After starting in the world of gaming, Carrie Hudghton has graduated to writing and directing genre shorts in recent years with several productions under her belt. Now, in honor of Women in Horror Month, I talk to her about the beginnings of her horror fandom, her production company Bensam Films and other upcoming projects.
Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, where did you get the urge to go into directing?
Carrie Hudghton: Originally, I never considered the idea of being a director as I didn’t feel I was a confident enough person, but I did know that I wanted to do something in the film industry. I was only when I Joined a film course at my local college that I began to realize my love for not only writing but also directing. The moment I realized fully that I could make a serious go at being a director was during the making of my first short film Dreamcatcher. Me and my fiancé created the film within a few days and my fiancé edited. Once completed I showed it to my college tutors, and they asked me to submit it to their end of year showing of student films. This was amazing to me as usually, this event was only for 2nd and 3rd-year students whereas I was still only in my 1st year. At that show I had a 3rd-year student tell me how good a job I had done and that was my incentive to continue with directing. I haven’t looked back since.
Me: Were you always into genre films growing up? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?
CH: Oh yes, for as long as I can remember. Horror has always appealed to me more than any other genre as there are so many subcategories in the horror genre that appeal to me as it can be scary but also funny. Some of the first horror films I watched were films like Re-Animator and Halloween. I always remember I was at a friend’s house when I first got introduced to Halloween. Her parents were watching it and me and my friend walked into the living room just as the guy gets stabbed to the door. As her parents panicked and ushered us out of the room all I could think was, what film is that, I want to see it? Re-Animator was a film that my parents introduced to me and my sister so both films hold a special place in my heart.
Me: Coming from Scotland, did that hinder your interest in the genre or force you to turn to the local cinema for inspiration?
CH: I don’t feel living in Scotland has hindered me too much it was more a hindrance that I put on myself. I thought that getting into filmmaking was a silly dream that would never happen, so I never pursued it until after I became a mother in my 30’s when I signed up for the college course I previously spoke of. Something that did open my eyes more to the possibility before finding that course however was seeing more and more films and tv shows being made in the UK and UK actors like Simon Peg and Ewan McGregor making it big in the industry. Also, seeing lots of extremely creative short films on YouTube that were created by people like myself who just have a passion to create something. It made me see that becoming part of the creative industries wasn’t that silly of a dream after all.
Me: Working in the cosplay/gaming world, how did the inspiration come to move into directing original content?
CH: Unfortunately, the closest I came to working in the gaming industry was working in 2 different game shops. The initial push to get into directing my first film came from my fiancé. Before I started my college course, I decided it might be a good idea to have some story ideas for screenplays written down as I felt I should be prepared however I didn’t feel confident enough to create anything at that point. One of the ideas was Dreamcatcher and my fiancé really liked it so he created the storyboards and we both decided that night that I would borrow a camera from the college and direct it since it was my idea. My fiancé definitely gave me the encouragement I needed to get started and I am so glad he did.
Me: You've started your own production company, Bensam Films. How did that come about?
CH: During my time at college we were tasked with creating our own production company name and logo. My kids' name seemed like the best Idea as they were the reason, I wanted to make a go at having my dream career. Bensam films consists of me and my fiancé however over the last 3 years we have had a lot of help from our awesome friends. Ones that I met at college and other friends we have known for years. With their help, we made some of the bigger short films like Broken and Red Room.
Me: The first few shorts from the studio, Dreamcatcher and The Broken Doll, arrived several years ago. How did the initial shooting of these take place?
CH: Dreamcatcher, as mentioned before, was my first ever short film and overall the shoot went well and only took 2 days to film. I think overall the biggest issues we had where not having a lot of the right equipment as we didn’t have lights so we improvised with a small led light that we owned that was used to light up small rooms and was battery operated. Also, we shot in winter so the outside scenes where I wore the dress, I was absolutely freezing cold and was trying my hardest to not show I was shivering. Broken Doll was slightly different, it was a group college project, so it doesn’t really come under the Bensam films banner. However, I kept it on my YouTube page as that video was edited by myself although the whole group who worked on it had to create their own edit also. The filming of it was a lot of fun though as we decided to each have a turn directing a scene which was a lot of fun. The scene I directed was the detective standing outside and his walk into the bar to meet the dancer. It was a very ambitious shot for us at the time, but we all loved how the film turned out. We also all agree that our favorite moment was the smashing of the glass scene, as we all squeezed into the small backstage area just to see the moment it happened.
Me: What were the most surprising aspects of shooting these that you took to making your next features?
CH: The main things I learned that I took forward was not to be afraid of the shots I used because they might be over-ambitious and also to try and have more meaning behind the shots I decided to create and the movement of the shots. On the shoot for Broken Doll especially I feel I learned a lot from the style of directing that all my college friends had as we all brought something different and it was definitely a great learning experience.
Me: Your next short, Red Room, moved more towards Horror. Where did the inspiration for the film come from? Where there any unique stories about its conception?
CH: Around the time of making Red Room I was watching a lot of YouTube videos on the topic of urban legends. It’s a topic that has always fascinated me and I really wanted to learn more about them. I came across one YouTube channel called Scare Theatre and he had a video around the Red Room Cure that came from Japan I believe. As soon as I watched his video, I started writing the outline for my Red Room script. I told my tutor that this was the story I wanted to write for my film project in my second year and after he gave the go-ahead I started writing it straight away and with some tweaks and a lot of planning I started filming a couple of months later. The filming process wasn’t as smooth as my other films as I had a very small filming window for the location I was at and some big delays on the first day of filming, however, it was still a fun experience that I learned a lot from and my college mates were so patient which I was incredibly thankful for too.
Me: The most recent short, Broken, offers up more realistic scenarios. Is there anything from your life that helped inspire the action?
CH: It wasn’t anything that happened to me personally, however I have a few friends who have unfortunately been in those kinds of situations and it breaks my heart knowing that. However, I am also so happy that they got away from those people and gained their lives back. The topic of domestic abuse has always been one that upsets me as it can happen to anyone, male or female and I still think that more need to be done. When making Broken I know that the scene at the beginning had to be right and true to life as, so I did as much research on the subject as I could which, as you can imagine wasn’t fun reading but it helped me to create a character that was true to what it’s like living with an abuser. In this way I feel it portrays a different more real kind of horror that unfortunately exist in the real world.
Me: In the time between when you first started and this new short, how have you seen yourself grow as a filmmaker?
CH: One of the main ways I have seen myself grow is though my confidence in my abilities. In my first year when I made Dreamcatcher, I honestly knew next to nothing except some small thing like that I had learned at college. But over the next 2 years, I saw my confidence both grow and that in large part was thanks to the wonderful tutors and college friends I had who would always pull you up when you felt down about yourself or your abilities. I also learned so much more about every aspect of filmmaking including writing, editing, producing, filming and so on and I feel this has helped me understand the process that goes into making a film on any budget. Due to all this I can see clearly on screen with each film how different each looks and feels through the writing and the visuals and I hope to continue to improve as I continue.
Me: What are you working on in the future that you'd like to share with our readers?
CH: At the moment I have about 3 short film scripts that I am working on that I hope to film this year. 2 of which are more dialogue-based as I wanted to continue to improve my dialogue writing. The 3rd script has a lot of dialogue but also a small fight scene which I have never filmed before, so I wanted to try and challenge myself that way too. Apart from this I am also looking into possibly writing a book as I have a lot of ideas that would be difficult for me to film due to my budget so I felt a book would be a great way to expand on my ideas and try out something new.
Me: Lastly, being that this is Women in Horror Month, what special message do you have for any women out there looking to join in the industry in any capacity as you are one yourself? Thank you again for your time!
CH: For any woman wanting to get involved in the industry the best advice I can give is just go for it. Whether you just pick up a camera or you decide to go into a film course either way I say go for it. Since starting I have met so many amazing people with so much passion for what they do. I am also a member of a lot of groups on Facebook and spoke to people from all over the world who all love filming. Now is the best and easiest time to get involved in the creative industries.
Thank you so much for the interview.
To check out her company Bensam Films online:
Webpage
Youtube Channel
This interview ran as part of our month-long Women in Horror Month celebration. Click the banner below to see all the reviews and interviews we've conducted for the event:
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