Before he became a filmmaker, Ethan Hanson was a visual artist.
Hanson, a fourth-year media arts student, was born and raised in the Isle of Palms, South Carolina. While in middle school, he attended the School of the Arts until he realized that “the classical training approach wasn't really for me.” It wasn’t until his transition into high school that he started to consider another outlet to express himself.
Although his interest in movies began as a hobby, a career in film became more of a possibility and he decided to pursue his dream at USC. Still, despite swapping a paintbrush for a camera, 21-year-old Hanson believes that his previous work as an artist has prepared him for his current venture as a director.
“I think my background as a visual artist has had a large effect on the approach I have towards filmmaking," Hanson said. "I love stylized work. Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers. They all use colorful, unique imagery to tell powerful stories, and I really appreciate that attention to detail."
Next month, Hanson is excited to share this vision and take the next step in his career by showcasing his original short film at the Indie Grits Festival. Held every year since 2006, the Indie Grits Festival is hosted by the Nickelodeon Theatre and aims to bring exposure to local filmmakers. The festival is both a competition and celebration of everything the Southeast contributes to a growing arts scene.
Hanson’s entry, titled “The Checkout Line,” was written in half an hour and was inspired by his “desire to make something visually stimulating and energetic.” He said his film focuses on Thomas, a shy teenager who falls in love-at-first-sight with confident Amelia, and the "pretty twisted results" of their relationship.
“At it's heart, 'The Checkout Line' is a story about the absurdity of teen romance, and the way it can enhance, or disrupt, your life with immediate effect,” Hanson said.
Although this is his first time taking on a project of this scale, Hanson’s approach to the film has been anything but amateur. After polishing his script, Hanson and his crew jumped into casting, designing costumes and building sets. In keeping with their detailed filming style, he and his crew even went so far as to create color palettes for each of the film’s characters.
“Columbia's art scene is growing exponentially, but the filmmaking community still needs a lot of work," Hanson said. "We were lucky enough to find loads of talented people that were interested in the project, and all it really took to get them on board was a positive attitude and the ability to articulate our creative vision.”
More than anything, Hanson hopes that after viewing him film, his peers at USC will leave inspired and “realize what they can do with the resources at hand.”
Just shy of graduation, Hanson still plans to continue searching for new projects, but he’s keeping his options open for the future.
“Career trajectories are so strange in the film industry. One day, you're a PA on a reality TV show, and the next, you're sitting in Ridley Scott's office pitching him your script,” Hanson said. “If I play my cards right, 10 years from now I'll be working in a writer's room or sitting on a set with a script that I wrote in my hand.”