Taylor Swift has big dreams as a filmmaker.
During a screening of All Too Well: The Short Film held at the Beacon Theater in New York City as part of the 2022 Tribeca Festival, Swift spoke about overcoming “imposter syndrome” as a music video director and revealed she’d like to write and direct a full-length feature film in the future.
Speaking to filmmaker Mike Mills, the 32-year-old singer-songwriter opened up about her experience venturing into directing with music videos like “The Man,” “Cardigan,” and “Willow,” and how it led to the creation of All Too Well: The Short Film, which she wrote and directed.
“I was always very curious. I was always looking, and learning, and trying to absorb as much as I possibly could,” she remarked. “A few music videos [into my career], I just started going into the edit, and making changes.
“It started with meddling, and it went from meddling with the edit to then writing the treatments for the music videos… That was almost ten years ago,” recalled Swift, noting that she’d often conceptualize her own music videos before handing the work off to a seasoned director — until 2019’s “The Man.”
After writing its video treatment, she attempted to hire a female director, but none that she knew were available: “All my favorite female directors were booked and busy, which is great. We love that.”
Swift was filming 2020’s Miss Americana documentary at the time, received advice from its director, Lana Wilson, and ended up directing “The Man” herself, which sparked a new creative desire for the singer-songwriter. “Once I started directing music videos, I didn’t not want to do it.”
However, she had to overcome self-doubt before officially considering herself a director. “I think I had this imposter syndrome in my head saying, ‘No, you don’t do that. Other people do that who went to school to [direct],'” explained Swift.
Mills, 63, then admitted he didn’t go to school for directing either, which relieved Swift. “Oh! It’s fantastic to know that. That makes me feel better,” she said.
“Don’t you feel like it’s an amazing exercise in trusting gut instinct? There are so many decisions you have to make,” continued Swift. “Saying ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m not sure’ really isn’t an option most of the time.”
“It can be, if said the right way,” he replied.
“Maybe that’s just being a female director,” Swift quipped.
Since writing and directing All Too Well: The Short Film, which stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien, she’s developed bigger dreams for herself as a filmmaker.
“It would be so fantastic to write and direct a feature,” revealed Swift, adding that she’d approach a full-length project the same way she approached the short film. “I don’t see it being bigger in terms of scale. I loved making a film that was so intimate with a crew that was relatively small, just a really solid group of people that I trusted.”
In November 2021, Swift released the 13-minute short film, which serves as a music video to “All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version),” an extended take on the fan-favorite song from 2012’s Red featured on last year’s Red (Taylor’s Version) — the latest album in her ongoing series of re-recordings.
