Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Notsch.
Hi Hannah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My name is Hannah Notsch, I am a San Diego creative and filmmaker. I went to San Diego State University and got my Bachelors in Television Film and Media Production with a minor in Anthropology. I am an aspiring writer/director and post grad, I work on short films with friends and the local film community here.
My favorite genres to write and direct are coming-of-age, dramas, and romances. Greta Gerwig is a big inspiration of mine, I love how much heart goes into her films and how human they feel. When I watched her movie Lady Bird for the first time, it made me want to become a filmmaker! I was in awe! I laughed out loud, I cried hard, I loved how it looked, and it made me feel seen. I wanted to make films that made people feel like that. And the more I learned about the making of the movie, the more it reinforced how much love, heart, and very hard work goes into making something like that.
I grew up loving music and art. I was in a band with my sister and began performing with her at age 7. I loved performing, singing on stage was so fun and exciting, and for a while I thought I wanted to be a musician. My parents put us in lessons and encouraged us to do what we love. My dad loved playing guitar when he was younger, and my mom, who’s Filipina, grew up singing karaoke at family gatherings. They understood the joy and importance of music and the arts.
Throughout my childhood I learned how to draw, paint, sew, embroider, play ukulele, and guitar. I loved to craft, I sewed my halloween costumes from scratch, and I was always on YouTube learning a new hobby. When I was in high school I took a video production and a film studies class. I loved those classes, I loved making videos, watching movies, and learning about movies. I was a relatively quiet kid, and I realized film was something I felt passionate about when I found myself arguing with my teacher about one of my projects in front of the whole class.
When I went to college, I struggled to pick between majoring in Songwriting or Film Production. I ended up picking film because it felt bigger and scarier. Music was safe, I had grown up in lessons and performing, but film was newer to me and I knew less about it. And most importantly, I loved making short films and it made me so excited, in a way that music never had.
I had the time of my life in film school. I met some of my favorite people in the entire world. I worked on films with so many awesome and talented people. I learned how collaborative filmmaking really is, and fell even more in love with it and the process. I had the opportunity to direct three short films, two narrative and one documentary. Writing, being on sets, and being around other aspiring filmmakers really solidified my dream. I remember staying up late working on projects with my friends and thinking “I want to do this forever.”
So here I am now. I hope to one day write and direct for a living. I’m not there yet, but I am enjoying the journey. In my day job, I work at an indoor playground and make videos for their social media. When I’m not working, I’m writing or working on my next film project. I am actually in pre-production for my next short film called I’m Not Having Fun, set to shoot in February 2026! So these days you can find me storyboarding, making costumes, sending emails, trying to figure out how to use Google Sheets, and doing all the other joys of pre-production on an indie short film.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I am a planner. I love a color coded calendar, I love an itinerary, and I am a big fan of knowing what’s going to happen. I think the most stressful part about this is not knowing exactly what my journey is going to look like. I can look at how other filmmakers have gotten to where they are now, but that is only so helpful because we all have our own path. It’s so easy to think about giving up, because my goal can feel so out of reach and far away.
What helps me the most is to surround myself with other creatives. Working with my film friends on our projects and helping each other out is what keeps me feeling creative and inspired.
Going to the movies also helps. I love the movies. The sense of quiet community, sitting in a packed room of strangers knowing you all have at least one thing in common, it’s magical. There have been so many wonderful movies that came out recently that were directed by women, like “Sorry, Baby” and “Oh, Hi,” and they are a reminder that one day hopefully one of mine will play in a theater too.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I like to write and direct the most. I am most proud of one of my recent short films called Ephemeral. I co-wrote it with a friend and I directed it. I put so much love, time, and heart into that film. Everyone on the cast and crew really put their all into the project, and I am so grateful for all their hard work. It’s such a special feeling to create a project with people that care as much you do, and seeing it show through the final product. Ephemeral won Best Local
Filmmaker and Best Student Filmmaker at the San Diego
Short Film Festival in 2024!
What sets me apart is I try to make my work as honest and as thorough as possible. I don’t “half-ass” anything. I pour my time and energy into every aspect of my work. I will sew a costume from scratch if I know it’ll look better on screen and work better for the story. I will perform a scene in my living room and edit it over and over until the dialogue sounds real and believable out loud. If an actor is crying in a scene, I am most likely behind the monitor silently crying with them. I am always down to go the extra mile for a project.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I think going to film school is a risk. College is expensive, and majoring in something with not a lot of job security is a risk. But in the end we are just specks on a floating rock, and if I never tried to follow my dreams I would absolutely regret it for the rest of my life. I am lucky to have supportive parents who always encouraged us to do what we loved, and I am lucky to have the privilege to be able to take this risk.
I wouldn’t consider myself a natural risk-taker, but I think I take a lot of risks. I make myself do it, because I know I need to, especially if this is what I want to do. Every film I make is a risk, because I am putting a lot of time and money into it each time, and I’m asking other people for their time and energy too. Every time I put something out into the world there is the risk that people won’t like it, will say it’s bad, or will say it was a waste of time. But I really try to think of the other side of that. What if people do like it? What if they say it made them laugh or cry or feel something? I try to think of what can go right.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hannahnotsch.my.canva.site/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/hannahnfilms
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hannahnfilms
- Other: https://instagram.com/imnothavingfun.film
Image Credits
Olivia Vargo
Karla P. Gonzalez
