Realitydish.com “Andrew Hunt from ‘On The Lot’

Interviewed by Josh Clinton for Realitydish.com

Josh Clinton:  Hey Andrew

Andrew Hunt: Hello sir, how are you doing today?

JC: I’m doing good. How about you?

AH: I’m doing good as well.

JC: Good. So what were you doing before you got on the show?

AH: Before I got on the show I was a promotional producer for a home shopping network called ShopNBC. I was also a partner in a production company called Sleepy Eye Flix doing short films and commercials.

JC: Alright, cool. How did you hear about the show then?

AH: I heard about the show back in September. A friend of mine sent me an e-mail saying they were doing a reality show with Mark Burnett and Steven Spielberg called On the Lot, and that I should give it a shot. I had a short film that I did with my partner Jason Lausche over at Sleepy Eye that we took to the Tribeca film festival. It was a short film that cost seven dollars. I submitted in and the rest is history.

JC: Cool. Have you always been into movies?

AH: Since I was like 11 years old when my dad let me play with the video camera for an hour. As soon as I picked up the camera, my friends and everyone started listening to me for the first time. So that’s when I figured out what I wanted to do with my life.

JC: Right. So there wasn’t a movie you watched that confirmed that for you?

AH: Well I was always into Star Wars. But the movie that probably affected me the most was Jaws. After seeing Jaws I was afraid to go back into the pool. So that affected me the most, but I always loved movies and I loved the Star Wars trilogy and Close Encounters. But it wasn’t really made clear to me that I wanted to do this until I actually picked up that video camera.

JC: Yeah. Were you a reality TV fan at all?

AH: You know what, the only one I watched was the first season of Survivor. I don’t really watch a lot of TV, so the only one I was addicted to was the first season of Survivor with Richard, the naked guy on the beach. It was a very wild show to watch and was very different than every other show I had seen.

JC: Yeah, exactly. I have talked to others from the show and they all have said that this show was a lot of work. Explain how much work this actually was to be on the show.

AH: Well what you are doing is making a film that would normally take you a month or a month and half to finish, and crushing it down into four days. When you are doing a short film, time is usually on your side when you are doing the writing aspect of it. Time is usually not on your side when you are producing it. But then again, time is sometimes on your side when you are cutting it. Here you only have a couple of days to write a film, about 16 hours to shoot the film, another 10 hours editing the film, and then 8 hours of color correcting and sound. It’s a pretty daunting thing. For people who don’t really know filmmaking, it’s like trying to plan your wedding in four days. That is probably the best way to describe it. With all of the different elements and details involved in the process.

JC: Yeah, that sounds a little crazy. Some of the biggest complaints about the show that I have heard was that the format of the show was a little screwy. Some people would have liked to explained their movies to the judges more than they got to. What do you think?

AH: I come from the school that my work should speak for itself. I shouldn’t have to stand in front of the judges and tell them “before you watch my movie, I want you to know I wasn’t able to do this and that. The things I really wanted to do, I couldn’t do because of the budget”. I really consider that cheating. When I stand in front of the judges, I don’t want the “behind the scenes” video to determine their critiques.  As long as the judges are critiquing my movie, I’m tickled to death, whether it’s good or bad.

JC: Yeah, that makes sense. Do you think the comments from the judges were fair overall or completely off?

AH: I think their comments were pretty spot on. Of course, it is just their opinions. When David Frankel (Devil Wears Prada) said he thought my film was more like a commercial, that’s his opinion. I can’t say “well you’re wrong.” I can only say “that’s your opinion.” The kind of movies that I love are not the kind of movies my mother likes. Filmmaking is such a subjective art form. Most of the critiques that I got I completely agreed with. One of those things in the back of your mind when a judge is hitting you with this or that, you are like “yeah, I wish I did have a little more time to do this or that.” But you don’t have anymore time, so that shouldn’t really be an excuse. The person that is going to win this contest is the person that makes really consistent movies and thinks everything through.

JC: Right. So you went to film school?

AH: Yeah, I went to film school in New York City called the School of Visual Arts. I attended it for three and half years.

JC: Okay. There are some people on the show that didn’t go to film school. Do you think that really matters as far as making great films?

AH: No. I don’t think film school really matters. For me, it was more important to live in New York City than attending film school. That experience right there is priceless. The things you learn in film school and applying that in real life is probably like every other major in college as far as going from textbook to real world. For me, my real film school started when I started directing commercials. I started working with real money, real crews, and professional actors. The people I got to work with didn’t consider this just a class project. Everybody I was working with was doing it to put food on the table. That was my film school. So then I strayed away from making short films, because I was so focused on making commercials. But then my partner-in-crime, Jason Lausche and I started Sleepy Eye and made a short film. That’s when I quickly realized that commercials were great and I still liked doing them, but I need to focus on Features as well.

JC: In your opinion, what makes a great director?

AH: I think what makes a great director is someone that is completely passionate about making movies.  And who knows how to tell an engaging yet entertaining story.  Anybody who works on a film set can tell you that it’s one of the most boring jobs on the planet. It’s like sailing. 90 percent pure boredom and 10 percent pure terror. So you really have to love telling stories.

JC: Right. So why do you think you got eliminated when you did this week?

AH: I think I got eliminated, because my film didn’t connect as well with the audience as it should have. That’s all my fault. I used to be a comic in New York and if I went on stage and told a joke and the audience didn’t laugh, that’s not their problem it’s mine. That’s the way I look at filmmaking. Another reason was I think Keep Off Grass was the most dangerous film that I did while on the show. I think the concept was pretty strong, but my execution wasn’t as good as it should have been. The fault all lies with the director, not with the crew, not with the actors, not anyone else involved with it. It’s all how the director handles the concept. I think on that short film I didn’t handle it as well as I could have. I think those kind of movies really pisses audiences off. You have been in this situation, where you think a movie has a great idea behind it and then you go and watch it and you get pissed off because you are like “how could you have not made this film as good as it could have been?!” I think that’s what happened here. I think I should have gone a lot further with the concept and directing than I did. And being voted off, we all knew that could happen going into this, so that’s just the way it is. The one thing I don’t regret, though, is not playing it safe. When I did the horror film, I was playing with comedy and horror. The car chase movie was insane, because how do you do a car chase movie in two days? With the superhero movie, I thought I would just take a big swing and if I failed, then I fail big.  I hate playing safe.

JC: Yeah, that makes sense. Out of the remaining guys left, do you have a clear favorite in your mind to win it all?

AH: I think that Will Bigham will take it all.

JC: So there is not like a close second to him?

AH: I think that the final three will be Will, Zach, and Adam.

JC: Okay, cool. So what are you going to do now?

AH: Continue directing commercials and ready myself for my first feature.

JC: Sounds good. Well that’s all I have for you. Thanks for your time.

AH: Yeah man, thank you. I know that the reaction to this show wasn’t as popular as we thought it would be before we got on the show. But the whole experience for me, from the beginning to end, has been nothing but a blast. So part of me doesn’t really care what the critics or anyone has to say, because I will remember this experience for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Whether it had great ratings or poor ratings, the people involved with the show made it a dream come true for me.

JC: Alright, very cool. Thanks again.

AH: Thanks so much…