Antoinette Wilson

What sparked your initial interest in filmmaking and what was your journey like to becoming a documentary filmmaker?

So mine was a bit unusual. I had 20 years experience in book publishing prior to coming to Happpen Films and I had been on a bit of a journey rethinking my approach to how to live in the world and what was going on in the world. And I became interested in living in community and I happened upon a project that was happening in Victoria, Australia, which was being run by Jordan Osmond, who is the co-founder of Happpen Films, and he was undertaking a project there exploring what it would look like to live within the boundaries of the footprint of one world, humans having a one world footprint.

At the moment people think differently about it but we use the resources of about three to six worlds in terms of what's actually available on earth. And so this was a year-long project, everybody living in, on a community, in a community setting in Victoria and Jordan was filming the whole year. I was a little bit in denial about the fact that it was being filmed.

I was just interested in the project itself and I wasn't very good in front of the camera but over the course of the year it became apparent that I had, from my book publishing background and project management, some good skills to bring to managing that project with Jordan. And he was just learning, he was on the beginning of his journey in filmmaking and project managing the film wasn't something he was remotely interested in. He was interested in being behind the camera and directing and so we realised that we were a really good team and Happpen Films evolved from there.

Wonderful and Happen Films is a very distinct style and focus. Can you trace the evolution of Happpen Films and how its particular approach to storytelling developed?

So both of us came to that project with a deep interest in what it would take to change the trajectory that we're on planet-wide, globally, in terms of how we're living, how we're using the resources of the planet. And so we were interested in exploring that as documentary filmmakers and over the course of Happpen Films evolution we came to see the importance of the stories that we tell and how the stories that we tell as a society in any place in the world, the stories we tell as a society culturally create the trajectory. And the stories that we've been telling ourselves have created the trajectory that we're on now.

And so we became interested in how we could share the stories of people who were trying to change that narrative and that has very much shaped the kinds of stories that we tell. So we focus on people who are making lifestyle changes to lower that footprint, to be more aligned with what the planet can actually sustain. And yes, stories that inspire the rest of us to perhaps make some of those changes ourselves.

That's awesome. And filmmaking can be quite a long and arduous process. How do you sustain the energy through the initial concept right the way through to the delivery?

Yeah, because the initial stages are always, it's always so exciting. You've met someone that you're excited, whose stories you're excited to share. You've got lots of ideas about how you might do that.

And then this is for a longer form film. Yes, there can be a point at which it becomes a bit of a hard slog. We're in the right in the middle of that.

At the moment, we're making an hour and a quarter long feature film. And I would say right now is the hardest bit. And I guess that the way that we keep ourselves kind of motivated, we're really lucky we're a small team.

So it's just me and Jordan, and then we have someone who works with us part time. And we sort of have, I guess, and we, we're really good support for each other. So we're able to sort of talk each other through the really hard bits.

And we bring on people, subcontractors for things like sound design and mixing and colour grading and music composition. And so we have that sort of new energy that comes in from different team members on each project. But we've actually really, I think what's kept us highly motivated, we've been going for 10 years now.

And what's kept us able to stay really motivated is that we've focused on short films. And short films are in the scheme of things, especially I'm realising this right now working on a feature, very easy. It's a short production, it's a short shoot timeframe, it's a short production timeframe.

And you can stay really excited about the message that you're trying to share.

Wonderful. In a world like saturated with like various forms of media and stuff, what do you believe is the unique power and potential for independent documentary filmmaking?

I think it's that, it's that narrative. It's that sort of reconsidering the narrative, the social narrative, that we have always understood to be the way that you live in the world. And we've all, globally, we understand it in different ways according to our cultures.

But there is a very sort of generic narrative that's spread across the planet. Specifically, I guess, since the Industrial Revolution, although that's obviously, that's a big subject in itself in terms of, you know, the genesis of something like that. But I think documentary storytelling has the capacity to, you know, you can walk into a theatre and sit down or, well, all of our films are free to view on YouTube.

So you can sit down in front of your computer and watch the story of a particular person or a group of people and come away thinking, oh, I could do that. And that is incredibly powerful. I think that humans, we're not long-term, we know this about ourselves, well, we've really started to understand this about ourselves, I think.

We're not long-term thinkers. We're very, we can be very individualistic in this modern age. We're not thinking deeply about, you know, the consequences of our actions in generations.

And so to see someone, I think we're, and we don't learn, and we don't necessarily want to change because someone told us some nasty facts. But we do, we are impacted by role modelling. And I feel I did a lot of burning of bridges in my early years of understanding the issues of the world, and I was quite evangelistic.

I didn't have an impact on anyone, I don't think, that I'm aware of. In fact, I think I really probably did some damage. But when I started to just sit back and think, okay, this is how I want to live my life, this is what feels right to me, I became a role model.

And I don't, I'm not looking for who I'm role modelling to, I'm just being, you know, the person who's living in a way that feels aligned with what the planet can sustain. And therefore I become, and I think the more of us who are doing that, and I think when you go into a, into watching a film, and you're inspired by the story of people who are role modelling a different way to be, it has way more impact than being told that this fact or that fact about climate change or biodiversity loss or, yeah.

Totally agree, like, it worked for us. Right. Seeing that kind of stuff really helped us realise we weren't alone in that dream and weren't alone in that kind of ambition, and then, and when you are doing that, it's really important, I find, to see other people also doing that. So, because there's a lot of pressure from the normal world to comply and do things that way. So it's really, I find it really helpful. We will often sit and watch documentaries like yours, just so that we know we're not alone.

Yes.

I think that's really, I totally agree with you there. How do you approach the responsibility of representing other people's stories and experiences on film? That's a big thing to hold.

Yeah, it's an interesting one. Because when we started, we were very, I mean, you know, we were a very basic set up. We had no training.

We're entirely self-taught. George taught himself almost entirely from YouTube and some online courses. So he never went to film school.

He was accepted into film school, but chose not to go into debt in order to have a career. And I was doing a day, a week of editing for a while to sort of sustain us. And then we started doing a little bit from YouTube.

And so I have a strong memory of the drive to our first film shoot, where we had to pull over on the side of the road before we arrived to write down the questions that we were going to ask this couple who had invited us onto their property with no prior knowledge of us. And with us, we had nothing to show them in terms of what we were planning to produce or what we were capable of producing. But here they'd invited us into their lives for two days to share their story on YouTube.

I still think it's extraordinary how unprepared we were and how welcoming they were. And we kept finding that. And I think probably we learned from the people that we were filming with that incredible generosity that people had inviting us into their lives gives you a real sense of responsibility to give back.

So we wanted to really share their stories in a way that, so some of the examples of how we commit to that responsibility, we never put a film up on YouTube that they haven't seen and agreed represents their lives and their message. I'm pleased to say that a lot of the people that we've filmed with who've been filmed by a film crew before have said that they find our presence very gentle on the property. We have a commitment to not leaving any waste and so on, but also just, we don't ask for multiple retakes.

I think people find that quite a relief. We want what we produce to feel very natural and true to the people that we're filming with. And I think that that comes through in the films, but I think it's also very much a part of the experience.

So we're often told that it's been a really lovely experience to be filmed and that means a lot to us.

Yeah, and from my own experience, I know Ben quite well. We were in a men's group together when he was doing the documentary with you and we had nothing but just like really warm stories to tell of the experience and a pride as well. But having his story told, which is I think another thing that happens. You feel proud to be seen for doing what you do and acknowledged. I think it's lovely.

Yeah, that's nice to hear and filming with Ben was very special. That's Ben Bushall of Community Compost in Nelson and the film was Ben and Bertha and it was a film that meant a lot to us to make because we loved Ben's story so much.

Yes, he's a beautiful soul, that one. Happens. Films often showcases communities and individuals who are actively creating positive change and how intentional is that? I think we've probably covered it a bit already.

Yeah, but it's a cool question because it's fully intentional. So we don't make films. We've been through in the 10 years that we've been making films and because, as I say, we've really learnt from scratch and taught ourselves what we're doing.

It's been a process of... So we've been through periods where we've thought, you know, what does our audience want? How many films a year should we be making to meet the YouTube algorithms so that, you know, we get shared as much as possible?

We've been through that stage, I guess I would call it now and we've come out the other end feeling that the films we make, we want them to be intentional and that they are intentionally about people who are creating beautiful change and inspiration in the world and it doesn't matter if they're loved or not. It matters that we've made a film that feels important to us. So a couple of our films have not had very good views at all comparative, you know, we've got one film that's had over 4 million views and we've got one film that's had 10,000 views, not in the same time frame but not only a couple of years out and I don't see the difference.

I think they're both, you know, I think they're both beautiful, they're both about beautiful people who are doing beautiful things but for some reason the algorithm didn't like them or the subject matter wasn't as widely shared because people didn't take to it as much. I don't know why and I actually, I mean I'd love for that film that hasn't been seen so much to be seen more but I'm not gonna, you know, get a hernia trying to work out why.

And sometimes like if a film can be seen by less people but have a deeper impact on a fewer, smaller audience.

You just don't know, you don't know how you've, I mean sometimes it's great when people tell you that they've been impacted and we've been really fortunate to receive a lot of feedback from people who've made major lifestyle changes, left their jobs, left their, you know, left, for example, living in the city to go and live in the country. I'm not saying that that's necessarily what you have to do in order to live more lightly on the planet, I don't think it is, but major lifestyle changes as a result of seeing the films but I don't think it's because they saw one film. I think it's because a bunch of things has happened and if our films are one element of the things that need to happen for people to be able to make a change then we're doing meaningful work.

I definitely agree with that. Like from my own experience, I went to a single George Monbiot talk after a whole raft of things and decided to quit my job in banking and all that kind of stuff the next day, so that definitely can have an impact.

Yes.

What have you learned personally from the people and stories that you've encountered through your filmmaking, do you think?

Oh, so much, so much. I was on a journey, I'd done a permaculture design course and I was prioritising, you know, making priorities about the foods that I was eating and the clothes that I was buying and the, you know, choosing second hand and so on. I was sort of on that journey.

Every single person that we've filmed with has taught us something and cemented the the reasons for making those changes. I've been on a journey to being, I'm hesitant to use the word zero waste because there's no such thing, but I've been transitioning towards zero waste for a few years now and last year, in the course of one year, I put out one rubbish bag which cost $3.60. I was pretty pleased with that. I am only one person, I admit, but I have visitors, but I wouldn't imagine, I mean, we've filmed with people, you know, who are families who've managed that and I find that extraordinarily inspirational.

So those are the things that really sort of impact on me, like what are the things that I can be doing as an individual that might seem like tiny contributions to an enormously overwhelming global problem, but that empower me, that make me feel, you know, empowered. Every single person we've filmed with has had an impact on us in some way and you could call it small, but ultimately it's life-changing.

Awesome. Funding. You mentioned that all your films are free to view on YouTube and films aren't cheap to make and getting funding is really problematic. How do you fund, how do you make a living?

Yeah, it's a journey. Initially we were very committed to living frugally and in a low-impact life and that does, a low-impact life doesn't really require a lot depending on how you go about it. So we did live on very little for a long time and then we decided that we wanted to build a home.

Jordan and I were a couple for eight years of the ten. We're separated now and Jordan lives in Australia and I live in New Zealand, which somehow works. We're still great friends and great colleagues and so our needs have sort of changed as happens.

Fortunately, over that time, we've found different ways for Happen Films to earn money and enough for us to both work full-time. So it's a variety of ways and I love this because it's sort of not having all your eggs in one basket. We have a little bit of YouTube income.

We earn about an inch of a cent per film and we would love to take the ads off our films. Someone once got in touch about a film on organic gardening and said it's a great film. It was a shame about the Monsanto ad at the beginning and of course we can't control the ads and so yeah, we would love to take the ads off but I have to acknowledge that that has enabled us to keep making films for each of you on YouTube.

And then we have Patreon. We have a beautiful group of people, some of whom have supported us on Patreon for seven or eight years. That sort of comes and goes with the economic roller coaster that we live on.

And then we have quite a lot of people just send us donations because they've seen a film that has really impacted them and that's always a beautiful thing. And then the thing that's really kind of kept us going for the last five years has been an extraordinary gift of philanthropic support from a trust based in Wellington and over the course of five years they've supported us. They committed three years ago to a hundred thousand dollars a year for three years.

That comes to an end this year so the future of Happen Films is a little bit shady but we've just been very fortunate that I think timing wise people, a lot of people see the importance of the message that we're sharing and they want to support that and so we've been able to avoid the bureaucratic nightmare of funding applications from big organisations that then want some control over the films you make. So the Biome Trust who've supported us for the last five years one way or the other have never asked for any directorial contribution.

They've never asked to see a film before it's come out. They've never asked for any direction in the kind of films we make or the subject that we cover. It's, they call it a gift and it is an incredible gift and that's the future of, that's how I would love to see the future of philanthropy.

I mean it's, that's to me is genuine philanthropy. They trust us to make the kinds of films that they want to support and that's been, so that's really what's kept us going. The future I'm not sure.

We don't want to go down that road of funding applications being the thing that you spend all your time doing rather than finding creative energy to make a new film so we'll see.

The term trust has come up quite a bit with regards to funding and with regards to subject matters. How, and there's obviously like a lot of manner in what you're doing, how do you find sort of building up that trust with a person you're interviewing with over that long period of time? How do you go about that or is it just happen because of the nature of what you do?

I think there's a, our good fortune is that we now have 41 films on our YouTube channel so we have, so when we approach someone and ask them if they'd be interested in sharing their story through our channel, they've got this big sort of resource of films to be able to see how we approach filmmaking. So that's, we're lucky with that now that people sort of want to share their story through our channel. But having said that we, so most of our films are short films and we spend two to three days on a property with someone so it's not a long drawn out sort of production and that means that we often get to actually just have fun.

It's actually just a really fun, enjoyable two or three days with people that, you know, who are excited to share their story with us. So, but for a longer production it's a little bit different. So the feature film we're working on at the moment is about a family that we've actually filmed with three times for short films and we're now making a feature film because we think that they're very special.

They've been an enormous inspiration for us and for that one George actually lived on property for six months and came away with 60 hours of footage which I logged laboriously but also with great joy because it's, I think this film will be really, really beautiful. So he's filmed, he's shot 60 hours of absolutely stunning footage and that process was very special for him because he was a part of their lives and they loved having him there and he loved being there so it'll be quite special for that reason.

And for young people who want to go down this track of making these sorts of films, what sort of key pieces of advice would you offer them?

I think you come to documentary filmmaking, well I hope, because you have a sort of an innate curiosity about the human condition, about what makes us tick, what we're, yeah what we're contributing to the world. So I think that you come to it with, most people must come to it with a sort of a, yeah that curiosity and that interest. So in terms of advice I think I, I mean I think what, Happen Films is a little bit different because we haven't come through the film industry, we haven't been trained in the industry.

There's a great benefit to being trained in the industry because you make connections and obviously you learn great things but you can actually, you can, I think Jordan in particular has proven that you can learn without going through film school. My advice would be to try to come to it without too many rules around how you approach filmmaking. So by all means take all of the benefits of film school, of film school or all of the amazing online courses for filmmakers and then try and get out of the box.

I think that we can too easily just do everything the way we're told to do it and it's a time in history when actually rethinking that notion works and there's, it's an incredible time. We could never have done what we do 20 years ago. You can get second-hand gear really cheaply, you can upload to YouTube for free, the world is your oyster and you don't have to be sucked into this mode of doing everything that requires a lot of money and a lot of rules and ideas around how it's done.

So come to it with that notion that you're free to do what you want to do.

Yeah, totally agree. I think quite often it's the outliers that make the most interesting work, the people who haven't gone through the formal education. That's awesome. And what particular stories or themes are you sort of currently really passionate about exploring next with future films?

Mmm, we're really interested in looking in a focus on the village and localisation. I feel this is a really important subject for all of us to be thinking about, like how can we bring everything back to our community and I don't mean necessarily living in community, I mean our neighbourhood, our wider town or city or region, what can be done locally for us to have more resilience in the face of the things that are coming economically, weather-wise, socially. And that's something that we really want to focus on, it feels very important to us at the moment.

Relocalisation, community resilience, personal resilience, I'm really interested in how the work that we do on ourselves to be better communicators and to be healthy, how that impacts on local resilience because we really do have a lot of work to do I think around how we communicate with each other and our personal health, our personal health and wellbeing.

And lastly, just before we go, how do people keep in touch with what's happening with Happen Films and where can they see your work?

Oh thank you for asking. So we have a website, happnfilms.com and we have a YouTube channel with the same name and we have Facebook and Instagram of course. And we also, for local listeners, we have a film screening coming up at the wonderful Ruby Bay store which is Ben and Bertha, which we talked about briefly before, and The Rubbish Trip which is a wonderful couple in Wellington who are zero-waste heroes of mine.

It's on Sunday 11th of May at 3.30pm at the Ruby Bay store.

Wonderful, thank you very much for that, it's been a pleasure.

Thanks for having me, it's been a lovely journey.