Meet Matt O’connell

We recently connected with Matt O’connell and have shared our conversation below.

Matt, so happy to have you with us today. You are such a creative person, but have you ever head any sort of creativity block along the way? If so, can you talk to us about how you overcame or beat it?

Committing myself to doing one thing creative every day, even if it has no connection to a project I’m working on. Cooking, playing music, exercise. The more I grow as an artist, the more I’m compelled to stay active and curious all the time. I used to believe that creative practice should only happen organically. Like you could only devote yourself to your craft when inspiration struck. And if I wasn’t “in the mood” to do the work, I’d avoid it entirely. But as I get older, I want more structure, even just a loose routine. Devoting time to find inspiration in whatever form. It lends itself so well to the improvisation and collaboration skills that are essential in filmmaking. The easiest way to overcome a creative block is to not isolate yourself or your practice.

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’m an independent filmmaker and musician based out of Chicago, IL. I began my career as an assistant at Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video, working on shows like Portlandia, Documentary Now, and Los Espookys. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I decided to take a break from the industry, and moved to the Midwest to pursue grad school.

I graduated last year with my MFA in Film and Television Directing, and have written, directed, produced, and edited several shorts. A few of them have gone on to premiere at noteworthy festivals such as Midwest Film Fest and the Chicago Underground Film Festival. My latest film, Righteous Self, will soon be distributed on the Short Frame Youtube channel.

I think a lot of my filmmaking tries to confront this paradox of authenticity, or reality vs. fiction. Particularly how someone’s reality or identity can be distorted, manipulated, even corrupted by someone else. This question of “what is real” tends to drive the visual language as well. It’s important to me that films engage with their own form just as much as their content.

On the music side, I’m a self-taught guitarist, vocalist, and audio engineer. I produce music under the name Fin Cinema, and released a self-titled mixtape last year. It’s eclectic for sure, I’m influenced by a range of genres from indie rock to power pop, shoegaze and post-punk. Dark and dreamy, but rhythmic and moveable too. I’m looking for help to record a follow-up EP this year, as well as produce a narrative music video for the whole project.

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?

It’s important to understand that filmmaking is a team sport. Even if a project represents a distinct vision, creativity stops when there’s only one voice in the room. You have to be open to collaboration, as well as working with people with different backgrounds, different approaches. Ideally people more experienced or talented than you!

A willingness to collaborate will also bolster your reputation, which really matters in this industry. It’s hard to comprehend when you’re just starting out, but you have to realize that your network is also growing, learning, succeeding alongside you, and if you tarnish relationships early on, those people will have no reason to work with you down the line. That stubborn defensiveness you felt about your early ideas will haunt you for years, and it’s just not worth it.

That said, you must be certain why your particular story or idea needs to be put into the world. Ask yourself: why does this story need to be told right now? What makes it unique, what sets it apart from the masses? We live in an age of excess – every moment of our day is capitalized for consumption, telling us how we should feel about everything. How will you maintain someone’s attention if you can’t tell it apart from the rest of the noise?

I think it’s so important these days for artists to stay true to their own unique identity, their original voice, and not try to conform their ideas for the sake of market or commercial value. At least in the US, creativity and critical thinking is essentially be phased out in exchange for mindless consumption. Commercial media wants to make us angry, but not actually challenge us. People need to be exposed to different, radical, experimental approaches to media, or risk surrendering our freedom of self-expression to corporations and oligarchs. There are new independent filmmakers out there–Vera Drew, Raven Jackson, Connor O’Malley and Danny Scharar–that are still continuing to push the medium forward. We ought to be championing this diversity of ideas.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I’m absolutely looking for more filmmaking opportunities and people to connect with. I’m introverted and not the strongest networker, but it’s a skill I’m trying to put more into practice. At the moment, I’m particularly compelled to connect with people in Chicago’s comedy scene. It’s an awesome, tight-knit community of hard-workers, not to mention really talented comedians and improvisers. These are the folks I want to build a portfolio with, and I’d love to find ways of incorporating someone’s characters or ideas into a short film or more.

After finishing my graduate thesis, I realized I spent way too much money. Shot way too much footage. Probably too concerned with the spectacle of it all. Moving forward, I’ve been trying to embrace limitations, guardrails, and think on a much smaller scale. I want to see just how complicated or how high the emotional stakes can be raised between only a few characters in one location. It’s an efficient and budget-friendly approach, but also feels like an exciting challenge for both filmmaker and performer.

If people want to connect, they can reach out on instagram @matt0connell or they can check out my website matt-oconnell.com.

Also, I’m always down to jam! A big goal of mine is to get a lockout space and make some friends who want to play this Fin Cinema material live. I think it’d be a lot of fun. My debut mixtape is available on all streaming platforms as well as fincinema.bandcamp.com, and look out for an EP in the near future too.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

BTS Images by Tony Byrne

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