Hillman Curtis is a designer, filmmaker, and author whose company hillmancurtis, inc. has designed sites for Yahoo, Adobe, The Metropolitan Opera, Aquent, the American Institute of Graphic Design, Paramount Classics, Fox Searchlight Pictures, eMusic and RollingStone among others.

His film work includes the popular documentary series Artist Series, as well as award winning short films. His commercial film work includes spots for RollingStone, Adobe, Sprint, Blackberry and BMW.

His three books on design and film have sold close to 150 thousand copies and have been translated into 14 languages.

Hillman’s work has been featured in design publications worldwide, and has been honored with The One Show Gold, Silver, and Bronze, The Webby, Communication Arts Award of Excellence, and the South by Southwest Best of Show, amongst others.

Hillman lectures extensively on design and film related subjects throughout Europe, Asia and the USA.

hillmancurtis.com

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An Interview with Hillman Curtis



Online video is everywhere. It’s quick and choppy and seldom compelling. YouTube has flattened the standards for video and film, making the “everyman” a veritable Spielberg. Pardon the hyperbole but the fact is most online filmmaking cares little for art and craft.. You might try linking to HillmanCurtis.com. Hillman is a rare breed of short-filmmaker whose work is meant for web, but has the texture of a film. His online Artist Series and films are striking in their simplicity—drawing viewers in with fascinating compositions and beautiful scores.

Before you read the interview take a few moments to familiarize yourself with his Artist Series and short films. We’re confident you’ll see that Hillman is not “everyman”— he is a welcomed break from the vapid monotony of humdrum online video.

TDS: You are an interactive designer, filmmaker, writer, and (formerly) rock musician. What has been the common thread for you that runs through these various creative outlets?

CURTIS: Exploration I think. Exploring yourself and the world—working things out. I mean with graphic or interactive design there’s a real need for problem solving and it’s most often concerned with commerce, but everything else becomes a form of personal expression. Richard Avedon once said that his portraits had more to do with him than his subjects. The artist Jim Dine said to me during one of our shoots that all art was self-portraiture. I think that’s what the common thread is.



TDS: Your films are mainly to be experienced via the web. How do the two mediums (film and web) compliment, or oppose, one another?

CURTIS: I think they only complement each other. As long as you keep in mind that very few people are going to want to watch your feature length film online. I think that the best time format for original online film falls somewhere in the 5 to 15 minute range. Of course we all watch feature films via Netflix or iTunes but many of those films were made for, and played first on, the big screen, and when we watch them, we switch into that mode of watching. For my films, films meant specifically for the online community, I accept the fact that more people will watch a 5-minute film than a 20-minute film. I absolutely love that limitation and opportunity. I think there are so many possibilities to tell a rich story in that time frame.



TDS: Has technology changed the way stories are told?

CURTIS: Not at all. Technology is powerful, but it simply can’t touch something as vital as storytelling. It’s still about moving someone and it still is about a character(s) experiencing something, making decisions, and changing as a result.

TDS: Your films tend to be minimalistic in style? Is there intentionality here? What is the philosophy behind this?

CURTIS: I like two characters and a room. It makes it easy to film but challenging to write and I think challenging for the actors. But it’s beautiful when it works and perfect for the web film format (5-15 minutes). I have always leaned toward minimalism in everything I have done. I like to get rid of the extraneous—the beautiful picture that adds nothing or the sweeping dolly shot that gets in the way of the story. If it doesn’t directly support the theme, yank it. I really like Bridge and Embrace—two actors, one location, natural light, good simple script and solid acting.



TDS: What attracts you to the artists that you have interviewed in your Artist Series?

CURTIS: Their work. Someone like James Victore, I can look at his work all day; same with Paula Scher. I have a huge poster of hers in my bedroom. Every morning I wake up and look over at it and am happy. Milton Glaser makes you happy if he just looks at you and really happy if he talks to you. He is the wise man you read about in fables and myths; you feel it in his presence. David Carson is an enigma; he makes beautiful work and is unable to really talk about it. You can take a still frame from any of Mark Romanek’s videos and frame it; the films themselves are brilliant. And Mr. Sagmeister is a wonderful designer and artist, thoughtful and funny—awe inspiring. I could go on, but you get the point.



TDS: What have you learned most from these artists?

CURTIS: To remain curious.

TDS: What life influences most impact your film work?

CURTIS: That’s a great question. I honestly haven’t given it that much thought. I get into certain spaces, where I think about a certain theme and then I am compelled to write about it in script form. It’s not that linear though. I might be lightly vibing on say “change”... I mean in the last year who hasn’t felt approaching change, both good and bad, but necessary? And a few months later I will sit down and start writing a script, maybe without intention or direct intent on the theme of change.

For example I wrote two scripts over the same three or four days. One was Bridge and the other was Circles. We shot them on two consecutive Sundays. Two really different films but both born from the same sense of things changing, and both are ultimately concerned with a sense of change that you feel but don’t really understand.



TDS: Are there any upcoming projects you are working on that you are excited about?

CURTIS: I am almost at rough-cut stage of my first full-length documentary. It’s on David Bryne with Brian Eno. We followed David around on his latest tour, shot a bunch of shows and got great insightful interviews from David, his band, Brian, the dancers and choreographers. (His latest show features modern dancers). It’s looking pretty good so far.

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