GG Hawkins: Permitting Yourself To Pursue, Creating Structure, and Finding Your Superpower
Welcome to the latest episode of One Moore Hollywood Podcast! This installment marks the podcast's first crossover episode, featuring guest GG Hawkins from The No Film School Podcast. Hawkins talks about film school outside of film school, overcoming fear, learning how to celebrate rejection, and finding your superpower.
The No Film School (Podcast)
Hawkins initially interacted with The No Film School Podcast as a listener. As an emerging filmmaker, she was new to navigating the industry landscape and was interested in seeking as many tips as possible to aid her journey.
Now, as the current podcast host, she describes it as "a casual conversation where we get messy and ask hard questions." Hawkins frequently interviews guests specializing in various industry professions, from screenwriting to directing to editing to producing. Hawkins sees herself as a representative of the emerging filmmaker, dedicated to sharing knowledge of the film industry with those who aspire to make films without the formal education of film school.
On Permitting Yourself To Pursue
"I always had director in my DNA but didn't see the path forward," Hawkins says, describing her roundabout route to where she is now. Despite harboring a deep love for film and a drive to make it, she instead made the practical decision to get a degree in education, landing herself a teaching position and then a job at Google.
Hawkins realized something was missing in her late twenties once she was well-established in her comfortable career at Google. She took action to rectify this missing sense of fulfillment by taking a screenplay writing class, which led to her directing her first short. It was the missing piece she'd been searching for. In July 2019, Hawkins left her career and enrolled in film school. While Hawkins left film school once the pandemic interrupted the program, she says film school was a great bridge to help her traverse from one career to the next.
"I think I have talent, but I don't think I'm naturally talented, and that's why I counted myself out early on. I didn't give myself permission to pursue it," Hawkins explains. As Ira Glass outlines in his “The Gap” talk, you have your taste and ability. Often, there's a huge gap between those two things. Most artists quit when they realize that gap, getting discouraged that they might never be able to close it. The solution, Ira Glass says, is to keep making things, set deadlines for yourself so you can fail again and again, and learn the craft so well that the gap between your taste and your ability becomes smaller and smaller, eventually closing entirely.
For Hawkins, dropping out of film school was the catalyst for letting herself create. "When I dropped out, I gave myself permission just to make things and let them be bad…I let myself create with low stakes, and I think that's important," she says.
What's Your Superpower?
According to Hawkins, there's a myth that just going to film school is enough to launch your career, but it's often not. Film school teaches you the craft but falls short on business. As a filmmaker, not only do you have to be good at filmmaking, but you also have to be good at selling yourself. You can't operate in a bubble. Instead, you must be prepared to pitch your idea to a room full of strangers and motivate your manager and agent to put your work out there. "You have to be ready to start at the bottom and work your way up," Hawkins says.
One of the most helpful classes Hawkins took was micro-budget production, which centered on learning to use what's available. What's your superpower? What are you good at already? How can you use what you have to get your story into the world? If you can access a convenience store like Kevin Smith, make Clerks! Use what you already have without the glitz and glam of what you think you need to succeed.
Creating Structure and Overcoming Fear
Letting go of the fallacy of doing things 'the right' way allowed Hawkins to experiment with her creative instincts on a small budget. She submitted a short to Channel 101, a community with a monthly competition, offering the winners the challenge of continuing their story the following month. Hawkins's short got voted back for a second episode, giving her a new project and deadline. Thus, she began building community through her work with Channel 101. "In a way, it's a self-structured film school because you have a deadline," Hawkins says.
When answering questions for The No Film School Podcast, some of the most pressing involve finishing a script and overcoming the fear. Hawkins’s advice regarding the former is to "Create a structure that lets you deliver on what you say you're going to do." Essentially, you should create a self-generated infrastructure. Working with a writing coach, joining a writing group, and submitting to festivals and workshops can be helpful ways to keep yourself accountable for the work you want feedback on. And feedback is important, not just from your family and friends, but from people who have no reason to prop up your art.
It's also helpful to assume you need a day job to succeed in this industry. Not only because of the practicality aspect (it's hard to sell a script) but also because of how much financial insecurity can affect creativity. "It fucks with your head," Moore emphasizes. Hawkins agrees, saying, "Don't put your life on hold; build a whole life that will inform you creatively."
As for the fear, that's a big one for everyone. It doesn't get less scary to show your work to people unless you learn to let go of rejection and keep trying despite it. If you learn to see failure as a sign that you're putting yourself out there, it no longer has to be such a bad thing.
"Whenever I put myself out there and fail, whether getting rejected from a lab, or someone doesn't like something, I celebrate it. It's a win because I'm putting myself out there. And that makes the scary less scary," Hawkins says.
Listen to the entire episode here: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or iHeartRadio.
