Grace: So, can you tell me more about some of the projects you've worked on, and what's your area of interest? I know you mainly make documentaries, is that correct? 

Hillary: I've been doing primarily documentary for most of my career, but I don't ever completely rule out other mediums, whether it be a narrative film or a podcast or a book or whatever, because I think different stories work better on different mediums. So, I just want to leave that option open.

My thesis film in graduate school was about the director of a refugee resettlement organization in Greensboro. He was from Northern Sudan and he had a staff from a number of countries. I found a lot of inspiration in telling that story because the story was about unity, diversity, and the fact that so many different people can come together to do good things. I think that thread has continued through a lot of my work. 

When I graduated from Wake Forest [University] and moved to Austin, as I told you, I connected with Keith, and he decided to make two feature documentaries. It just sort of worked out that they were happening at the same time. One was something he got commissioned for. It’s the history of a TV show that's been made in Austin for decades. The end product was A Song for You: the Austin City Limits Story. Simultaneously, we were making Tower, which was Keith's passion project, and it was an animated retelling of the first mass American school shooting at the university of Texas in 1966. Those two projects really allowed me to dig into the local history and feel a part of the community there. 

That film [Tower] was just so rewarding in so many ways. One of my roles in the filmmaking project was to stay in communication with all of the participants in the film. So I really got to know them very well. We were making the film and it was just really special and rewarding to know that they actually got a lot out of the filming experience. It was really cathartic for them. They hadn't really spoken on that trauma in 50 years. 

Then after we made those two films, a friend I'd made in Austin asked me if I knew Ben Masters and I was like, “No, who's that?” And he's like,” Oh, I edit for him a lot. He makes shorts. He’s really enthusiastic about wildlife and horses. I know you like those things too. So, I think you guys should meet. I think you should be working on something together.” So, he connected us. 

Right about that time, Ben had an idea for a film tour where he's going to package some short films together and then take them all around Texas as an opportunity to engage the public on issues of conservation in Texas. While we were doing that, Ben had an idea for a feature that became The River and the Wall, which is a feature documentary that is an adventure story about five friends who traveled the entire Texas/Mexico border on horses, mountain bikes, and canoes to explore the potential impacts of further border wall construction. We filmed it in December, 2017 to February of 2018. So, it was before any of the new wall construction under the Trump administration had occurred, but the groundwork was being laid at that point.

That was a totally different ball game for me in terms of filmmaking and genre. We shot most of Tower in Keith's backyard. And then, that footage was animated. A Song for You was filmed almost entirely in ACL venue, downtown Austin, so all in one building. Then here I go making this film that takes two and a half months to travel 1200 miles through some of the most wild and rugged places in North America.

While Ben and I were wrapping that project up, I met Maisie Crow who is another filmmaker based in Texas. She was starting a project at that time. She discovered that a lot of high schools in Texas have criminal justice clubs and law enforcement programs, and it's essentially a fast track for teenagers- many of whom are Hispanic and are from largely Hispanic communities on the border- into a career in border patrol. That just floored me because it just seemed a little wild to think that like they would be recruiting at that age and from that community, but when you think about it, it really makes a lot of sense. 

So, Ben and I finished The River and the Wall and got it out to the world. Right about that time, Maisie needed a producer to come on. She'd actually shot the film, and I came on in post-production. We completed it over the last year during the pandemic, and then just premiered it at the first ever virtual Sundance film festival.

Grace: So what would you say to somebody who's maybe just recently graduated and is looking to get into documentary filmmaking and even more specifically nature documentaries?

Hillary: I found it really helpful when I was getting into documentaries to learn from people who are actively working in documentary film. I was so lucky. I started going to Full Frame [Film Festival] as a student fellow because they had a student fellowship program when I was in college. Luckily, I got to go for two years. After that, I was like, “I want to have a free way to go to this film festival. I can't afford a badge. I guess I'll volunteer.”, That's an easy way to go to a film festival and they let you see movies. So, I joined the artist services team at Full Frame; my job was to greet filmmakers who were flying in at the airport and then get them to a shuttle that would take them to their lodging.

It was so fun to me because I got this sheet of paper every shift that told me all the filmmakers that I was going to get to meet. Then, I would go look up their films and their bios. So, I got to greet them in a really familiar sort of way where I was like,  “Oh, I'm so excited to see your film.” It gave me an opportunity to learn about their careers and then to have questions ready if there was time. So, I would say if you get a chance to volunteer at a film festival, do that. You get to interact with a lot of working filmmakers, and there's a lot of really great documentary film festivals out there.

As far as getting into adventure wildlife,  or environmental filmmaking, I think it goes without saying, if you want to do that, you probably do some of that already. One thing that I've done- partially by way of Ben Masters- is we've formed a partnership with a research Institute here in West Texas and the scientists and the teachers that are in that program. 

They really understood the need to translate their research into something palatable for the general public because they spend so much time doing all this research and then they publish something in a journal and it's very academic. It's very scientific. It's not something that my mom is going to read and have a takeaway. So, when they have a short film to take out into the world and show, “This is our study on mountain lions, watch it for 12 minutes,” that’s really good for bringing new people into their work.

So, I would say seek out scientists if you want to tell conservation or wildlife stories. Seek out research institutes, or school programs and learn about what they're doing. Try to digest that information as a person who's interested in it, and try to tell some of those stories because those people are eager to get that information out there. They're not trained in the way that you as a film student have been. You don't have to know every single detail about the science if you can interview somebody who knows every detail about the science and share that with somebody. 

Grace: How can someone entering into documentary filmmaking stand out from the rest of the crowd?

Hillary: If you don't have a clear idea of what you want to do yet, specifically within film, it can be intimidating to try to pick something. But, as an employer, nobody knows what to do with you, unless you tell them what you are. I remember when I first moved to Austin, I started telling everybody I was a documentary filmmaker. So, when somebody heard of an opportunity, they thought, “Oh, I just met somebody who does documentary producing. Let me introduce you to that person.” 

The mistake that a lot of people coming out of film school and trying to get into the business make is, “Oh, I'll do anything I can do.,” and I get it. You're just eager to do anything, but if somebody just tells you they'll do anything, it makes it sound like you're a Jack of all trades master of none, or maybe even not a Jack of all trades. So, try to figure it out and tell people, “I'm an editor, or I'm a camera operator” Whatever it is, try to focus on something and make yourself known for that thing, because that's how people will remember you.

To learn more about Hillary Pierce, check out her website, hillarypierce.com