"It's not about big ambitions, hawkinsian productions is just a vehicle to help me make sense of things."

Introduction

Hawkinsian Productions started in 2003 when Ian Hawkins fulfilled an ambition and bought a camcorder. Thanks to digital technology and the Internet, Ian discovered the ability to film, edit and distribute his own films.

Hawkinsian Productions make low- or no-budget documentaries. We don’t specialise in anything, we just try to make films that are interesting, fair to people and above all, watchable.

We like to believe that big subjects can be covered by tiny budgets – admittedly, this is a little idealistic.

Why no-budget?

We don’t choose to be no-budget, we just don’t have any money. Having said that, we have never applied for or received any financial support or backing. One day we will but in the meantime, there’s lots we can do with our own meagre resources.

It’s amazing what improvisation and DIY equipment can achieve. More importantly, we rely on the good will and co-operation of other people. There are lots of people who are willing to help and we’ve found that good projects attract good people.

If you're one of these people, take a look at how to get involved.

Why documentaries?

Low- or no-budget filmmaking presents its own problems. It stretches resourcefulness to the limit and often struggles to maintain the production values we aspire to.

From Hollywood to Bollywood, fiction or scripted films rely on ‘suspension of disbelief’ – that’s to say, they need to trick us into believing that we are watching something other than a bunch of actors in a studio. Small budgets can mean poor lighting, cheap sound and amateurs on both sides of the camera. This can ruin suspension of disbelief. A documentary is different.

An interesting interview can engage the viewer regardless of no-budget production values. We’d love to make a scripted film sooner or later. For now, we’re exploring what we can do with documentaries.