Thanks for joining us. I'm Candace Block, your host for this episode, and today I'm chatting with the award-winning filmmaker Cedric Hill. Cedric is a seasoned creator for both theater and film, and has worn many hats such as production manager, writer, actor, director, production company, founder, executive producer, and even associate professor.

Several of his projects have won awards, including earlier this year. His short film, noisy that among many other festival awards, took home Best Short at the American Pavilion of Emerging Filmmakers at the 2022 Can Film Festival. Today we're gonna learn more about how noisy went from concept to can. So welcome to the podcast, Cedric.

Hello. It is a pleasure to finally meet you.

  there's clearly so much we can chat about given your multifaceted career. But for this episode we're gonna focus mostly on your  short, noisy, and its journey. So to begin that story,  I'd love to hear a little bit first about your own story. Um, you're involved with both stage and screen.

Can you give us some background about how all of that began?

Um, yeah, my undergrad, I thought I was gonna act and then. . I graduated and said, nah, I want to tell more of the story. So I studied studying, directing formally, while I was a stage hand. So I got to,  create productions and study theater direction. Um, formally, I apprenticed with  four pretty well known directors.

 and it took wow I app apprenticed and studied for about a good six seven.  they were all old school teachers, so I said, I'm a director. They're like, you are the person who watches and takes notes. And I said, okay. So, yeah, and being a stage hand, I was working in, uh, was a local one stage hand in New York and we got an overhire call from ABC and I saw the start of a TV show and I said, wow, this is amazing.

And then I went through the, um, the PA program and made a. And worked my way up and started studying. I said, I wanna study film direction. They're like, great. Go study landscape photography for a year. I said, I said, wait, we're gonna do this again. They're like, new platform, same process. I said, ah, love of God.

So it was landscape photography for a year. Then it was audible storytelling for another year and a half, and then they let me pick up a film direct.  and then, you know, from the maid in New York, I was able to shadow some, um, pretty incredible directors. And now I am, as they would say in the old tongue, a formerly trained director in film and theater.

And that took only 11 years.

sounds like you really have a solid foundation and paid your dues, and you

Uh, yeah. Um, it's, uh, I had great teachers who demanded that I do this the right way and not say, Hey, I study a book, I'm a director. They're like, no, you're gonna actually learn this craft as a craft. And so thankful. Very thankful, which is one of the reasons why I'm teaching now.

That's awesome. Um, so getting into,  noisy more specifically you, which you wrote, produced and directed. Um, I had the privilege of watching the short before our interview today, but for those who haven't seen it, can you give listeners a quick synopsis or, or teaser even about what it's

Um, it is, it's a simple boy meets girl story, uh, on a New York City subway that is loud and angry. And aggressive. And you know, the tagline is sometimes you need a noisy place to have a . Quiet conversation.

  it takes place in a very pre pandemic city. So  how long ago was noisy?

Noisy was made right before the pandemic. Um, yeah. I literally, we made noisy and the pandemic happened.

Well, um, yeah, and it takes place on a subway car, there's lots of people around as well.  is it something you think you would've been able to do in the pandemic or at all?

Uh, we would've, but we still, we wouldn't have gotten the same flavor and feel, um, the characters could have done what they did, even with masks, but not actually, they couldn't have done it with masks. I mean, half of their communication is in their face.

Mm.

uh, pandemic? No. , I don't think. We'll,

Well, so the good thing you had it, you got it done before, before everything shut down. Um, so yeah, the, the film centers on like, um, a deaf character and, and using ASL and, and all of that. Um, so can you walk us through your casting decisions and how you ended up with who you did as the leads?

we, uh, I got 500 submissions. I auditioned 200 people and it came down to three people. The two people, they walked in the room together and I was like, and we're done. Good for us.

Chemistry,

It was, it was a long process.

Mm-hmm. , but while, as we can see from your foundation, you know, sometimes takes time to do it right. And  lay that foundation.  do you, uh, use sign language or speak sign language or how did you, um, have the inspiration to

the inspiration was actually coming home from. Um, I live, you know, I've lived in New York, but now I lived right across in Jersey, so I'm taking a bus home and the bus was crowded and a couple walked on and the husband let the wife sit down and she wrapped her hands around his body and she put her face in her stomach.

But what I noticed was her hands, that they were so tense, that all the veins were popping out, and she literally looked like she was holding onto the world and he leaned back and he signed something. I can't even remember the sign, but I remember his face. I remember his physicality, and when he did that, it was her hands and they immediately relaxed and got soft and she just held on and put her head in the stu.

I said, yeah, I'm watching these people. So arguably I did go a little bit past my natural stop by seven just to watch her hands. They never.

wow.

Uh, so I got the idea and then the story, the story had been, I guess it had been sitting in my head and I was on the phone. One of the producers, I'm like, hold on, I gotta write something.

So while um, the producer,  Pandora was over the phone, I wrote Noisy. It just kind of came out. I was like, all right, here it is. Read it. And from that draft, Uh, I think we changed two words.

Oh wow. . that's great to see that, you know, people watching is a great inspiration. I know lots of people do that. And it's a wonderful,  place to find some great ideas for stories cuz there are stories happening all around us all the time.

Well, what we liked about Noisy. It's a very simple story. It's just boy, it's girl on a train. They talk and that's it.

Yeah. . Well, so very simple, but what was, um, what was the production process like for this film? And also, um, why did you choose to have it in black and white?

I wrote it in black and white.

Ooh, okay.  in your mind, you just saw it as a

And so yeah, when I write stories, they're in the color that, that I'm writing them in. So some stories are in black and white, some stories are a natural color, some stories are oversaturated. But I write what I see in my head.

Oh, that's,

Now, uh, dyslexia was an issue in school.

And now look at what I do for a living. Perfect. Like I see everything. They're all images. It works out. Um, black and white is also because if you've been in a New York City subway, it's hot, it's steamy, especially in the summer. And sometimes you're tired and you, you not off a little bit and you wake up and you think you see something, but you're not. because you know, the door could open and they could leave, or something will shift and then you can't see anymore. So they wanted it to look like a dream.

Oh, okay. So a little bit of a dream-like quality as well.  how'd you get that done? Um, was it, did you like, just, just gorilla style, get in there where there's any permitting? Did you get extras to fill some key seats or anything?

Like how did that work?

to fill key seats. Um, I have a very creative interpretation of the rules of shooting on the New York City subway.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, we did have a permit. We did have insurance, both railroad and liability insurance, so  I did have a provisional permit, so I was permitted. I don't know if it just creative interpretation of the law of New York.

yeah.

If you are shooting on a public building or street, if you know, if you don't have dominant access of the space, you can shoot without a permit. Um, the NTA runs the subway, but the land of the subway on belongs to New York City. So technically I was all on city property.

Well, yeah. I mean, hey, this is a creative art and you're using all creative interpretations.

um, yeah, but we had a few extras, but everyone else. Let's just going to Coney Island.

Okay. That's great. Did you have any issue, or how many takes did it, uh, take?

We shot 14, takes

Okay. 14. Yeah. And how long was that? Just one full day.

one, seven and a half hours on the subway. We would ride all the way down until it became sun, and then we'd ride it back and ride the car the same direction and some of the shots, um, because we figured out the timing of the. We actually were sitting still and we had a light outside and we were flashing it at the same height of

Oh, okay. . So some, some creative, uh, adjustments there to, to

yeah, we had bounces in inside, um, but nothing was dominant. So literally it was like everybody was on the subway and New Yorkers are cool, so they didn't pay attention

Mm-hmm. . Yeah,

Um, right, but Valentina, who shot at, um, genius moves, uh, glimmer glass and the mist, frost filters made everything sparkle. And instead of being on a, you know, anything that was a stabilizer, she shot it on a monopod  So instead of it being stable, we let the train move. Like if you were sitting watching this happen, move with it.

 So,  once this was done and you created it all and everything, um, how many festivals did you submit it?

I 65.

Wow, okay. That's . That's quite a lot. I know. Not, not a lot of people can, can even afford, uh, or, you know, have the

When I was originally doing this, um, our executive producer, uh, Danny bti, I said, look, we need money for the movie, but we need money for the festivals. That's part of our distribution package. Um, so it was budgeted into our project that we would need X amount of money for festivals. We need X amount of money for music Royal.

So we were, it was well thought out. Um, and the sound, actually, the sound, the designer for, uh, arrival, uh, worked at my graduate program and no, he said, you know what you have to do? He says, turn up the base on everything, like much louder than you would because the vibrations will be stronger. So all of the music has been altered.

The base levels are higher, not in a way that would alter the music, but when it comes through a speaker, you can feel

 cool. That's,

underlying sound is actually the recording of the day we did backwards.

oh, It's interesting.

 we played with everything.



so how, uh, how did you feel when you found out that it was, uh, accepted at can the, you know, the, the very well known  can Festival.

 my editor had come down to visit cuz he works in both New York and la so he drove down with his daughter cuz they were gonna do a cross country trip. And I said, oh, we got a, got a message for the festival. I think I did something wrong. I have to call him. He's like, call him.

Like, no, I'm scared.

that's like getting called down to the principal's office. You don't know if you won an award or you're getting expelled.

I had no idea what it was, and then he took off and then I made the call. They're like, oh no, you're in the festival. And I had to sit down. Then I had to call him and he had to pull over. He. Slammed on the brakes when I told him and he's like, he's like, what? I said, yep.

That's so exciting.

And then we called the whole team and they're like, stop it.

I was like, shit, I guess we gotta go to France.

Yeah. So, yeah. So you went, I, I, I

Right? We went through the accreditation process, which is cool cuz Ken sends you a little letter saying, and it's just their own personal visa, like, be nice to these people. They're a part of our festival.

Aw

It was, it was a surreal experience. I maybe had four hours of free time

Okay. Well, I mean, I know we'd love to hear more about that experience. Um, obviously it's much different from other festivals, uh,

It is not like any other festival on the planet.

Yeah. So can you tell us some of the differences that you noticed, cuz I, I, I'm sure you've been to other festivals beyond this one.

um, one, it is, there are rules, like the dress code is a real.

Hmm.

 We actually hired a publicist. He's like, you're gonna need one. I'm like, for what? They're like, you'll see.

Yeah.

And he lined up all of our itinerary, all the parties, all the events, and he said, make sure you were never seen in the same outfit twice.

Our publicist was Josh Mitchell. Yay to Josh. Um, hopefully Josh will help us. Uh, we just submitted a Sundance because of the, We couldn't, um, do a run for this year, but we can get into Sundance. We're, we're doing the Oscar run

 The dress code. We, we dressed, uh, my editor said, I just spent $2,000 just to go to this damn festival. What are you talking about? When we went. . Um, I got surprised and I didn't really understand. I came out of my hotel and there were photographers taking pictures. All right. Paparazzi is annoying after like five to 10 years, but now still really, really cool

Yeah,

to have a bunch of people take your picture for

fun, celebrity experience. Yeah.

no.

Um, it was great. My, my partner and I, she, we would walk down the street and she's definitely more attractive than I am and they would stop and take our pictures. , and this is before we won, so I was very confused. Then when we won, it was a whole different, um, thing. Uh, the red carpet, the premieres are the most terrifying things in the world.

They're 200 photographers, cameras, unit tuxedo. Tuxedo shoes are notoriously slippery.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it was an.

Well, it's a good, a good, uh, initial experience if, uh, as, as you continue to do work, you may be at a bigger and bigger award shows more often, so

You know, I don't think they get bigger than this one. This one was huge. I mean, I, you know, went to the palace and they said, you know, we spent $21 million a year on this festival.

Wow.

It is, France is not kidding. Um, I, I felt incredibly.  in the city. Um, they also had patrols of six and seven military walking through the streets.

But they were cool.   the food, oh, the only problem is you could spend the entire time and just eat the food and you'd be just,

Mm-hmm. . . So yeah, a wonderful experience no matter what, whether you win or not, but then you did

just, uh, well first of all, I didn't realize it was a big deal that we're screening cuz we didn't know that we were in a juried category. We just thought we were screening. So we screened. They're like, can you stay on stage? We're like, what for? And they announced the winner. And this is an actual quote and they said, and the winner is for best nower.

Short, noisy. I turned to Daniel, who's my editor. Who were they talking about? He says, I don't know. I said, should we run? He says, I think we should. Um, my girlfriend, she has it recorded, but it's hysterical. We're like, what are they talking about? I don't know.

Aw, that that true, that classic baffles that you won,

we were so baffled. We were like, and everybody else was like, oh, we knew you were gonna win.

We're like, we, we had no clue.

Mm-hmm. , do you think that was better than expecting it so that you were completely, you didn't have time to have nerves before? Or do you know what I mean? Like, was it nice to just kind of organically be like, nothing's gonna happen, and then when it does you're like, oh, what a surprise.

what a surprise. Yes. Um, I've been on stage and been teaching, so I'm used to it, so that doesn't really, but it just felt good for me to be surprised. There's a picture of us walking off of the beach after they did a photo shoot. Favorite shoot of the whole. Because we cannot stop laughing like so wait a minute.

I picked up the phone. I said, Hey, we're gonna make a movie. And then we went to Can, and he said, that's how it rolls with you. I said, that's what we do now.

Wow. That's crazy. Well, I mean, I'm sure those, those pictures are, are fantastic because you're just radiating with joy at that point.

Yeah. I'll send you the picture after we're, after we're done. It's, it's a pretty fun picture.



And we're going back next year. We already started planning. We're like, knock it off. We're going back.

Well, that's amazing. And you know, you know, you'll be prepared for all the food and the clothes and everything as well, and.

I'm gonna go a week early or stay a week later just to eat.

 I know that listeners have enjoyed hearing how truly that it really does live up to that being this extra level

Oh, it was so

a festival.

A lot of work. Um, a lot of work. Um, you can go there and just have fun, but it's a wasted opportunity. A lot of work a. Business cards, a lot of talking, um, a lot of weeding through people who are, who got in, who were . Accredited, but  They're there for the experience, but it's, you know, one of the biggest sales markets in the world.

So business is being done.

Right? Yeah. A fantastic networking opportunity. You're there with the creme Derem

Yes.  

Well, speaking of the next event, um, what are some of the things you're working on next?

 We have a short, short that just came out and it is six awards deep,

Hmm.

um, called Savage. We have a feature called Two Peas in a Pod, which is in its final. Yeah, it just needs its final mix. Uh, it's a feature, it's a short feature, 72 minutes about sexual assault in a marriage,

Hm.

um, documentary about Eric Honor's mother.

So I got a couple of

Yeah, a lot, a lot coming up. Uh, when you, when you say we, just to double check, um, are you talking about to and fro your production company?

To and fro. Um, Savage is strictly to and fro, um, what is it? Two P's is to and fro and Ballad of a Black Mother is a collaboration between two and Fro or Cedric Hill Productions, however you want to list it. Um, my, my, the company that I use when it's just me working and, um, Brad. Who won the student Oscars in 2007 17.

Yeah, so hopefully we'll do another one. Hopefully the next interview is like, Hey, how was the Oscars? It was wonderful.

That's true. Yes. Uh, could, could we have you back on when, when you win an Oscar so we can chat

you could not keep me away.

Okay. Excellent. .  Also, I, I know that  you're teaching now as well. Is that something that you had been doing for a while or is that

Um, I've taught a class here. I've taught a class there. I never thought I was, I had enough practical knowledge and experience to teach full time. Um, but this year I was like, I think I'm ready. And the minute I came to teach is when it, my life completely exploded. I said, I guess I.

for you? Yeah.

Yeah, no, it was, it's perfect.

So now you know the information is relevant. Um, the only thing I have to make sure I do is keep working. So we're shooting another feature in December during my break. So I try to keep it busy.

It sounds, sounds like it. Yeah. Taking on quite a lot. But you know, you got these ideas and stories that need to be tell told, Do you have any advice for filmmakers or storytellers in general? Cause I know you're, it's beyond film, the stuff that you do.

um, Um, biggest advice I can give to any creative is don't be able to, don't be afraid to fail. Fail, fail often. Fail big.

Mm-hmm.

that's when you really discover. If you did it right the first time, you probably didn't do it right. So fail and realize it's, we don't live in a montage world, like we don't do the montage and then we get to be a filmmaker.

You get, you gotta spend the time, and the time is great because the time is really what you know, informs you of what kind of artist you are. Don't look at the times like, oh, it's so much time. Enjoy it. Enjoy making things, enjoy  making things that are just for you. Enjoy things that are artistic because then you get to a certain level and it has to generate revenue, and it stops becoming about solely the art.

And there's a financial component. So enjoy it. Um, make the beautiful things. Cause you know, I've done commercials in tv, but the thing that has brought me the most joy, the most prestige is NOIs. It's like a combination of all of it. A 10 minute nuggets like, so you wanna know how I make movies? Here you go. All the information you need to know right there.

Well, that's great. That is some fantastic, uh, wisdom you're passing along from all of your, uh, years of experience and everything. So thank you again, so, so much for, for chatting with us today. If anyone wants to learn more about you, uh, or your work, where can they go online to

Oh, um, you know, of course go to imdb or you can go to Ced hill.us. Or Instagram, which is chill 27 72. Um, I gotta thank my parents for my first name and my last name cuz my email addresses are always cool as hell.

That's true. Yeah, because with Cedric and Hill it's definitely, it's got chill right in there. I noticed that as well. It's very, very cool. I am jealous,

Yeah, my, my parents thought at thought at event. So even at school my email address is chill. One su dot ed.

That's so cool. 

Oh no, it's mine.

We will put all this stuff in the show notes as well. But, um, thank you again and congratulations again on, on the Win. Noisy was wonderful and I'm looking forward to seeing what else happens with it and, and hopefully more and more people will be able to see it, uh, easily very soon.

Yes, and I just joined Women in Film, so

Well,  welcome to the Wif family.

 it's been a real pleasure.

It's been a pleasure as well.