Press Conference
When I started Bronson Creative I always knew I wanted it to be a home for other filmmakers and creators as they start their journeys, and Alexander Hilli’s “Press Conference” fits that mold exactly. In anticipation of the release on September 10th, I sat down with Alex to learn more about his goals and why this film.
Make sure to check out the full film on VHF21, September 10th, 2026
This conversation has been edited for clarity:
Jerry: Could you take through the inspiration for Press Conference?
Alex: The idea was to start after the fight. Usually when you see a boxing movie, you're watching the training or the fight itself. I was interested in what happens after the fight, when the fighter has already won. Boxing was also a metaphor for me. It could really be about any kind of struggle. I've never boxed myself, but I've always had sports in my life, so I understood that world enough to use it. The press conference is where the information starts to come out. You have this fighter who has just won, everyone is celebrating, and then there's a journalist in the room who knows something that everyone else doesn't.
As she starts revealing that information, your understanding of the victory changes.
Jerry: I really like that idea of the journalist essentially taking control of the room. What interested you about telling the story through this lens?
Alex: She comes into the room with information and slowly takes everyone's attention. At first, nobody really knows why she's asking these questions. Then you realize that she has something that could completely change the fighter's career. In a way, she's killing the fighter. Not physically, but she's potentially ending his career. And that raises another question: what responsibility do you have when you have information that can change someone's life?
Jerry: So it's not really just about boxing or journalism.
Alex: No. It's about truth, belief, memory, and reality. What people believe happened can be very different from what actually happened.
Jerry: Could you share a little about your directing process and how you approached working with your actors?
Alex: The important thing for me was that she (the journalist) had to believe the information was true. She isn't manipulating people just for the sake of manipulating them. She believes she is doing the right thing. I don't usually give actors a huge amount of direction unless they need it. I want them to understand the character and the history and then let them do their work.
Jerry: This was made as a proof of concept for a feature. What made you decide to make the short rather than just putting together a trailer or something that explained the idea?
Alex: We didn't have money to make the feature, so we looked at the script and asked, "What scene can we make?" We picked this scene and made it as a real short film. That was really important to me. I didn't want to make something that was just a trailer for the feature. I wanted it to actually work as a film. It needed to prove that we could tell the story through images and that we could make something at a high technical level.
Even if someone never sees the feature, Press Conference should still be a film that stands on its own.
Jerry: I think that's an important distinction. A proof of concept can sometimes feel like you're just showing somebody what the movie might be. You were actually trying to make the movie in miniature.
Alex: Exactly. It should give people a reason to believe in the bigger film.
Jerry: Now that you've made the proof of concept, what's your next step?
Alex: Finding the money for the feature. We have the script, producers and people attached. The feature is around a €2 million budget, so obviously it's a different challenge. But I'm also working on other projects. I have a documentary in Morocco, a road movie set in Spain, music videos and short documentaries. I'm applying for funding and continuing to develop things.
Jerry: What happens if the money for Press Conference doesn't come?
Alex: Then I put it aside for a while and work on something else. I don't think you should compromise a film by trying to make it with 30 percent of the budget it actually needs. Sometimes it's better to have several projects and keep making things.
Jerry: That's probably one of the hardest lessons for filmmakers: the project you're working on doesn't necessarily have to be the project that gets made next.
Alex: Exactly. You just have to keep making things. And that's why I wanted to make Press Conference this way. It proves that we can make the film. Now we have to find the right circumstances to make the bigger one.
If you would like to learn more about Alex’s work and stay in touch, check out https://alexanderhilli.com/
Learn more about VHF 21 and how to get involved by clicking HERE.
