Meet Sarah & Tim Hudson | Owners – Hudson Spider

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sarah & Tim Hudson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sarah & Tim, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?

As filmmakers, we are the end users of our own products. We are inventing and designing products that we like to use, resisting the urge to follow fads but focussing on what is important to us. Then we hope that others like it too, So far, it’s a recipe for success. We are also very particular, so we go to the extremes to perfect what we have.

Of course, part of this perfection is also listening to your customers, Every feedback is a chance for improvement. We treat our customers as almost members of our staff, what they have to say matters.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Hudson Spider is built on persistence. It started with us selling our family home in Los Feliz and using the proceeds to literally by the equipment we needed to manufacture our product. We moved our family of 5 to a rented two bedroom apartment in Santa Clarita so we could be close to the factory we were creating. It never felt like a sacrifice, it felt exciting. Some days we thought we were a little crazy but we never doubted it was going to work! Some days are harder than others, and sometimes for months on end, we can’t see the light at the end of the current issue, but we know what the finish line looks like so we just keep going. We were lucky to avoid the major issues that other manufactures have had with the global supply chain crisis. We saw it coming, actually, it was reading between the lines on something Elon Musk said on a podcast back in April 2020 that gave us the crystal ball on that, so we started keeping 12 months of inventory of everything we could back then. It took moe than 12 months to build up stock, but by the time the real supply crisis hit, we were already in a good place. Picking up cues from those smarter or more experienced than you has always been part of our success, knowing that you don’t know everything is key, but still retaining the confidence to trust your gut over everything.

Nothing has felt easy with Hudson Spider, every task has felt like a mountain, but sometimes, we get lucky. 🙂 We recently moved our manufacturing plant to a secured a space in a biomedical park that we felt was actually screaming to be turned into a film studio. It is a beautiful open spaces, wide lots, and still within the 30 mile zone of LA which is important for filming budgets. Within 3 weeks of us moving in, the park was sold and commencement began on 30 sound stages, and our building is located smack bang in the middle, It was a strategic move for us, a little risky, but it paid off. The stages are due to be completed in 2024 and the owners are extraordinarily supportive of our business. We love challenges and we love change, so this next stage of our business is super exciting.

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.
Being from Australia, whenever family or friends visit we find ourselves at Disneyland! Although its old news to Claifornians, to Australians, it represents something entirely different. As a child growing up in rural Australia, The Wonderful World of Disney was on every Sunday at 6.30pm. It was must see programming. The opening credits showed Main Street, and it always seemed like a far off magical place that you will never get a chance to visit. So now as an adult, I never seem to tire of that childlike wonder as you enter the park. It never gets old.

But aside from the usual tourist traps, my heart is in Los Feliz. The Dresden, Griffith Park, Little Doms, the Vista. That’s where it is at for me.

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?
Our success is in large part to our film crews. The film industry is a family, they are so supportive and they love to see others succeed. We have grips spreading the Hudson Spider love, gaffers flying the flag….camera assistants, art directors, directors, producers, everyone is there helping! They are also there for us with the ideas and the encouragement every step of the way. We are Australian so we have been brought up with the Tall Poppy Syndrome, whereby success is often not celebrated so widely (the poppy flower that grows the tallest is cut down first). But that doesn’t exist in the film industry, our peers from all corners of the globe are constantly helping and pulling us along.

Website: www.hudsonspider.com

Instagram: @Hudson.spider