. These methods create a vibrant pop of life and energy in my films that I greatly enjoy.
How do you think about happiness?
My happiness comes from exploring new possible ideas and inspirations in any medium. Whether it be film, music, literature, paintings, graffiti, poetry, or performance art, I love digesting different art forms to explore the creativity and ingenuity from various artists in order to see how they got to that point of creation. It is very influential and fulfilling for me to see where other people’s artistry stems from and how I can elevate my own styles and tastes as well in unusual ways.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://owenhollanderfilms.wixsite.com/owen-hollander-films
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/owenhollanderfilms/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@owenhollander
