We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Mitchell Burrows. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Mitchell below.
Mitchell, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome is an interesting feeling to me, I’ve got very mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I would love to to feel the relief of whole heartedly believing it when someone says they enjoyed my script, liked my film etc. but on the other, I feel the worry of not being able to achieve greatness is what really motivates me to put everything I can into each project I work on. This feeling of wanting to make myself & others genuinely proud is what stops me when going for the easy option looks attractive for a second, so for me it’s about using imposter syndrome as a driving factor to make each project AS great as you can, rather than perceiving it as an obstacle that prevents you from trying in the first place.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I consider myself lucky in that I’ve always known what I want to do in life – I can’t remember a time where I didn’t want to tell stories through film and consider watching movies my favourite hobby & escape. Even before I knew how the mechanics of it all worked, I’d tell my parents I wanted to “draw films” as a kid, as I would create comic books and thought making films followed the same creative process.
Fast forward to my teenage years, and I was constantly making YouTube videos on my own or with friends, admittedly of terrible quality, but I loved the collaboration, the craftsmanship, and the problem-solving of it all even at this extremely stripped back, juvenile level. If I wasn’t making stuff myself, I was continuing to soak up more media and got really sucked into the video-essay scene on YouTube. I think our generation of filmmakers and those after us are genuinely going to be positively impacted by this genre of content, as in-depth discussion and exploration of what makes for a successful film is so easily accessible and just sitting there for us to learn from at our leisure.
Just before I left school I was lucky enough to land my first gig on a film set by complete chance when writing to production companies in sixth form. I spent the next couple of years working as a set & camera assistant over multiple projects until mid 2022 when I felt I was familiar enough with set life to finally have a go at solo directing, which is when I began writing ‘The Other Side’ which was shot in March 2023. As of the time of this interview, the film is currently being submitted to festivals, so keep an eye out over the next year or so as it may hopefully be available at a screen near you!
At the moment, I’ve got a couple of other projects in the works. I’ve just moved onto the edit of my second film, ‘Love Lies’ which is a short thriller starring my frequent collaborators and good friends Amie Howes & Peter Tilley, and am about to move into pre-production on a short drama which I co-wrote with Amie.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
From my experience I’d say foresight is an extremely important quality for a filmmaker to have. Shoot days are so incredibly fast paced and you’ll be dealing with so many spinning plates that without a focused mind you could easily lose sight of what you’re out to achieve, but if you take the time beforehand to meticulously plan/prepare exactly how the days should go and what you want to get out of it, it allows you so much more mental breathing room when things do go wrong. Think about the edit before you shoot, think about exactly what emotions you want from your actors, think about extraneous factors when it comes to location, equipment etc which could pose potential problems, and make contingencies for them. The less you leave yourself to think about on the day, the better.
Good communication skills, as cliché as this is, are also essential to make a good film and sustain a happy set environment. Whether this is being able to get very specific with your gaffer about how harsh you want the shadows on your actor’s face, or just checking in with each team member regularly to make sure they’re happy and don’t need anything. Again, set life can be hectic, but if everybody is being well accommodated and are given clear goals, it helps to reduce that chaos.
In terms of areas of knowledge, the most important thing to be completely familiar with when going onto set is your own film. Jumping off of the preparation point, just getting everything written down and ready is great, but I personally feel I need to be able to recite as much as possible off of the top of my head in order to confidently make what I think will do the script justice. Whether this is having the lines and the beats of the screenplay memorised, knowing the schedule like the back of your hand, or having the storyboards etched into your brain, it will save you so much time and moments of brain-fog if you don’t have to reach for resources frequently. It of course helps to have technical knowledge and be familiar with the equipment your crew are using, but at the end of the day you can always fall back on your talented, trusty team if you have to stray from that side for a second, but when it comes to approaching a project with a clear vision and confidence, you only have yourself to fall back on.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
As an independent filmmaker it’s very easy to give TOO much of your life to the craft. Unfortunately, without funding or studio representation, it’s entirely up to us as individuals to bring our dreams & ideas to life, so it’s quite tempting to use every second you have spare to chase those dreams, and a lot of us are doing that on top of our regular day jobs.
I find in times where you feel snowed under with the amount of work you can get done, it’s important to still set limits for yourself. Give yourself a couple hours to unwind before you sleep, take weekends off if you can, because as well as creatives we’re still human, and if you don’t allow yourself time to breathe and just exist in the real world, what experience can you pull from when it comes to your art? Art influences life, life influences art, so don’t feel guilty when you do give yourself a break, and if you use this time to socialise, consume some art, or exercise, something that keeps your mind off of the work, it makes stepping back easier!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitchellburrowsproductions?igsh=ZXU5YnZ4aXl1Y2Rq&utm_source=qr
- Twitter: https://x.com/_mbproductions?s=21&t=_cp5wH45kV2lPvJY8PgjwA
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@theMpicM?si=GOaLFR5H_zdYb0en
