[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: You said in your book, How I Made 52 Films In Three Years, your first film will be your worst work, but it’s better than no film at all.
Blake Ridder, Filmmaker/Writer/Actor/YouTuber: Before answering the question, I just want to say there are exceptions where there are individuals who somehow make their first film and it’s amazing.
That does happen, but very very rarely.
I think people really latch on to those individuals thinking I’m going to be one of them.
I had that for my first feature film as well, not just the first short.
I think my first feature is going to the Cannes festival and all those festivals.
That has happened to other people when their first debut film was one of the best that people ever seen.
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That didn’t happen to me and certainly didn’t happen to me with the first short film.
I think that is a very hard truth that people have to face at the beginning and most filmmakers quit because of that.
They think Okay I’m going to spend the money, the time to learn and this film is going to be successful.
In their mind if they don’t reach that success they feel like they’re a failure they quit and they stop making or they slow down dramatically.
I think that’s for any kind of skill and passion that you have, dancing, singing, chess, sports…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
Blake Ridder is a filmmaker, writer, director and actor, born in Shanghai and raised in the United Kingdom from the age of nine. He began acting in 2017, then wrote and directed his first short a year later. His feature debut, Help (2021), picked up multiple festival prizes and marked him as a fresh voice in contained psychological thrillers. Ridder’s horror follow-up, Manor of Darkness, was released in December 2025, while his third feature, the California-set suspense thriller Spill, is completed and heading for festivals/distribution. Across more than 70 shorts he has written, directed, and appeared in award winners such as The English Teacher (2020). He founded Ridder Films, an independent production company operating in Los Angeles and London, and launched the Ridder Film Festival in 2024 to spotlight emerging genre filmmakers. His behind-the-scenes filmmaking content has attracted an online audience of over half a million followers. Ridder speaks English and Mandarin fluently.
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