Why "House of Hugs"?

I realize that the name “House of Hugs Productions” sounds amateurish and clunky at best, and somewhat porn-ish at worst. If you're familiar with my films, or at least their names, then you know I got “House of Hugs Productions” from my film, Jimmy's House of Hugs. (And you also know that there's nothing porn-like about any of my work.) When putting together credits for the film that I did for a class back in 2003, I wanted to put down some kind of production company name. So I just took “House of Hugs”, put it in front of “Productions” and there it was. I always meant it to be a temporary name.

Several films, and years, later, I found myself still slapping on “House of Hugs Productions” in the credits. It's the name I had , and I thought it reflected what I wanted my films to be – feel good stories that made the audience feel hugged. I felt also that it kind of unique. (Well, I knew it was. I did a web search to make sure it was before I used it. I do that on my titles, too.) So, until something better entered into my thoughts, “House of Hugs” was good enough.

Actually, I have thought of a better name. I came up with it a few years ago. It's slicker, more professional sounding, and still captures a bit of what I'm about. But I can't get myself to use it yet. The only reason is that my gut has been telling me to stay with “House of Hugs Productions” for now.

Maybe I just can't get myself to use the new name because it is a cooler name, and I feel like I'm anything but cool or slick. My films aren't slick and my website isn't slick. (Speaking of my website, it needs a lot of work.) I'm kind of an old fashioned geek in that even my latest films were in TV aspect ratio. (Does everything have to be widescreen? There's a nice intimacy in 1.33 to 1.) I was also never able to afford the best camera package, the best lighting equipment, etc., so my films don't look very professional. And I think all that makes some people not take me seriously.

I'm quite used to being underestimated, so I don't get too caught up in that. I don't think I'm at all the most talented film maker, or at all brilliant. Jeremy's the brilliant one. ("Brilliant" is an over-applied word, I think, so I don't use it lightly.) I just have a mind that is so on analytical overdrive that it ends up tapping into some good ideas once in a while. It's like I don't really write my own stories. I'm kind of a lackey. I listen to what the higher powers tell me to write down and I write it.

And that higher power is still telling me to stick with “House of Hugs Productions”. So I do.  It's actually starting to make sense to me why I'm supposed to. But I'll wait on telling that.