Gary Hawes is all about balance. In the ten years – almost to the month – since graduating from the Film Production program, he’s successfully juggled two very different sides of his film career.

First, as an assistant director, he’s worked steadily on a laundry list of high-profile movies. That includes the buzzed-about Diablo-Cody-scripted Megan Fox vehicle Jennifer’s Body and Roland Emmerich’s epic-looking disaster opus 2012.

But he’s also kept making his own short films, exercising his creative muscle while patiently learning from some of the best in the business. The shorts stand out partly because of their impressive casts, featuring out-of-town talent like Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four) and Alan Cumming (X2) and top Vancouver actors like Alisen Down (Battlestar Galactica) and Thea Gill (Queer as Folk). Gary was touted by Screen International UK as one of “Ten Short Filmmakers to Watch For”, and his most recent short, Swap, was nominated for five Leo Awards in 2007.

Oh, and he’s now introduced a third career into the mix. We caught up with him to find out more about what he does… and why.

Hi, Gary! You graduated from VFS in ’99, which means we’re looking at your 10-year anniversary here. Seems like it’s a good time to catch up what you’ve been doing since then. But first, what was your background before coming to VFS? What drew you to filmmaking in the first place?

Ever since I was a kid, I had a fascination with movies.  They were magic to me then, and they still are now.  I used to grow up watching as many movies as I could, watching them over and over again.  When I got to high school, I took every course that was somehow geared towards my passion.  Drama, Creative Writing, Directing and Scriptwriting, Stagecraft and English Literature… I think I threw a Science in there because I had to.  I used to convince my teachers to let me turn in video projects, but it was pretty old-school back then.  I would shoot school projects on a cheap camcorder and then edit tape-to-tape on two VCRs.  True ’80s indie filmmaking!

After that,  I did a year of college and realized all I was doing was writing screenplays, ignoring most of my papers that were due.  That’s when I knew I had to go to film school.

Since VFS, you’ve worked on a lot of well-known films as an AD. For those readers who might not know, what does that generally involve?

An assistant director is sort of like a foreman on a construction site.  They schedule and supervise the shooting of a film.  They assist the director in completing the movie and deal with all the logistical problems that making it may entail.  A good AD strives to allow their director to only have to concentrate on the creative aspects of the film and not lose focus of the story they are trying to tell.  An AD helps set the tone on set along with the director and cinematographer.  They are the trinity, so to speak.

How did you break into that kind of work?

I started out at the bottom – I was a PA [production assistant] for a year.  A few of my classmates wondered why I would stoop to such a level, since they all considered themselves as filmmakers and were above doing such trivial work.  That’s a huge mistake in my mind.  To have a true appreciation for filmmaking and the crews that work on them, you need to experience it from all levels.  Spending time on set is like a graduate school after film school.  You get to witness firsthand experienced directors at work.  You learn what works, and a lot of the time, you learn what doesn’t work.

You were an AD on a couple of upcoming films that are really anticipated. I wonder if you wouldn’t mind talking briefly about those experiences:

Jennifer’s Body…

Yeah.  This was a lot of fun to work on.  I also was an AD on Juno, and it was basically all of the same people involved.  When we did Juno, I was the same age as the director, the producer, the writer, and the cinematographer!  It felt like a student film. We shot Jennifer’s Body while Juno was killing at the box office and getting nominated for Oscars.  That made for a fun, relaxed, and confident set, for sure.  Everybody was feeling at the top of their game.  But there wasn’t the pressure to repeat the Juno success, because this was such a tongue-in-cheek horror/comedy.  Like the classic ’80s flicks like Evil Dead, The Lost Boys, stuff like that.  It should be a fun ride.  Hopefully it becomes a cult classic…

And 2012?

2012 was a completely different beast.  I worked on that for seven full months.  It was the most ambitious movie I have ever worked on.  Everything was done on a large scale – $200 million budget.  But that’s Roland Emmerich for you.  I have to admit, I had my preconceived notions of what he’d be like going in, but he totally impressed me.  Love his movies or hate them, Roland knows the type of movie he is making and doesn’t apologize for that.  And he is, by far, the most prepared director I have ever worked with.  He knows exactly what he wants and how he is going to do it.  His knowledge of visual effects is astounding.  And he’s a very nice guy.  However, I was completely exhausted at the end of the shoot.  I took three months off to recuperate.

You’ve been working pretty steadily as an AD, but you’ve also kept making shorts. Some might say, “Why bother when you’re otherwise making a living?” Why is it important enough to keep doing?

First and foremost, I’ve always wanted to direct.  I was warned in film school of the ‘golden handcuffs’ – get a high-paying crew job and you soon forget about your dreams.  That’s never happened to me.  I’ve just treated my AD work as a way to learn more and make great contacts.  I’ve used a ton of the money I’ve made from ADing to fund my short films, because applying and waiting for grants is a waste of time for me.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad idea to do – somebody is going to get that money.  But I’d rather focus all that energy on actually making my film, instead of pouring it all into an application that three months down the road gets a generic rejection letter.  I say just go out and make them yourself.

Even at a glance, one of the things that really stands out about your films is the casting – some recognizable names there, and also some really interesting Vancouver-based actors too. What’s gone into that? Is it all ‘who you know’, getting the right things to the right people? Has the AD work helped in that regard?

Again, that’s all contacts that have come from my AD work.  Funny enough, I’ve never really had a major casting session for any of my films, because I often write my scripts with people already in mind.  Having worked with them day after day, that’s the best casting session ever…

Apart from assistant directing, what are you working on now? What’s next?

I have actually stopped ADing for the time being.  I was supposed to start The A-Team three weeks ago, but I was offered a writing contract for the SyFy Channel.  They liked a script I had written and hired me off the strength of that to flesh out a premise they had.  They are now looking at making my original script, but I will only agree to that if I’m attached to direct.  So we’ll see how that all pans out over the next few months.  It’s fun to be writing for a living, though. It’s definitely a change from AD work.

So, after 10 years, are you still passionate about film? Has your outlook or approach changed over the years?

Yes and yes. When I graduated in ’99, I wanted to make a feature right away.  After I finished my first short, Pits, I figured I was ready to make my first feature.  I was so impatient.  I wanted it all right now.  But as the years rolled along, I became sort of zen to the whole thing.  I kept writing and making short films. I just accepted the fact that it takes a heck of a lot of time, effort, and luck to get to the director’s chair.  I mean, it’s a pressure job. Studios and companies are investing potentially millions into your vision – not many are willing to do that with somebody with little or no experience.

So, my advice is to go out there and get the experience, whether it’s making your own films or working on others.  I’m confident it will happen for me, but also realistic to how much time it can take.  My dad always says, “Enjoy the journey, not just the destination.”  It’s what makes life interesting and helps define who you are as a filmmaker and a person.

Thanks, Gary! Good advice for anyone in any business, when you get right down to it.

Jennifer’s Body hits the big screen on September 18th, while in November we’ll all get to see John Cusack trying to outrun the end of the world in 2012. For more about Gary Hawes and his work, check out his site, True Fiction Films.