Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris von Hoffmann.
Hi Chris, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My first obsession as a child was always movies and filmmaking. However, when I reached high school, I began pursuing theater acting. I was in all the plays and musicals. I even had a couple of duets. When I graduated high school, I hit the pavement in New York City, where I studied for one year at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts. It was here that I learned the harsh realities of stringing a career in show business. Afterward, I continued auditioning for plays all over New York. One of the plays I acted in was even promoted in Conan O’Brien’s opening monologue twice back in 2009. Eventually, I became more comfortable being behind the camera directing versus being on stage acting. So I made a 24-minute short film, Vodka 7, shown to a 70-person crowd at The Producer’s Club in NYC. Then one week later, I drove out to Los Angeles by myself to start a new chapter in my pursuit of screenwriting and film directing. Over the next several years, I created a network of collaborators, made a dozen short films, secured representation, made three distributed features, and have been pushing the snowball up the hill ever since.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing has ever been smooth, to be honest. I would be pretty shocked if anyone professionally pursuing the creative arts would find their path to be smooth. It’s an everyday grind. The creative arts are quite possibly the most misunderstood profession one could conjure up. Regardless if you are an actor, writer, director, singer, musician… Unless you are doing exactly that, it’s impossible to understand what one goes through and the psychological damage and personal sacrifice it can take to create something from nothing. So as far as struggles? The biggest struggle I find is how to deal with the army of haters daily. Whenever you spill your emotional guts into something, you’ll inevitably get a lot of heat from people, especially if you’re trying to be innovative in any way, whether it’s critics, trolls on the internet, rivals in the business, relatives, friends of friends, etc. Misery loves company. You have to tune them out and keep plowing forward because, one day, you might blow people’s minds.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a screenwriter, director, producer, editor, and (sometimes) blogger. The two things I’m known for the most are screenwriting and directing. Anyone who knows me knows I have trouble shutting up about movies and Hollywood. It’s pretty sad when your pickup line is what year a particular film won Best Picture. Yes, I can name you what film won Best Picture dating back to 1928. It’s a useless piece of trivia that only gets the faintest of laughs from people. Still, it’s cute, and I’m grateful for the three hours I wasted memorizing it all from the Film Encyclopedia book from Barnes & Noble, which I spent five gift certificates on to purchase. As far as my work, I’ve written/directed three feature films that have all been distributed worldwide and are available on VOD. A film I made called Devil’s Workshop has been recently released in select theaters and on digital platforms via Lionsgate. It was a tough film to make, considering its indescribable nature and an insanely truncated timeline to deliver it. However, I’m very proud of it, and seeing Lionsgate’s logo at the beginning brought a tear to my little baby eye. There’s no one out there making the films that I make. The movies I put out are singular expressions for better or worse. In other words, if I weren’t born, they wouldn’t exist.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I listen to podcasts all the time. The ones that I find very insightful and exciting are The Movie Crypt, The Bret Easton Ellis podcast, and Script Notes. I’ve also read Sharon Waxman’s book Rebels on the Backlot 50 times. It’s just so good. The 1990s remain one of the most critical decades in film history. It was the perfect combination of the 70s and 80s.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chrisvonhoffmann.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cvhoffmann/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/503660836/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER69QmWbnKU&t=1s
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user4290397
