The History of Hysteria Productions

I began Hysteria Productions way back in 1994. Setting up to produce music videos and eventually with the hope of moving in to feature films. This is essentially what happened. A string of music videos until 1999 when I produced and directed my first (and only) feature film Lost:Black Earth.

It took 4 years to complete the film and the process took with it much of my desire to direct a feature again. Over the following years, I moved into post-production and turned Hysteria Productions into a post facility providing editing and visual effects work. Still with the hope of eventually making some big-time features.

In 2006 I got a small role with the video split department on Charlotte’s Web. Being so close to the director and producers on this big Hollywood flick was enough to turn me off the idea of ever working in Hollywood. So many problems, so little creativity. Everything was done by committee and you could see the directors’ soul was broken.

2007, after a long run of producing commercials, was the year I got to edit my first feature The Gates of Hell as well as produce all the visual effects for this horror flick. Over 18 months I put heart and soul into this production. At the end, we were all broken. So many problems and even the end film was reasonably good, it never got a release and still sits on the shelf today.

Over the next few years, I worked on a number of commercials and feature films, editing and producing visual effects. In 2011 after working on John Doe: Vigilante, I was done. The industry is full of negative, miserable people all with broken dreams. The ones that aren’t are a blend of sociopaths, psychopaths and egomaniacs. I just couldn’t bear to be around it any more.

One last flick. In 2014, friend and director Mark Savage approached me to edit his latest film Stressed to Kill. I had always wanted to work with Mark so decided it would be my last movie. Unlike all the others before, it was a dream project. The story was good, the filming was beautiful, the acting was quality, not a producer in sight, and there was nothing to “fix”. Finally, I could simply do my job of crafting well-produced footage into a movie. It seemed fitting to end on my best experience.

Once the film was complete, I walked away from filmmaking for good. I was relieved, albeit lost. Over the next few years, I managed to find a new passion and now teach people meditation online and am the happiest I’ve ever been. You can find out more about this at Empowering Meditations.

https://empoweringmeditations.com/

I also set up this web site Creative Worlds of James Cole to showcase all of my creative work that goes well beyond just film and video production.

https://jamescole.com.au

You can get in touch with me at either of these sites.

Who knows what the future will hold. One day I may get the bug back and want to make another film. I think if this ever happened, now that I’m much wiser than I was before, it would be a very different story.

Thank you to all who have been part of this journey in one way or another. The friends I’ve made, the arseholes that taught me valuable lessons, the clients and the many talented people I’ve learned from.