We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hugo Liu. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hugo below.
Hi Hugo, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?
The Matthew Principle states that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and although that sounds bleak and harsh, I find the opposite. It’s a fundamental truth in our autonomy versus human nature, and hard work is a constant and catalyst for those who succeed. How each of us finds a good work ethic varies.
I found mine standing on the shoulders of giants. From successful immigrant parents escaping poverty and communism to mentors who gave me opportunities far beyond my reach, I consider myself blessed to be working in the film industry, and continuing to grow.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I never felt extraordinary as a kid, neither precocious nor wealthy; but looking at the adults around me, I didn’t want to be ordinary.
At a young age, I believed through discipline and hard work that I could beat anyone at anything if I just outworked them. And when I found my love for movies, everything was set for me to be a director.
Not before long in my adolescence, I worked at a camera rental shop in Hong Kong—where I am originally from. There, I got to play with equipment I could not afford, and my passion took me to many places. I worked across China, Hong Kong, and Macau, even interning at Turner Broadcast and being the cinematographer of a film selected for the Hong Kong International Film Festival.
But my unbridled optimism didn’t last. While I was in college in the United States, I soon realized that being a director wasn’t enough, not because of any hard knowledge, but because of the little life I had lived. I became depressed. We carry titles to have a self-aggrandized image of ourselves, but I never cared for it. I learned my love for telling meaningful stories is more than my pride in excellence. Humbly speaking, I have a lot more to learn, but my experience and drive became a catalyst for other people’s visions. So I pivoted to producing.
I started producing under my production company, 1111, and partnered with directors and brands to create meaningful work. I started with no real guiding principles other than to make great work, but the people around me gave the why.
Good stories are hard to find. Life or death stakes are captivating, but there is beauty in the mundane, and if you look closely enough, every ordinary person has something extraordinary to say. So we go find it for brands, companies, and creatives. Young, talented, and naive enough to say, yes, you are important, and we’re here to listen.
1111 has three narrative films selected across film festivals, including Buffalo International Film Festival and the now Oscar-qualifying San Jose International Short Film Festival, and we continue to make movies with the principle that I find myself and many people live by—ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
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?
We mentioned hard work, so discipline is of course one. Creativity in a creative industry is of course important, but it comes and goes; any working artist will know to stay afloat we need discipline and structure.
Your humility and chutzpah will be your next best friends. I always say I am smart enough to know I’m dumb but dumb enough to believe I’m smart. Meaning, you need to have the wisdom to know you can always learn, and the courage to do more than you’re capable of.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I want to collaborate with small businesses and individuals who are passionate about growth and telling their stories.
There is much to learn about slowing down without sacrificing quality. In a time when short audience retention and dopamine addiction overwhelm us silently, our voices need to be meticulous and profound. A story resonates far longer and deeper than aesthetics or facts, and I believe short films have the balance of profundity and efficiency; think vignettes of people doing what they love, or glimpses of products and services changing lives.
Ordinary people doing extraordinary things—that’s who we are, and I’d like to tell your story. You can reach out to me via my website.
Contact Info:
- Website: 1111.pictures
- Other: hugoliu.com
Image Credits
Besty Tan, Ben Decastro
