Simon Horrocks— Filmmaker

What is your creative mission?

Making movies.

What do you love about what you do?

I love creating worlds, creating stories, expressing ideas, creating illusions. With film there are so many many different elements that need to come together to create this illusion successfully. When it works, it’s a wonderful thing.

What have you learned from your successes/ failures?

Failure is a kind of success because it means you’re having a go. The most successful people are those who have failed more than anyone else, because they’re doing more.

How do you keep pushing ahead after a difficult challenge?

I can rarely see a reason to give up. How can you ever know if something can be done or not if you don’t give it every single possiblity to work? If I believe in something, I keep going until it has been proven to my mind, without any doubt, that it is indeed impossible.

Have you ever encountered resistance from family, friends, or the world in general? How did you overcome those kinds of blocks?

Of course. People often fill you with their own fears. They believe they are helping you by warning you against potential dangers. Sometimes they are genuinely concerned for you, other times they just are projecting their own fears onto you. I once told a friend of my marketing plan for a project. He wasn’t convinced. He said, “What happens if you fail?”

I often find that those most critical or skeptical of what I am trying to do are not doing too much themselves. These are the people who generally have blocked themselves from taking any risks because they are afraid to fail. Generally, they are the kind of people who are permanently in “planning” mode. They will tell you they have this great book that they will soon start writing, or a feature film they hope one day to make, once they have sorted all these ordinary life issues that are holding them back.

One thing I know for certain – those ordinary life things NEVER get sorted. There is an endless supply. They just keep coming and coming. People hide behind them as an excuse not to actually have a go at what they say they want to do – simply because they are afraid to fail. My philosophy is: the biggest and most complete failure of all is not to try.

How has your art and creativity healed you?

I was born into art. I pretty much grew up in an art college atmosphere with parents and their friends who were artists and creators. So I can’t say it has healed me. It’s like asking a fish how water has healed them. The fish would say “there’s other than water?” It doesn’t heal me but it would be impossible to live without it.

What are your NFA Bullet points? What steps would you recommend for anyone who wants to kick some ass and get their creative dreams off the ground?

Let go. Let go of the fears that stop you from trying. Let go of the fear of being seen to fail. Let go of all those excuses which block you. Let go of the fear of failing. Failing is the first step to succeeding. There are literally NO successful people who haven’t failed at many points, along their path.

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