My guest, Hazel McKibbin, directs films that make top festivals. She edits films that make top festivals. And she makes commercials for brands at the Met Gala. And yet:

Here's Hazel taking on a project about masculinity called LAST MAN UP (2026). Last episode, I praised writer and actor Robert R. Palmer for offering Hazel the opportunity to direct his project, so she deserves equal credit for taking it on. I could see a lesser director -- a lesser person -- saying no, but as she talks about in the episode, she saw it as an opportunity to expand her skillset.

To say I wish there were more directors like Hazel is a bit of a non-descriptive statement: of course. What I mean by that is let's celebrate risk takers who leave their comfort zone of the material they are used to and take on somebody's project, or do something different.

And if you're as talented as Hazel is, it'll work out beautifully.

Hazel and I talk about:

how she describes the film;
why she decided to take on a story like this with a background in films "with a feminist lens";
the reaction of other people when she took on this project;
her entry into filmmaking and if starting out as an editor helps;
the conversations she has with a director as an editor and vice versa now that she's directed several films;
the increase in projects she's directed that were written by actors;
what her wishes are for short films;
why film school and why Columbia?
her amazing Sundance experience;
what's next for her.

Hazel's Indie Film/Filmmaker Highlight: AU HASARD BALTHAZAR (1966) dir. by Robert Bresson; Joanna Hogg

Memorable Quotes:

"It's a story about what it means to be the man of the house."

" If you just leave it to an editor, and they fix it before they give it to you, I feel like you're missing an opportunity to to learn as a director."

"I think actors as writers, they are so good at dialogue."

" One of the things that especially I tell my students, [short films are] unity of time, place, and action."

" Between commercials and narrative, there's not a lot of crossover."

" I submitted it because you submit your first film to Sundance, you just do."

Links:

Follow Hazel On Instagram

Watch DOUBLESPEAK (2021)