Thomas Hindy is a freshman with a passion at Florida State University. Hindy already has a bunch of experience under his belt with his award-winning short film, Framed, and was admitted to FSU’s film school. This week, I had the opportunity to sit down with him and discuss his passion and love for film, Framed and his goals for the future.
Her Campus (HC): When and how did you start becoming involved and interested in film?
Thomas Hindy (TH): My obsession with film started when I was six years old, after my first memorable experience in the movie theater. Since that experience, watching movies allowed me to feel a sense of escapism, and that’s what sparked my ambition to finally start making films. At first, I just made home videos with my brothers, but once I hit middle school, I started making short films. In order to enhance my filmmaking abilities, I would constantly study the craft of filmmaking as well as meet with industry professionals. I live in Atlanta, Georgia so Pinewood Studios is very close to my house.
HC: How did you get your foot in the door with the industry professionals?
TH: Fortunately, since I lived in an area where film was booming, my mother was friends with someone who works in the film industry, and she introduced me to her; Vanessa Wright. I was 12 at the time, so I was able to show her my small short films I had made in the past, and after that Vanessa became a mentor and a family friend. My latest short film Framed was actually showcased and won an award at an international film festival, which Vanessa co-founded, in Atlanta. It was there that I really got the chance to network with more industry professionals. I even got the chance to meet and talk with the cast from the original Nightmare on Elm Street. Vanessa also introduced me to industry professionals she worked with on prior films. Those encounters lead me to build relationships with, and even work for, very trusted industry professionals whom I consider friends.
HC: What inspired Framed?
TH: A majority of the inspiration of Framed has to do with the photo itself. The picture is actually a real hand drawing of my house, given to my parents in 1996 when it was originally built, and growing up I always thought it to be creepy looking. I was always used to the way it looked growing up so eventually when I was interested in making a horror short, the question dawned on me one day: how creepy would it be if something about the frame changed every time you looked at it? After that, I began writing about the changes of the frame, and then it dawned on me again: knowing something was inevitably coming closer and closer to you would be even creepier, thus the shadowy figure was created. I will say some of the ideas/themes of the film are just unexplainable and came to my head naturally because my biggest inspiration ties back to escapism. Framed ends the way it does because I was inspired to shock the audience in a way they didn’t expect.
HC: Did you have a team to help you or did you do everything yourself? If you had a team how did you find and collaborate with them to bring your vision to life? If not, how did you do it all by yourself?
TH: Up until my junior year of high school, it was always just me making my films. Of course, I had the support of my family and friends, including Vanessa, helping with logistics and even staring in my films. However, when it came to the creative vision, I always had to rely on myself. It changed during my junior year of high school when I took a dual enrollment film class at the Georgia Film Academy. It was there that I met other students in my community who loved films just as much as I did, and that’s when I started collaborating with others. I would help them on their films and they would help me on mine, especially Framed. My mother was a huge movie buff, being a child from the 80s, so it was always nice to have a second opinion from someone during a shoot, and once I had my film friends on set I just had more confidence shooting scenes because they would give a third opinion about certain scenes and shots.
HC: What do you expect to gain from FSU’s film school?
TH: I am immensely excited for what’s to come at the College of Motion Picture Arts at FSU. I’m really looking forward to gaining the experience of working and collaborating with 20 other film students. Since I am used to working and collaborating with my family and friends, it’s going to be extremely beneficial finally getting to work with people who are just as passionate about making films as me. I also hope to come out of FSU as a better storyteller.
HC: What are your plans and goals for the future?
TH: As cliché as it sounds, I hope to one day become a famous film director. I have been passionate about making films my entire life, and the sense of escapism I feel while watching films is exactly what I, as a director, want to make audiences feel as well. Lastly, I hope that my films will cause audiences all over the world to spark conversations with one another, inspiring them to use their imaginations to talk about big—complex ideas.
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