Hunting for More: Helen Hunt talks post-Netflix Hollywood

Being a director, Oscar and Emmy winning actress Helen Hunt has discovered, is about more than technical knowhow and acting chops.

For Hunt, whose most recent film, "Ride," was released last year, directing requires a person who mixes Momma Bear-like worry with over-preparation. During the making of the film, which stars Hunt and Luke Wilson, about a mother’s bond with her surfing-loving son, Hunt said she had a daily morning mantra: “All that matters is no one gets hurt. It’s a movie.”

Hunt talked about acting, directing, Jack Nicholson, the personal impact of bad reviews and more during a question-and-answer session at the Ringling College of Art and Design Studio Lab Tuesday, Feb. 23. (Bad or lukewarm reviews, she said, particularly in the New York Times, still burn.)

Hunt literally grew up in the industry, with a father and uncle who were both directors and acting coaches. She won four consecutive Emmy awards, from 1996-1999, for the TV comedy “Mad About You.” She won an Oscar opposite Nicholson in 1998 for “As Good As it Gets.” “My personal path and work path has been a north star for me,” Hunt said.

Hunt’s movie co-stars include icons such as Nicholson, Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson and Richard Gere. But whether it’s a play or an A-list cast, Hunt said succeeding in show business is heavily dependent on outworking others. Hunt said Nicholson, for example, had 3-by-5 note cards scribbled with ideas and wrote on the edges of the “As Good As it Gets” script while the movie was being shot. Nicholson didn’t “mail it in” she adds, despite his larger-than-life persona.

“Acting is acting is acting,” Hunt said. “It doesn’t really matter much what the size of the screen is. You still prepare the same way.”

Beyond preparation, Hunt said another skill she has picked up in directing is humility. She will find experts in the type of film to use or other technical areas, and regularly solicit advice. She wrote and directed “Ride” and “Then She Found Me,” in 2007.

“If I have a strength,” said Hunt, “it’s I’m willing to ask dumb questions.”

Humility is also key, she said, in getting a low or medium-budget movie made. On “Ride,” for instance, Hunt said her name was able to win some financial support and credibility. But it wasn’t enough to shoot the entire movie. So she bartered for set props and worked with friends and colleagues to get other parts of the movie done.

That’s all part of a post-Netflix Hollywood, where the traditional way of making movies and TV shows has been disrupted. “I think you can be a filmmaker anywhere,” said Hunt. “You just have to be like a wild, desperate animal.”

Before the event, Ringling College President Larry Thompson told the audience about the ambitious goals and plans for the school’s film school, launched in 2007. The program has been ranked multiple times in Hollywood Reporter’s list of the country’s top film schools.

“We want the school to be in the top five,” said Thompson. “We have great aspirations. And are on a fast track to get there.”