We recently connected with Eric Mathis and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Eric, so happy you were able to devote some time to sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our community. So, we’ve always admired how you have seemingly never let nay-sayers or haters keep you down. Can you talk to us about how to persist despite the negative energy that so often is thrown at folks trying to do something special with their lives?
“I think that having people try to hold you back, minimize your success, one-up you, or flat-out telling you that your dreams and aspirations are impossible are a common experience for creatives. We have gatekeepers trying to control access to resources and information, the “veteran” filmmakers telling you that you cannot do things without their level of expertise or connections, and just a general atmosphere of cutthroat mentalities and bitter rivalries that are almost enough to defeat the common person before they even get to start. I think there are a million things that come at you and present themselves as legitimate reasons you should quit. There are countless forks in the road that make you believe that giving up is the only option. I can see where it would be easy to look at the mounting obstacles and then buying into all of the chatter in the world about how impossible creative success is, and just giving up and throwing in the towel. I think the people that succeed, I know for me especially, are people who can push aside those million reasons of why you should quit and instead latch on to that single, sometimes hidden, reason you should see it through. I find my resilience in my true belief that we are the only ones, ourselves, who can truly hold us back. No one has ever been able to discourage me or to convince me that just because others have had to struggle, and that 90% of others never succeed, or any other discouraging group think ideas apply to me. They apply to that person, or those people that experienced them, and even though they were valid at that time for those individuals, I hold tight to the belief that if you never quit trying that you can never truly fail. I think my success in film has come from my adamant determination that no matter what, I will try one more time. I surround myself with people who love the craft, who believe in the dream, and who always seek that one single way to make something happen and never get roadblocked by the countless obstacles that appear to be impassable.
I never judge myself against others. I rate my successes and my failures based on facts like “Did I put in the work?” or “Did I ask the right questions?” or “Did I truly give it my all?” and most of the time I can answer those questions honestly and evaluate what I need to do to make it happen, correct the shortcoming, dig deeper, try again and then I get the results I am after.
I think another huge way I succeed and defeat the negativity and naysayers is I live by a very strict philosophy and that is, “If you don’t ask, the answer is always no.” I think that goes also with actions. “If you never take a real step towards your goal, a tangible action to get things moving, you do not have a goal, you have an idea or a dream.” The moment you treat your dream like a goal and not a dream, you find yourself making calls, researching, asking for help, recruiting others, and honing your craft and suddenly you are putting your idea into action and I think that is where so many fail is that they never put any true action into their dream. If you want to make a movie, if you have a great idea for a story, or any other creative endeavor, then act on it. Write the first page, read a proper script format and learn how it’s done, find a writer to collaborate with, just set SOMETHING into action and watch one step turn into another.
The best way to succeed and to not be affected by the haters or naysayers is that you absolutely never give them a voice in your head. You have to turn the narrative on them, when they tell me “You can’t,” I always change it to “They couldn’t.” Their disbelief holds no water in my journey and the moment you allow negativity in, it becomes a cancer and it grows and it kills your dreams. You have to surround yourself and value the people that tell you “you can” and you absolutely have to purge yourself of anyone who plants a negative seed like “you can’t.””
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a video store kid. I think it was a specific period of time, that we are all a certain age, and we all shared this similar experience and a love for video rental stores, and it had a profound effect on the rest of our lives. The term I use is ‘video store kid.’ From a young age, way too young if I am being honest, I was always at the video store renting the best and worst horror films available. I absolutely loved hitting the horror aisle and browsing the countless VHS boxes with all these great ghouls, goblins, hockey-masked killers, and knife-fingered dream demons, and just loading up on them and binge-watching the whole stack all weekend. I developed a love for cinema, especially horror, as I grew more and more interested in how a certain shot was done, how an effect was created, how the music score made me feel, etc. And although I did not know much on a technical level, I knew I wanted to be a part of that and tell stories and contribute to the art form that made me feel the way movies made me feel over and over again.
I was given little handicam video cameras when I was young by my parents, and I would go to toy stores and costume shops to buy costumes, fake blood, vampire teeth, masks, and anything else I could get my hands on, and I would make my own films using my cousins and sometimes my action figures as actors. This evolved as I grew older, and it was a rare occasion where I could be found without my video camera in my hand. I would record hilarious stunts and comedy bits with friends, action videos that I would edit on two old VCRs to sync with music and cheap computer graphics, and then have little watch parties with friends and family when I was done.
Fast-forward after high school, a career in radio, news, and military service, I decided I wanted to follow my dream and get into movies. I was living in Las Vegas now, a far cry from the small rural Louisiana life I once knew, and I looked around on Facebook to see if anyone was creating movies in Vegas. To my surprise, there were! I worked on some super no-budget horror films and built a small name for myself which led me to some higher-profile music video jobs and most notably working with the Jackson Family on a music video they were producing. That job really gave me some legs, and I ultimately secured a job with one of my favorite old horror studios from the 80s called Full Moon Features. Full Moon is headed by Charles Band, and he is responsible for some great cult classics so I jumped at the opportunity!
From there, I met my Director of Photography, Howard Wexler, who has decades of experience and hundreds of films under his belt, and he took a chance on me and helped me produce my first film, ‘The Macabre,’ which won ‘Best Cult Film’ at the Shockfest film festival. I have since made so many great connections with some incredible actors, many of which starred in so many of those amazing VHS tapes that brought me back time and time again to those video stores in the early days, and really, my team and access started to grow.
I just completed my second feature “Infernal”, a heavy metal monster movie, that I wrote, directed, and produced, and it was such a massive project that it really made everyone who was involved step back and realize that this was huge, serious, and absolutely elevated work. We have big plans to hit the major festivals this winter, and we all truly believe that we created that one film that truly propels careers to the next level.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think communication is massive if you want to direct a film. It can be beneficial in so many ways. You definitely need to be able to communicate your ideas, your vision, and keep your team on the same page and organized, but communication goes much deeper. You need to be able to speak up for yourself, set boundaries, determine upfront how you will allow people to talk to you and treat you. A lot of people will try to come on board and almost take over aspects of your film, and you have to have a voice that demands respect and that establishes that this is your project, money, and vision, and you have to be brave enough to hold fast to that. Always trust your OWN gut first, remember, it was YOUR idea, YOUR fundraising, YOUR hard work that got everyone else on set, and never let anyone come in and walk on your art. There is a flip side to this, you have to always be willing to collaborate and at least hear good ideas. If someone is coming to you with a legit suggestion or idea and their intentions are in the right place, you will only benefit from opening up to those type things, and you will quickly learn which ones are collaboration and which are overstepping their bounds. Never get jaded and assume the worst in everything, you will create your village and you will know when someone is coming to you with the project’s best interest in mind.
I think the second most important skill, one that I had to really learn and lean heavily on my wife for, is planning. I cannot express how important this one is. Filmmaking is, in large part, problem-solving. You have to understand that EVERYTHING that can go wrong, will go wrong. Actors will drop out the day before you shoot, locations will forget you are coming, your camera batteries will fail, rain will come the day you are shooting outside, you will never have the budget right, but if you plan ahead, you can have systems in place to seamlessly move into plan B, C, or D when they do. Aside from averting a disaster, planning can save you money, lots of money, and time, which is also money. I would suggest hiring an Assistant Director, if your budget allows, or have someone who has great planning and time management skills. Planning encompasses scheduling, booking flights, booking locations, planning special FX times, feeding your team, and so much more. You will live or die and make or break budget based almost solely on planning. And please remember, when someone says ‘we will fix it in post,’ that is almost a death sentence and you should ALWAYS ‘fix it in preproduction.’ Have a plan, have a contingency, and have a backup to everything. Oh, another big thing to plan, super important, always consider your post-production budget and plan for it. Everyone tends to forget about post-production and it is SO important that you budget for it or have a solid funding plan in place. It will be expensive, more than you expect if you don’t plan, and it is just as important as production.
I think a third and super important skill to have is self-discipline. You should make yourself, especially on days where you do not want to, spend at least one hour per day on your craft. Your day should always include a writing session, a script revision, researching film set terminology, studying camera shots, color grading, the post-production process, and a HUGE one learn all you can about film distribution. You will need to know as much as you can, if you are speaking the lingo you are saving time and you are making your communication more effective. If you research and know about distribution, you are less likely to take a bad deal or not get a deal at all. The more you know, the better you can prepare and plan. There are so many, almost countless, free resources out there that you can access and grow your knowledge. This will help you research locations, find teammates, speak to professionals and seem competent, and will benefit you in so many other ways. The more time you spend with your script the easier you will spot errors, the more familiar you will be with the story, the better you will be able to communicate your vision. The more disciplined you are, the more time you put into your craft, the better you will be in every aspect of filmmaking.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
Oh man, my parents were amazing, they really were. I think the most impactful thing they did for me was they always supported my dreams, no matter how outrageous or ever-changing they were. When I was interested in music, they would buy me instruments and never complain when I was just making horrific noises as I learned. When I wanted to make films, they would buy me a camera, and my wardrobes, and props and then sit and watch my movies and videos and were just really so encouraging and engaged. They let me explore who I was and who I wanted to be, and they never treated any dreams I had as stupid or out of reach. They absolutely kept me safe and as long as I was not doing anything dangerous or illegal, they were pretty much along for the ride and really just instilled in me that anything was possible. I was different from my peers and my brothers for sure, I was not athletic and honestly hated sports, and I was never pressured to conform to those things. I had an extreme taste in heavy metal music and my Dad would just let me listen to my tapes when we drove and take me to concerts and dress up and just be weird. I think that is a great summary actually, the best thing my parents did for me was just let me be weird and figure out who I was, and they loved me just as big no matter what that looked like. I was very lucky in that regard and that is how I choose to raise my son now. I make sure he sees all the awesome things we get to do, celebrities we work with, the special effects and just all of that, and I always stop and tell him that I want him to see all of this and realize that anything is possible if you just make the effort. I absolutely got that from my parents.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grimehousefilms
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/N5zbGzNvZSEGpZYr/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd9K4kI8CKEn9Vz0mwU7jsg
- Other: Our finishing funds campaign will be live soon on Indiegogo, you can find us by searching “Infernal finishing funds indiegogo”
