Today we’d like to introduce you to Mitch McLeod.
Mitch, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up with a passion for acting, beginning in my early years of Elementary when I did my first play (I played a rat). That passion lingered with me over the years and I did theaters both in school plays and local theaters until graduating high school, where I then began work on my first few film projects as an actor.
In my late teens I was introduced to two filmmakers, David Lynch and Darren Aronofsky, who changed my view on what films could be. Watching videos of them working on set was an amazing experience and I realized quickly that that was the world that I wanted to be a part of. I put acting to the side and I began focusing strictly on writing and working on as many sets as I could to learn the ropes.
Film school was something that never factored into my life, both fortunately and unfortunately.
My film school was a feature film I set out to make in 2012 called “Novella”. It was an ambitious move on my end, having never even made a short and having no formal education on the subject. Nothing happened with that film, but I learned a lot, developed my craft, and met several people who I still work and collaborate with to this day.
I made my second feature film, “ARC: A Love Story” for a meager budget of $2000 which lead, surprisingly, to a decent festival run and distribution through Summer Hill Films.
A couple of years ago now I made a short film, “Birthday Girl”, which I can probably credit for really introducing myself to the Dallas scene. It’s a short film I have grown to be quite proud of as I believe it sparked my evolution as a filmmaker, but it was also a demonstration to myself that I still have a lot to learn.
All of these films were made for little to no money, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to have done them as I believe that the circumstances created challenges that forced me to improve myself at every turn. The process of growth from these three projects led me to create my latest feature “Silhouette”, which is currently in post-production and marks my first experience having anything even resembling a budget with which to make it.
Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t think it’s possible to travel down a smooth road when you choose filmmaking as your life.
From knowing who to trust, to occasional self-doubt, to financial restraints, to the sacrifices made to pursue the craft, it’s never easy. Filmmaking, particularly directing, forces you to make a million decisions a minute and you’ll always wonder if you made the best one, even after looking at the final version and being satisfied.
Even with the greats, that fear is always there. I remember reading an article about Martin Scorsese, who discussed being extraordinarily nervous about shooting a scene in Goodfellas. If I remember correctly, it was the legendary “Funny how” scene with Joe Pesci and Ray Liotta, but even if it wasn’t it amazes me to think about the fact that this man could still be nervous about anything after a consistent two decades of making wonderful films.
That, to me, has always been the biggest struggle. Even if it turns out well in the end, how could I have made it better? And you always wonder.
And money. Money is always a big factor. It’s both a blessing and a curse, because having a budget is great, but having limited resources forces you to be creative in ways you may have otherwise not chosen to be. “Silhouette” was my first experience with having any money to make a film, but it’s nice because it was still limited enough that I was forced to experiment at times.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
My film production company is called Absentia Pictures. I founded it in 2013 and have served as a writer, director, and producer on my own films and the films of other local Dallas filmmakers.
I would be lying if I said I have a real idea of what we are known for. Hopefully it will be the quality of our work.
I’m extremely proud that the work we have done has truly been what we have wanted to do. In today’s industry, it seems like a lot of people focus on what will make a quick buck rather than focusing on doing something they are truly passionate about, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. But the downside is that terms like “passion project” seem like they have become dirty words. I don’t see why you can’t have a “passion project” that is also marketable and designed to be something that can be successfully distributed. I can say that I have stuck to my guns and, while the success may have come slower than some, it has arrived and on my own terms. I’m very proud of that.
The people with whom I have produced projects with, or otherwise assisted, have done the same. There aren’t many films I have worked on that I am not proud to have been involved with, and that’s a really great feeling. We have found a way to be business-minded while still creating from the love and passion of the art itself
At the end of the day, I hope Absentia Pictures will be synonymous with great films, something in the vein A24, which I feel is the best company in the business right now when it comes to releasing quality work.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Dallas, like most things, has its pros and its cons when it comes to filmmaking. There are a lot of passionate and talented people here who I have been proud to call friends and collaborators. Filmmaking is a collaborative process and I would be nowhere without the people I work with regularly. I think when people forget that it is collaborative and try to make it a one man show they lose sight of the goal and it falls apart. This city has brought me in touch with these people who I love working with so I am grateful to have started out here and met them.
I do believe that Dallas is a great place to start out. With the amount of projects that get made in this city you will almost always be able to find a crew to work on that will help you gain the experience necessary to move ahead. As I mentioned earlier, that was how I began to figure it out. Dallas crews, from other people’s sets to my own, were my film school.
Dallas’ greatest shortcoming, which has been discussed thoroughly for a long time now, is its tax incentives program, which doesn’t encourage people to come here for larger scale productions. Being a director who has yet to do a Union film, I’m hardly effected by it to a great extent but the effects are still felt. I wish we could be more effective in implementing those incentives so that Dallas could evolve into the market we all know it can be.
Maybe one day.
Contact Info:
- Email: absentiapictures@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/absentia_mitch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MitchMcLeod21
- Other: https://vimeo.com/171664295
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