“It’s all just one film to me. Just different chapters.”
-Robert Altman
Since we met as kids, we’ve been planning a movie.
At age 11, obsessed with World War II, we set out to make a sprawling epic about an airforce pilot trapped in enemy territory, and his brother—an army soldier—on the front lines in Europe. We tested, schemed, practiced, plotted, and obsessed.
Sound like when you fell in love with making movies? It’s not an uncommon beginning, but it certainly set a precedence.
From that day forward, we’ve been working. We’ve grown, pushed ourselves, learned technique after technique, trade after trade, and lesson after lesson: from our war short film as high school freshmen, to our heist film the following year, to our feature film in college, and on, and on.
We’ve been a filmmaking duo. Everyone who’s ever met both of us knows this to be true. We’ve driven each other forward when the going gets tough, and shared in celebration when things work out just as we’d planned.
From our childhood beginning, there was never a choice: we would make movies together. Whether we were off at separate colleges, traveling, working respective jobs and trying to climb the industry ladder, it worked. This is the power of dreams, and the foundation of ShoHawk.
Filmmaking is less of a job than it is a lifestyle. Most filmmakers we’ve met are completely obsessive and love what they do. It’s too competitive and downright difficult to be anything but voluntary. It’s not the type of occupation you tentatively approach.
Through the years, we’ve stayed with it. We’ve had to grow thick skin and handle every shade of rejection, while balancing that with those brief moments of triumph. We’ve come to a place where we understand how much of this is just simple practice and hard work.
That realization keeps our eye on the prize: make stuff we love, help it find its audience, and keep growing as artists and producers.
We’ve made films, and watched projects fall apart. We’ve made and lost money. But, we’ve never stopped, and we’re here now to share our process, lessons, continuing experiences, and most of all, our work with all of you!
So have a look around, get comfortable, and help us build the future for filmmakers everywhere.
Welcome to ShoHawk!
Michael + Chris