Fueled by a coffee while sitting in the weathered seats of a local coffee shop, the following conversation with Mackenzie Mccullough was the first genuine talk I had ever had with her and it was truly long-awaited! However great it was to sit down and have coffee with her it also felt like a bitter-sweet farewell because in just a matter of weeks from said meet, Mackenzie would be packing up her belongings and relocating her entire life to Paris to further pursue her career in film and editing.
Enjoy this snippet of our conversation where we talked about her trip to Africa, working as a freelancer, and more.
Keep up with me on Instagram @CorduroySoul and Mackenzie at @_BabyMac
What first sparked your interest in film?
Film wasn’t the first thought in my head career-wise but it was just always something I enjoyed. Growing up, I always thought I would be a wedding dress designer. It wasn’t until I was in 8th grade when I quickly realized I was good at editing. During an 8th grade project, we were given creative freedom to present a major event in history and I decided to create a video. I dressed my friends up and used an empty wine cellar in my family home to film the scene. I had picked the Holocaust and the entire time we were filming my classmates couldn’t take it seriously. I stormed out and was so upset about it. The footage was ruined and I had to figure out a way to salvage as much of the footage as I could. I ended up making a silent video, black and white, and used a Sarah McLachlan song before the puppy commercials. My teacher loved it, the entire class was silent, and she still shows it to her students today.
So it was then when I suppose you can say something sparked. I walked away knowing I could not only make videos but that I was good at it.
How would you describe your own work today?
As if you’re in a dream… You’re dreaming but then something snaps you out of it. My work has an underlining theme of innocence too, nothing is ever too complicated.
Could you describe the last film you worked on?
The last thing I filmed was a personal/visual poem basically of a young women’s own personal story and that will to be out soon. Before that, I did my short film, La Petite Fille.
What sparked La Petite Fille?
I hadn’t made something personal in a long time because I got stuck in the cycle of doing jobs and working in fashion. La Petite Fille is a very personal portrayal of how I see the world, film, and especially how woman are being treated in society.
Being a freelancer, have you ever questioned the stability that comes with it?
Yeah, of course, but never enough to make me stop pursuing film or creating videos. I’ve come to the conclusion that no matter what job I have I will always have a job that will allow me to make films. I don’t mind always having a job that pays just enough for me to help finance my own little projects just for fun and if that’s what it all ends up being I’m completely fine with that. I love to make films and will make them for the rest of my life whether it goes somewhere or not.
However, I also feel that I’m a hard enough worker that I know I can make it. I’m totally okay with saying ‘no’ to a job in Hollywood depending on what it is. If I couldn’t respect myself at the end of the day then I probably couldn’t do it.
What’s been one of your favorite projects?
Any documentary that I’ve ever done has been a personal favorite. The sex trafficking documentary, in particular, was such an experience. On one hand, I never thought I’d ever go to Africa and because of this project, I had the opportunity to go to Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania for a month. It was such an intense trip but it was life-changing. I know it’s so typical to say, ‘I went to Africa and it changed my life’, I grew up going on mission trips so I wasn’t new to that and I thought I had a good handle going into this trip but I came out thinking, “I didn’t know shit.’
Care to elaborate? In what ways specifically?
So especially growing up in Newport Beach, one of the most financially wealthy places in So Cal, I always knew that I lived in a place that was not normal— It was such a bubble. I had worked in Fashion for so long before going to Africa and then arriving to Africa made me realize that I had lost myself. I connected with people there in a way that you can’t connect with people elsewhere. I came back to L.A. and was like, ‘L.A. is truly not the center of the universe.’ Even that is one of the reasons why I’m coming to the point where I’m sort of over it— I need to get out of Southern California. However, by these comments I don’t mean to sound holier than thou, I’m so glad I’ve had the exposure to all these different facets of film and fashion is so fun! My ideal set up would be to have a full-time in documentary, side projects in fashion would be fun to have my brain moving in different ways, and music videos because I just love music!
Talk about your last fashion job.
The last job I did was for Tamara Mellon, it’s a shoe brand, Jimmy Choo’s partner, who started her own line. They’re releasing a new pair of shoes soon and essentially I filmed behind the scenes footage. I showed up and filed general behind the scenes footage, I got everything that I could and that’s where the editing came in. You want to tailor to your clients’ needs as much as possible. It’s a process of editing it, sending it back to them, getting comments, re-editing, etc., until it’s completed.
What gear do you use?
I really only have three cameras that I use: my Canon 5D Mark III, a Super 8 camera that I film on all the time, and I also have a random Hi8 camera. I’ve had the same cameras for the past 4 years, never changed it, never had a new lens, and it’s done me well! However, that’s where I lack as a filmmaker. I have friends who have the greatest gear and I have none of it. Sometimes their footage does look just a bit better or a lot better! For me personally, I film to have something to edit basically so my gear hasn’t always been a major priority.
Words of wisdom
If you’re at the point where you don’t know what to do next, let yourself take a step back and ask yourself why you’re doing it in the first place or if you even have the motivation to do it. There have been times where I’ve asked myself those questions too. I went to Europe for a month not too long ago and while I was out there I asked myself those questions. I didn’t even know if I should continue to pursue this and thought many times that I might just need to get a normal job. It was only when I let myself be human again and fall in love with film all over that allowed me to become inspired again. Without using filming as a shield, ‘I am a filmmaker and that’s my identity’ without that who as I? That is the thing that inspired me to create again because I then gave myself the freedom to live life!
So in short, if you’re struggling give yourself a break to allow yourself to become re-inspired.
