Today we’d like to introduce you to Trent Hilborn. He shared his story with us below:
The year was 1999, the world was abuzz with Y2K fever, the Space Shuttle Discovery became the first vessel to dock with the International Space Station, and Pizza Hut partnered with Playstation to include a video game demo disc with take-out orders for a limited time. A young boy named Trent Hilborn saw a commercial for that very disc featuring the up-and-coming game: Tony Hawk Pro Skater and knew he needed a copy all his own.
After devouring a few slices of pepperoni pizza, he popped open the PS1 tray and clicked in that demo disc that forever altered his life path. It was replaying the Warehouse level ad nauseam that put a skateboard under his feet and a camera in his hands. He’s been chasing adventure and making films ever since.
Oh, right – you probably want a little more info than that, though… I might as well switch to the first person at this point. As I said, skateboarding put a camera in my hands, and the love of filmmaking stuck. I took some film classes in high school and realized at the time that I wasn’t good, but I figured If I was self-aware enough to know that, I could eventually “get good.”
I then spent my first year of college studying film in New York before realizing I didn’t want to leave school with 100K in loans, so I transferred to a state school in Wisconsin. I met up with two filmmakers that would become future business partners, and we made shorts; they got into festivals, and we started a production company.
After college, we moved to Minneapolis and made a run at film and commercial production. Over the course of 6 years, I was able to create a slew of quality work with many incredible collaborators and clients. I directed broadcast commercials in LA, created work internationally, worked with well-known talent, had shorts go viral, won an Emmy plus various other awards, and much more.
In 2018 we made the joint decision to part ways [amicably, they are still two of my closest friends], and I’ve been freelancing ever since. In the last five years, I’ve won another Emmy for directing; I’ve worked with a slew of quality clients and created some award-winning music videos with Nur-D. We currently have our third music video in post-production.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth? Absolutely not. This industry is a rollercoaster built from sticks and bubblegum. The biggest struggle is the unknown; even when things are busy, you never really know what’s coming down the pipe, how long your busy season will last, and what the following year, quarter, or month will bring.
The other side of the coin, inversely, makes it so exciting. A call, email, or text can completely change your year. The hope of what could come keeps you going through all the ups and downs. It’s why you get into freelance in the first place – the excitement of the unknown.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Putting what I do on a business card will say Director + Editor. If you boil it down to its purest form, I help people take ideas and turn them into images married to sound to tell a story. I think of myself as an equal parts artist and craftsman. To create something as beautiful as possible while using all the tools of the trade to craft that idea in the most engaging and efficient way.
I think my talents lie in two specific places – the first is breaking an idea down to its core and then identifying the right set of elements to communicate that idea best. Be it tone, visuals, talent, location, and the nearly unlimited variables you can use to create a film or commercial.
Secondly, I think it’s collaborating with the client, cast, and crew to elevate every aspect of the idea, production, and edit to be greater than the sum of its parts. Nothing is more exciting than having an idea or plan that works and then having a collaborator take it to the next level. It’s what keeps me coming back for more.
I think I cut a pretty wide cloth regarding the type of work I excel at, but I’ve recently found a lot of joy in bringing video games to life in live action. I worked with Wallride Studios the past year in both the commercial and social space to bring to life their Skateboarding game and that was an absolute blast. I’m sure it all connects back to what got me into filmmaking in the first place.
Beyond that, I’ve had great success in the Action/Adventure and Lifestyle spaces. I’ve had a nice run working in Healthcare over the past few years, and I’ve found some exciting visual problem-solving when working on social work for TikTok or Instagram. What drives me the most is the story being told; great stories can be found in just about any market or medium.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Traditional networking – going to an event, speed running how quickly you can introduce yourself, and swapping business cards I’ve found consistently to be a fruitless endeavor. The key to networking in the creative space has always been about introducing yourself to people who have work you admire or someone you’d love to collaborate with over coffee or drinks and then investing yourself in the person – not the job or what they might be able to do for you then and there.
If work is meant to come from it – it’ll be down the road. It could be a day, a month, or a year – you never know when the right opportunity will strike, and that work relationship can begin. It’s the nature of the beast, and the very thing makes the road we ride so exciting.
Contact Info:
- Website: trenthilborn.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/trenthilborn
- Other: vimeo.com/trenthilborn
Image Credits
Chaddix Malchow and Liam James Doyle
