Meet Remzi Hazboun | Director and Cinematographer

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

Hi Remzi, why did you pursue a creative career?
I just want to make things, and the fact is, I like making things with other people. To me film-making is the ultimate collaborative medium and that’s why I’ve kept doing it.

But originally I was drawn to making films in 6th grade, in middle school. I took a class called “TV Studio” where we learned the basics of making videos at a level, which looking back on, was insane for a public middle school to offer. We learned how to script, storyboard, shot-list, shoot, edit, everything! In middle school!
But as an 11 year old, what it really meant was running around the school with my friends and a camera, creating little sketches about “Why cheating is bad!” or “Join the theater club!” and then those videos would actually air as PSA’s or “words from our sponsors” during our live morning show.

Honestly even that was crazy. Kids would come early to school, put on suit coats and read out the morning announcements like news anchors in front of a green-screen. We would have camera operators and people working a live switcher and graphics in a little booth, it was honestly wild. That class opened my eyes to the idea that making videos was something I could do, like, forever. And it’s all I could focus on.

I was watching freddiew and Corridor videos on YouTube, seeing all the special effects thinking, ‘Wow, all of these cool things that are I see in my head…There is a way that I can get other people to see it too!’
They won’t think I’m just stupid whenever I start a sentence with, “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if…” followed by a half-complete thought that only works visually in my head.

It was honestly then that I decided that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and I have literally never looked back. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I get the same feeling when I’m on set now that I did running around the halls with my friends back then. I don’t ever want to lose that feeling.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I can tell you I am proud of a lot of things I have done, but I really found a groove when I started doing music videos. I just think that the medium plays best to my strengths of being more creative visually than I am in other aspects I also find that collaborating with artists allows for those ideas to be mutated and bounced around until it’s something truly unique that represents everyone’s creative input and expertise.

The first “real” music video I did, where I worked directly with the artist was in college where I made the video for “BAG” with Abhi the Nomad. Since then I have done more videos with him and just recently, we shot a string of music videos (that we ended up turning into a short film) for his album “Abhi Vs The Universe 2: Heart of the Galaxy.”

The only reason I was able to make “BAG” was because I just began sliding into DM’s for a bunch of artists that I personally listened to and wanted to work with. I was pitching them on letting me make a music video for them with not much backing that, since I was still just a college student with very little to prove I was capable of delivering. Abhi decided to give me a chance and I took it seriously, I wanted to make something worth showing off. I got some really cool opportunities from that, but don’t think for a second that means I stopped randomly messaging artists on Instagram.

My best piece of advice to people is that while making cool shit is fun, it’s also a job. You have to treat it with the same professionalism that you would any other job. Being on set, joking around with your friends and making art, you can sometimes forget that you are getting paid to make something and produce a product, and you have to remind yourself to take it seriously. It only lets you make cooler shit and doesn’t take away from how enjoyable it is. Trust me. I started a small production company called Scrum Films with my best friend under the same basic philosophy; we just want to make cool shit with cool people, it all comes back to that.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Easiest question of my life.

One time in college, I put two (2) ham sandwiches into a sealed Tupperware container and placed it somewhere in the Los Angeles area. It has been sealed and gone untouched for 6 years. I go to the location to check on it every year, and it is black, completely overtaken by mold, and the germs have probably gone through enough generations to the point that I believe that it might contain a new undiscovered bacterium, capable of conscious thought.

Find it.

Or, I don’t know. The Getty is pretty cool too.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to immediately show love to my family. My parents and my brother, Samir, have always supported me, no matter what. Full stop. And becoming a filmmaker was no exception to that support. I love them more than they could possibly know. Right after my family, my Friends are the entire reason I do anything, and I am lucky enough to surround myself with people that make me laugh and push me to be a better person.

But those are kind of basic, and while it’s true I wouldn’t be anywhere without them, I do want to take this time to make a very special shout out to the person that originally taught me what I know and put me on this path; My middle school teacher, Mr Wilson.

Mr. Wilson, and ‘Wake Up Takoma’ were so formative, and I learned more in his class than I did during my first 2 years of film school. He always encouraged me to learn more and keep pursuing making little videos, and whenever I got to see my videos play in front of the whole class first thing in the morning, it was like having a premiere once a week. Wake Up Takoma was a special experience and I don’t think we understood at the time how incredibly unique of an opportunity it was to have that in middle school. Every once and a while I look back at all those episodes just to remind myself how lucky I am to still be doing what I love over a decade later. I recently learned that he is no longer teaching at my middle school, and with that ‘Wake Up Takoma’ aired it’s final episode just a few months ago. I just want him to know that his class and what he brought to us kids was incredible and cannot be understated how insane it is he was able to do it for over 20 years. I hope that he can continue to teach kids and bring them an unforgettable experience with whatever he decides to do now.

Website: https://scrumfilms.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thriftweasel/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thriftweasel

Image Credits
Tony Johansson, Jeff Yochem, Michael Gibbs, Ian Peterson, Jeff Kettering