7: Aaron McCann

Sister Film School

Today we talk to actor and writer and director Aaron McCann about his career and his newest film Top Knot Detective. 00:34 How did you get started? 3:10 Directors Cut https://vimeo.com/23990483 4:20 Approaching Zac Hilditch to colour grade his film. 5:29 getting funding for short film perished https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUithfhoBUU &:24 Henry and Aaron shorts http://www.madkids.com/henry-and-aaron/ 9:45 The Ballad of Danny Danielson https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PLSxCWkvlujk_oVbZXJcQ3lqVSLJMatHYc&v=X-cM6M9GyB0 11:24 Henry and Aarons Perfectly adequate Christmas Special https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhnAPalT25U 13:03 Henry and Aaron's Seven steps to Superstardom https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnFvHOYn7Wk 14:08 “we were kids and Bratty and you don’t know what you don’t know” 14:50 Henry and Aaron Its a snap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Am7oKBD3PU 16:22 getting an agent 17:57 Set yourself free https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STHpMUYeznQ 18:11 Seven days later https://www.youtube.com/7DaysLaterTV 19:20 “The Idea is to grab attention.” 23:09 Pitching an idea to SBS 25:36 Top knot detective https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJdKA_FdEDQ 26:28 How did you direct in a language you don’t speak? 27:43 “ we relied heavily on actors to rewrite their own lines and do improv” 29:30 “That’s my story. If you kind o f look at it from when I graduated to now, that’s what 15 years.” 29:41 Did you always know you wanted to work in film? 30:43 What was you first paid gig? 33:08 “I can’t actually do anything else” 33:48 “the first big paid feature film I worked on was drift” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGEwsKORMQ8 33:59 let's get skase https://vimeo.com/186226156 36:53 Talking about AD’ing 41:46 “ You shouldn’t be fearful to talk to the director or producers” 42:42 “you learn more from making mistakes” 43:16 Are there things you wish you'd done differently? 45:43 What’s Your position on short films vs Youtube? 48:48 Podcasting! 49:57 VR 51:23 What publicity where you doing for your early Youtube videos? 52:22 “the honest answer is I don’t know how, but when I’m talking to ad agencies I’m like let me tell you how to make a viral video.” 54:58 In top Knot Detective did the Australian references translate well to international audiences? 55:27 What's the best peice of advice you've ever been given? 56:54 Where can people find Aaron? 58:43 Talking about starting out and how things have changed over the years. 59:35 “Its good to have that hunger, but be realistic, 5 to 10 ish years after film school you’ll get something.” 2:01”don’t be afraid to contact people who’ve done it for a while” 2:02 Gruen Advert https://www.facebook.com/gruenhq/videos/10157172438207588/