Meet Mark Hemstock | Director/Producer, Hemstock Films

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mark Hemstock and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mark, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
the most important factor behind the success of my business and brand has been my mindset. The grind, never giving up, and laying a brick everyday. I’ve always had somewhat of a chip on my shoulder and it’s pushed me to work as hard as possible. This line of work is competitive and you have to be willing to out work the other guy.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My artistic career started early on. I had started off as a kid, painting, drawing, and writing my own stories, probably around the 5th grade. I would draw comics, photocopy them and sell them at school. I would type stories on the computer, and then make illustrations for them. I remember discovering my grandfathers old hi-8 camcorder, and I began making movies and videos with my friends. This medium was the most fun way to tell stories, and from there I shot a number of films in junior high and high school.

Back in 2005, I moved to Vancouver, BC from Calgary and attended film school there. It was a highly competitive class, and being only 19 years old in another city away from my family and old friends, I learned a lot. I lived there for 17 years, and recently returned to my home town Calgary to be closer to my son and family. Vancouver is such a great city but is unrealistically unaffordable and it was a tough choice, however my career within the past year in Alberta has taken off and already we have already become one of the top video production companies in Calgary with a great reputation.

Film making has been a great tool to express my art and creativity over the years. It’s a collaboration between creatives, you have other film makers you work with as well as the talent in front of camera, whether that be actors, models, dancers etc.

I’ve learned that the cinematography is everything… this is your camera movement, how you light it, compose the shot, that’s what can make a film so captivating.

My vision has always been to be producing my own feature films, television shows and long format documentaries, and I want to focus on creating them in Calgary and Alberta. There is so much talent and opportunity here, it’s low cost, people are friendly and hard working, and I think this province is going to boom in the next few years. It’s taken my whole career to acquire enough equipment (cameras, lenses, lighting, etc) and now I’m ready!

So far I’ve produced 1 feature documentary, I’ve had the privilege to direct a 4 episode mini series, as well I’m working on 2 other feature documentaries right now, one called “Africa: A Kung Fu Story” which was shot in Tanzania, Africa in October of this year, and the second is called “World’s Fastest Scirocco” which is a documentary about the transformation of an old Volkswagen into a land speed race car.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Calgary is known for it’s extreme weather – we have all 4 seasons. I’ve you visit in the summer, I would recommend the Calgary stampede and rodeo which takes place in July. If you’re visiting in the winter, I would recommend a number of different hikes around Kananaskis and Canmore!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are a number of people I want to recognize and thank for my success so far. The first would be my late grandfather Alex Hemstock who passed away back in 2010. He paid for my film school tuition. This alone got me so far ahead. The second is my art teacher Julianna Miller from back in high school. She recognized my talent early on and always motivated me to pursue and artistic career. The 3rd is my friend and mentor Jim Lewis who is another film maker based in Vancouver. He came from the era of shooting on film, and he taught me so much about cinematography, lighting and editing and I’m always amused how brutally honest he is; one of the few people who’s advice I trust. The last is my dad, Chris Hemstock, for instilling in my his work ethic and business mindset.

Website: http://www.hemstockfilms.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hemstockfilms/?hl=en