0:00 - Conor Soucy: And if you just enjoy the experience and you just realize that everything's a learning process, then you know, you'll never lose, you'll never be on the bottom, you'll just keep being on the top, and that can carry you a really long way into your career. 

0:12 - Liam Dacko: Hello and welcome to Stonehill Stories, the official podcast of Stonehill College. I'm your host, Liam Dacko, Class of 2016. I'm delighted to share my recent conversation with Conor Soucy, Class of 2019, a filmmaker who leads with creativity. During our discussion, the Stonehill alumnus talks about the filmmakers who inspire him, navigating Tinseltown, and his movie, Dead Whisper. 

0:40 - Liam Dacko: Conor, I wanted to first say thank you so much for joining me today. You know, it’s a real pleasure to reconnect with you. I know we had met a couple years ago. As someone who's a big fan of film and television, I love being able to chat with filmmakers like you.

0:56 - Conor Soucy: Well, yeah, thanks, Liam. I appreciate you having me on and excited to be back in this format, talking to the Stonehill community and keeping updated and all that good stuff. 

1:04 - Liam Dacko: What originally got you interested in filmmaking?

1:08 - Conor Soucy: From like a simple standpoint, it was just watching a lot of movies. My dad and I used to watch movies basically every night with each other. And that started at a really young age.  And from that, you know, we also had this local movie theater called Jax Jr. up in Littleton, New Hampshire. I grew up in a really small rural town where there wasn't a lot to do. So I loved going to the movies. And it was a really great movie theater that you know, [dated] back, I think, to like the Great Depression era, one big screen and they cut it into two later. And they had really affordable candy and, you know, sodas. And it was just like your classic small town movie theater. So I really loved that. And so, because of that, my whole family was into movies. And we just talked about films all the time. And I definitely think like my dad's generation just had such great films, you know, Star Wars and The Goonies and that era’s movies that I also really fell in love with. And we had all the DVDs too. And so I'd watch the, you know, the behind the scenes of Spielberg directing Jaws in Cape Cod and talking about his experience there. And, you know, George Lucas on Star Wars and doing the props and all that stuff. I just really ate it up. And I really enjoyed that side of the behind-the-scenes filmmaking.

2:11 - Liam Dacko: Now, you mentioned Spielberg and Lucas, would you say those two filmmakers have had the biggest impact on your own work? Or are there others? 

2:19 - Conor Soucy: I think it's probably them. It's almost impossible for anyone who likes movies to not have them be the biggest impacts just because of the impact that they've had on film. I mean, with Jaws and Star Wars, I mean, there's like the industry before Star Wars and Jaws and then there's the industry after just how it transformed. I mean, especially Jaws transforming the summer blockbuster and literally instilling fear within the entire American public about sharks, right? But in terms of other filmmakers, you know, definitely when I got started—this is a little bit like a cliché with filmmakers. I was in love with Tarantino.  And I think that happens with a lot of filmmakers just because of the way he talks about filmmaking, his passion about it.

2:53 - Conor Soucy: And of course, this sort of, you know, archetypal story that he has of being, you know, he was working in the movie rentals and going from that to writing his own script and self-financing his own movie and then into doing Reservoir Dogs. And so, I definitely loved him as a filmmaker because of how he built his own path from the ground up. 

3:11 - Liam Dacko: Obviously, you cut your teeth as a filmmaker at Stonehill in the Digital Media Production program. Why did you choose Stonehill in the first place? 

3:19 - Conor Soucy: Yeah, well, the reason I originally, you know, choose Stonehill was really about its community. I knew about the college because my grandparents lived right down the street. Obviously, I grew up in northern New Hampshire. So, for me, Stonehill was even far away down in Massachusetts, a couple hours south. And I when I saw the campus, and it was just so beautiful.  I mean, obviously, you're there, you can speak to that just how beautiful the space it is. And I just really saw myself there. And it just felt like home right away. You know, I just felt like it was a really safe community to belong to.

3:44 - Conor Soucy: And that was, you know, the first step. I mean, from at that point in my life, from a career standpoint, I was a little bit unsure about what I wanted to do. And I also think Stonehill gave their students the freedom to choose their own paths once you were there. And they had a great business program. And I felt like that was a really good general starting point. And you know, the entire exploration of film and DMP at Stonehill came actually a little bit later for me. I don't think I started doing that until the second half of sophomore year.

4:10 - Liam Dacko: Now, how specifically did the Digital Media Production program prepare you for your work as a filmmaker? You know, what skills, whether they're hard or soft skills, did you take away from that program? 

4:23 - Conor Soucy: Yeah, I think for the DMP class that I you'd like the first class I took, it was with Katie Shannon. And, you know, we just started off talking about movies and watching scenes and talking about cinema. When I was in high school, I had this English course that I loved where we would just read books, and we would jot down pages and just talk about the symbolism and themes and metaphors that were on the page. And then here we were doing the same thing with movies. And that got me really excited.

4:44 - Conor Soucy: And then from there, going deeper into the program, it transformed into, you know, just saying to the students, here, here's a camera, here's a tripod, you know, go make your own your own film, go shoot something from start to finish. And then bringing back to class, we'll sit here, we'll watch it together, we’ll talk about, you know, what's great about each other's films, what's what are things to look out for things we can all do better. And I think that sort of self-starter mentality that the program had for their young filmmakers really was helpful. When you start off in your career, you just have to go out and make your own thing. So the great part about Stonehill was that I was already doing that, you know, my sophomore year of college. 

5:19 - Liam Dacko: You mentioned working with Katie Shannon, what was it like having her as a mentor? She's obviously a very experienced filmmaker, you know, she has a lot of credits to her name. What was it like working with her?

5:29 - Conor Soucy: It was great, because she actually knows how to go out and shoot things and go make her own material. So, this wasn't just somebody who I think liked filmmaking and watching movies, this was someone who knew how to make movies. And so, you know, the conversation could go there. It's like, you know, if you were struggling with something in an editing software, she could come help you with that. And then at the same time, be leading a course on talking about the history of cinema and different movies and how the industry had changed. And so, she was really multifaceted from that standpoint, and a true filmmaker in herself.

6:00 - Liam Dacko: And so, after you graduated, and you took all those classes, you gained technical experience through Stonehill's program, you moved to LA to break into the film industry. I'm wondering, what was it like first navigating Hollywood? What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you overcome them? On the flip side, what were some of the positive highlights of the experience of moving to LA? 

6:23 - Conor Soucy: Becoming a film director, which is more specifically my experience in producing— there is no clear path. But the real key I found was just to surround yourself by like-minded people who are also trying to do the same thing. And I think like when people talk about relationships being the most important part of Hollywood, I think really what that means, what they're trying to say is like friendships. I mean, everything is friendship-based, and it's about having deep relationships with people. It's not, you know, I think there's this big approach with business in general of networking, quote unquote, but I think you really need to have authentic friendships with people to help deepen and further your career. So that's something that takes some time to figure out, too. And the people I work with are also my best friends. My cinematographer was the best man in my wedding, and my composer was a groomsman. You know, that's how deep these relationships become. And that's not an unusual thing by any means. 

7:17 - Liam Dacko: Now you returned to Stonehill in 2022 to film scenes for Dead Whisper, which was your film that premiered last summer. Tell me a bit about the movie. Where can people find it? What's it about? 

7:30 - Conor Soucy: Dead Whisper is about this Cape Cod lawyer who gets on a ferry for a business trip and the ferry mysteriously diverts to this hidden island. And he gets off and he walks around the island and everyone there speaks in whispers. It's available on Amazon, Apple TV, basically anywhere that you can rent a movie. In terms of filming at Stonehill, you know, when I wrote this script, I actually had Stonehill in mind. This very specific space up at Donahue Hall, you know, big rooms they have, which they sometimes use for weddings and school events. I mean, it's used for a variety of purposes. But when I was a student at Stonehill and I just remember thinking like, wow, it would be amazing to shoot a movie in here. Like this space is just incredible. And so, when I wrote Whisper, I wrote it with that space in mind specifically for this estate that's in the movie on the island.

8:15 - Conor Soucy: You know, when the script was done, I reached out to Stonehill to see if I could film there. And they were really receptive to the idea, and they made it happen. I think all the way through, they were really supportive, which was a great feeling because it takes, you know, when you're a filmmaker, it takes other people supporting you to achieve your goals.

8:30 - Liam Dacko: And I think it's just emblematic of the fact that you've been, you know, graduated from Stonehill for what, six years now? Yet, we still want to do all we can to support you and lift up your work and support your art. Even though you haven't physically been living on campus for all these years, you're still an important part of our community. And the same goes for all our alumni.

8:53 - Conor Soucy: Yeah, absolutely. And I mean, still, you know, I've seen Fr. John out here in LA a few times, and we've had coffee. And, you know, I do really feel like I'm still very much a part of the community, even though I've been away from it for, as you said, probably six years now.

9:08 - Liam Dacko: And to that end, you, during filming, offered Stonehill students the chance to work on the film as production assistants. Why was it important for you to give them that opportunity? 

9:20 - Conor Soucy: Being on set as a PA is a really important experience for seeing how sets work. For the students that came on to PA for Whisper, I hope they had a really good experience. And that's what I was hoping, was to be like, here, you can work on a film set. It's a lot more casual than you think. I mean, it's not as glamorous as people make it out to be. It’s really just like going to work and doing a job. But it's amazing because you get to be incredibly creative. And so, I was hoping for those students to have that experience and so they would want to stick with it and keep making movies. And doing that with Stonehill specifically was so important because it's not just about your college lifting you up. It's also about you lifting up your own college and, you know, going back to the roots of where you come from. So, you know, I was hoping to also instill that in their experience.

10:05 - Liam Dacko: Well, we appreciate you opening up that opportunity to students. And I know from talking to some of them that they got a lot out of it. \

10:13 - Conor Soucy: Oh, that's great. I'm happy to hear that. 

10:15 - Liam Dacko: Now, working in the film industry can obviously be very tough. You talked about the fact earlier that filmmakers’ career trajectories are not often linear. What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers at Stonehill?

10:32 - Conor Soucy: I think my advice would be to go make your own things as soon and quickly as possible, as frightening as that might be. And just to figure it out as you go and not worry if you make mistakes. I think like the first short film or two I did, I didn't even finish because I made so many mistakes. I was like, I'm never going to show this to anybody. So, I think like even if you have that experience and even if it's difficult, just keep sticking with it. And that experience is just going to get more increasingly difficult, especially after college. And so if you can kind of get yourself into this resilient state of going out, being creative and drawing from it, not the success of making the project, but from the experience of doing it, it's really what you need to take away. And if you just enjoy the experience and you just realize that everything's a learning process, then you'll never lose. You'll never be on the bottom. You'll just keep being on the top. And that can carry you a really long ways into your career.

11:23 - Liam Dacko: And I understand you got married fairly recently, correct? 

11:27 - Conor Soucy: Yeah, two years ago now. But yeah, I did. I married Kennedy Muise, now Kennedy Soucy, who I met at Stonehill my freshman year in the first couple of weeks.

11:37 - Liam Dacko: And she works for Space Force, correct? 

11:39 - Conor Soucy: Yeah, she works for Space Force. In their international partnerships program. 

11:43 - Liam Dacko: I mean, talk about like a power couple. You know, you're a filmmaker. She’s working at Space Force. Like, I mean, that's awesome. 

11:49 - Conor Soucy: Sometimes, you know, people really like to talk about movies. And if you say that you work in film, then it becomes like, all right, we're going to talk about movies all night. And so, I quickly go, well, my wife works for U.S. Space Force. And then outer space is a lot cooler than movies. And so immediately, we can start talking about that, which is good, because I already talked about movies too much as it is. But, yeah, she's incredibly successful. And I just try to, you know, keep up with her.

12:13 - Liam Dacko: And what is she doing at Space Force exactly? 

12:15 - Conor Soucy: Yeah, she's a program manager for the international partnership program. So, she helps basically negotiate contracts between different countries and nations about what they want to put on the satellites that U.S. is sending up into space. So that involves a lot of travel. She's been to, you know, Japan. She's been all over the place, working on this stuff. And yeah, it's really important work. And she's a leader in that capacity. 

12:43 - Liam Dacko: Conor, I always like to wrap up with this question. We often share with students and prospective students that Stonehill is a place where they can find their purpose or their calling. Reflecting on your life as a filmmaker, and your Stonehill journey and other elements of your life, what would you say your calling has been? 

13:02 - Conor Soucy: I think my calling has been to collaborate with other people. That's something I really enjoy. I mean, before I went to Stonehill, I, you know, I did music in high school. And I love playing music with people. And that evolved into team sports. And that evolved into film. And I think film is one of the purest forms of collaboration. You can't do everything yourself; you literally have to count on other people. That's been one of my favorite things, whether it's working with different writers, you know, different filmmakers, and storytellers and seeing those things come to fruition. 

13:33 - Liam Dacko: Before I wrap up, I just want to say thank you again for taking the time to chat with me. And you know, I hope to be seeing some project of yours’ on the big screen very soon. 

13:45 - Conor Soucy: Yeah, I hope I hope for that, too. And thank you so much for having me and go Skyhawks! And you know, I miss Stonehill and everyone there. So hey, have a good day on campus, right? 

13:57 - Liam Dacko: Thank you for listening to Stonehill Stories. This podcast is produced by Liam Dacko of Stonehill College's Office of Communications & Media Relations. Intro theme composed by Associate Professor of Music James Bohn. Outro theme composed by Philip Pereira. Graphic design assistance provided by Colin Spencer. To discover more about Stonehill College, visit our website at stonehill.edu.