NYWIFT Blog

By Briana Wilson

Welcome to NYWIFT, Joyce Hills!

Joyce Hills is a recent graduate of NYU Tisch, where she co-wrote and directed the culturally-rich epic Viking short film The Feather, featuring out-of-this-world SFX hair and makeup, practical stunts, and generative workflows on a virtual production volume.

She was the First Assistant Director and VFX Supervisor on the Seed & Spark-awarded short film Night of Melancholia, interned in Virtual Production at Gum Studios in Brooklyn, and performed as Sugarsop, The Widow, and assorted household servants in Will Kempe’s Players’ The Taming of the Shrew.

Joyce is developing her first feature film, a dark fantasy inspired by mystical quests, heroes’ journeys, and time and destiny in popular culture. She is also developing a science fiction feminist short, and is pursuing additional education in XR media-making and STEM.

In our interview, she discussed her childhood inspirations, emerging technologies, and the future of storytelling.

Welcome to NYWIFT! Could you give our readers a brief introduction to yourself?

I am a screenwriter, director, and aspiring polymath. I want to make movies, robots, and ecosystems. My obsession is the new renaissance—the reunion between storytelling and science through today’s virtual windows.

I am currently thrilled to be working as a visual pioneering artist at Eyeline Studios. My dream is to create not across but within the boundaries between storytelling and media-making and technology and engineering.

What brought you to NYWIFT?

Coming into NYWIFT, I am thrilled to be part of such a supportive community. I have long been inspired by the creators and contributors at NYWIFT, both virtually and at events. I am so excited to get to know more members and to support their brilliant projects.

What originally drew you to a career in film, and how did you discover your passion for the visual effects and technology sides of filmmaking?

As a child, I made picture-books of stapled scrap paper with stick figure drawings and their descriptive words. One book might start with the word “dog” and a very minimalist rendition of one, and the next page might be “blooberry” with a big circle. I called them “Joyce Books” and sold them in the family living room.

That’s what I still do basically, just now I know a few big words, use a computer, and my circle has somewhat expanded.

How has your experience in virtual production shaped your approach as a screenwriter and director?

We now live in a world where what can be imagined is essentially possible. Understanding the technology and the technical principles behind so much possibility is invaluable.

For example, in The Feather, we were able to correspond with the cultural advisor of A24’s The Northman on our film’s mythical and textile context, and he pointed us to artifacts recovered from excavated Viking sites. We were able to take imagery of those artifacts, transform them into digital objects through 3D and generative pipelines, and put them up on the LED wall as part of our virtual production design. That was a precise re-rendering and re-imaging of those artifacts’ place in our world and was overall fascinating and deeply rewarding to contemplate and execute.

What has been the most fulfilling project you’ve worked on so far? What made it significant for you?

I could not possibly choose – every project I’ve worked on so far has introduced me to people who continue to enrich my life and bless me with their company and ideas, and every story we’ve told has something incredibly significant that will live on in my heart and mind.

I could potentially answer that the most fulfilling project I have worked on is the one I don’t even know has already begun, the one that ties it all together, once and for all.

You’ve mentioned your obsession with “the new renaissance—the reunion between storytelling and science through today’s virtual windows.” Where do you see the future of science in storytelling going?

I do find that the biggest question I ask myself has shifted from “How can I achieve this thing I have imagined?” to “How can I imagine something that truly does not exist yet?”

We don’t know where we’re headed, just that we’re making this journey together. Community and supporting one another’s narratives and dreams is all that matters. I would argue it is all that has ever mattered, but now more than ever, it does. As we explore, innovate, and embrace or contend with change and the various upcoming shifts, as long as we do it together, we’ll make it.

What are you looking forward to exploring next in your own journey between science and storytelling?

I believe that every act of creation and discovery is an act of reclamation. I don’t believe in fear when it comes to engaging with the present and analyzing the future.

As artists, we try things we seek to understand by creating with them, we feel, we rationalize, and we either absorb or we move on. Bruce Lee, for example, had his philosophy of “accept what is useful and reject what is useless.”

I also love the Holographic Theory of the Universe and this idea that the entire meaning of the Universe cannot be known until it has finished unfolding, until it’s over, until we can look back and see the complete picture of meaning. There are new things, new challenges and opportunities, every day, but as artists, we fearlessly embrace what empowers, introduces, and unites, and we supersede what does not.

I look forward to continuing this process of learning and iterating, intentional building and meaning making, and to look back and understand what it all was for.

Learn more about Joyce Hills on LinkedIn, her website www.joycehills.com, and connect with her on Instagram at @mynameisjoycehills.

(All images courtesy of Joyce Hills)