Cade Featherstone
“ON YOUR RADAR” IS A WEEKLY GRAD FILM NEWS SEGMENT THAT FEATURES A STUDENT PICKED AT RANDOM.
CADE IS CURRENTLY A 3RD YEAR STUDENT AT GRAD FILM. WE ASKED HIM A FEW QUESTIONS, AND HERE’S WHAT HE HAD TO SAY:
Where do you consider home and what is it like there?
North London, in a small village called Highgate which sits on top of a hill. I was told if London were to flood Highgate would be okay, so I grew up feeling very lucky to live so high up. There’s a big famous cemetery there, which is weird because everyone in Highgate is so old it literally feels like no one dies. It’s just a very sweet, friendly place and I love it. When I moved to NYC, the first day I was here a man covered in blood threw milk at my face. But I’m learning to love that too. I think home is familiarity and that just takes a while.
What is currently inspiring you as a filmmaker?
It’s a bit of a mix of stuff. Mostly I get into very specific mundane things, I keep lists on them - petty comments, songs that seem normal but have an angry verse, videos where two people wear the same thing while singing the same thing, emotional advice given by men to men on the internet, fake popstars in films and their fake albums being listened to in real life. I like real pop too. To be honest anything popular and accessible I’m probably into. I spend a lot of time reading philosophy also, mainly to do with morality, goodness etc. But I like the mixing of the accessible and the inaccessible. Like I once tried to use Disney films to devise algebra that would solve the meaning of life lol (i didn’t solve it). I think this clash of small big thinking and big small thinking is my constant inspiration.
What has been your most rewarding experience at NYU Tisch Grad Film so far?
I came to Tisch and thought I’d find like minded individuals to collaborate with, or at least a couple of people with the same dreams as me and we’d work together to realize them. And I was completely wrong. I actually discovered very different minded individuals who all have totally different dreams, but who still appreciate, understand and want to help me with my own. That made me realize what true collaboration is. I’ve become a better filmmaker and person for understanding that difference.