Today we’d like to introduce you to Tevvon Hines.
Hi Tevvon , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always loved stories in all forms. I basically grew up in front of the TV and loved to read and write. I remember creating short skits with friends for our school presentations in English class and performing them. A few of these became video projects that were uploaded for YouTube. I always had a lot of fun making those skits in middle school and loved sharing and rewatching the outcome. I think that process got me more into filmmaking – but that as a career hadn’t clicked for me yet. I made close friends who were writing and creating for YouTube and they let me tag along and join in on their process. That’s when I started to understand that people did this kind of creating for a career and I changed my major at from business accounting / economics and joined the Media Arts department where I started to learn about cinema and production. I got into groups where I was able to bounce between different roles including Director. When I graduated from UNT it was in the middle of COVID. Our production classes were moved online and the industry was slow to get back on its feet. A mentor of mind suggested I look into graduate film programs. I applied to about few schools including Syracuse and after a kind of messy interview process I got in. I moved to NY in 2021 where I was able to fully immerse myself into studying indie filmmaking and art/cinema history. I created a few short projects that did okay on the festival circuit and since graduating this past Spring, I’m now focused on making my own personal work and helping others produce their film/video projects as well.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There’s definitely been some bumps and quite a few things I had to learn the hard way because I can be a bit stubborn. COVID is one of the first things that come to mind. I think a lot of people in working and college at that time can relate. You have just expected their journeys to be different and have everything mapped out in your head. Then the world just comes to a stop and you have to adjust.
I’m a super hands on and visual learner so learning about technical things like camera, lights, and set etiquette didn’t stick for me in that format. It all made me feel very behind my peers who I already felt like were ahead of me because I was so late to the game transferring in.
Moving my life to the NY was tough, I struggled being away from friends/family and it was such a culture shock for me that first year being there even though I was just in a different part of America. I have also always been an introverted person and I had to learn how to come out of that to create relationships and ask for the things I felt were needed for me to be successful there.
For a longtime, I was trying to work the same way as people I admired and I had to learn that I could make work from a process and on a scale that was personal to me. When I discovered that is when the most growth came. I love the work so I always found some way to persevere through all of the challenges. I’m a better artist because of those experiences.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a indie filmmaker. I have trained in film directing and cinematography. I am very hands on; I like to write, shoot, produce, and direct. I specialize in short film because allows me to do all of those things on a scale that I can manage. along with the help of my friends, family, and collaborators.
Central to my artistic practice has been creating dramatic confrontations with morality, fear, and isolation. I create works that observe and deconstruct the personal and interpersonal traumas of very isolated characters and contrast their struggles with images that evokes a sense of community, connection and spirituality. In my writing, I create narratives that place characters in dramatic situations of extreme vulnerability that force them to confront a suppressed feeling, emotion and desire. I then work with actors and other filmmakers to bring these stories to life and then share them with the world.
At this point, I’m most proud of my work in graduate school – I directed 4 short films in the time. Two (bitter/sweet and Nightfall) have had some festival success and it just feels great to share the work. During that time, I’ve also been the Director of Photography and producer for a number of films which I am also really proud of.
I think what sets me apart from others now is the combination of elements I bring from project to project. I typically work with Black leads and am now creating more fantastical and surreal-ish stories. I think Southern Culture is also really big for me and I love including those cultural references in my work. In my next films I want to push this even further.
What were you like growing up?
I moved around a lot, my family was always on the move. I’ve bounced from Texas, to Central Louisiana, to North Carolina, back to Texas. I think this forced me to re-examine myself a lot in terms of my identity and also made me a bit introverted. I wasn’t super outgoing but I could talk to people pretty well because I had so many interests. I played well with others but equally enjoyed alone time where I could sit with my own thoughts.
I was a big reader and writer. I loved fantasy stories (fairytales, Harry Potter, etc.). I loved superheroes or anything with magic. I would try to create my own short books out of construction paper and bring them to school to share with my class. I loved history and English and learning new words. I’ve always loved to laugh, joke, and play with language. I was always fond of absurdist humor (a la SpongeBob) and sit-coms.
I grew up immersed in Southern Black culture (films, tv, music.) My family played a huge part in that just by what they put on around the house and I would just soak it all in. My older brother got me into a lot of my favorite rap artist and introduced me to movies I probably shouldn’t have been watching so young. I remember staying up and watched the Matrix trilogy together when I was like six. The first one is still one of my all time favs and introduced me to cyberpunk and punk culture. I think my pre-teenage self embraced that and I immersed myself in a lot of indie and alternative media and spaces.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tevvon.com
- Instagram: @tevvon
Image Credits
These are BTS photos taken by friends that I have been given permission to use
