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Daemon Hillin The Producer of ‘Eyes in the Trees’ With Anthony Hopkins
- Becca Brazil
- 24 hours ago
- 4 min read
Making an independent film is, at its core, an act of survival. It requires answering the midnight phone call when the funding inevitably collapses and finding the nerve to shoot the jungle scene at sunrise anyway.
Emmy-nominated producer Daemon Hillin knows this rhythm in his bones. Operating in the spaces between the beaches of Venice and the streets of Bangkok, the Hillin Entertainment CEO has willed forty features into existence.
He operates as a rarity in this business: a man who takes absolute responsibility for his art and the investors who back his vision. For a younger generation seeking a path forward, Hillin offers a stark, clear blueprint. You face the fire, you do not blink, and you keep building.
The Gravity of Anthony Hopkins
Right now, the industry is watching one specific film. When Hillin calls a film special, the claim carries weight.
Eyes in the Trees is a sci-fi psychological thriller, a modern update of H.G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau shot deep in the jungles of Southeast Asia. At the center of the frame is Anthony Hopkins.
Securing an Academy Award winner of his stature changes the fundamental math of a production. Hopkins is highly selective. When he signs a contract, the global financing community stops to pay attention.
"Anthony Hopkins doesn’t just make the film better. He makes the film possible. That’s the part people outside this business don’t understand about what A-list talent actually does for your capital stack." - Daemon Hillin
An actor of this caliber acts as a universal green light for foreign sales agents, distributors, and co-production partners. While Hillin has closed deals across multiple markets for decades, the financial structure supporting Eyes in the Trees represents a massive step forward in his career.
The Anatomy of Trust
This structure relies on absolute trust. Hillin points directly to Joe Simpson and Simon Williams at Ashland Hill Media Finance. Their London and Santa Monica-based firm has rapidly deployed heavy capital across many films, establishing themselves as heavyweights in debt and gap financing.
Hillin credits them as genuine partners who understand the independent market at its marrow. He gives equal credit to Landon Gorman at BGG Capital, citing his involvement as the final key to locking the funding in place.
Finding good capital partners is rare, and Hillin knows when to value them. Financiers trust him because of the strict fiscal discipline required to handle this level of investment. He builds packages designed to turn a profit.
The surrounding cast guarantees global traction. Directed by Timothy Woodward Jr., the film features Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ashley Greene, Thomas Kretschmann, and Praya Lundberg. By shooting in Southeast Asia, Hillin secured production incentives and co-production opportunities that simply cannot be faked on a backlot.
The Hack and the Holdout
The independent film business is brutal, and sometimes, it fights back.
While Eyes in the Trees was in active production, a hacker breached their servers. Operating under the moniker “Korean Zombie,” the attacker stole precious minutes of footage. It was every single scene Anthony Hopkins had filmed in Los Angeles under a legitimate SAG-AFTRA strike waiver.
The demand arrived fast. The hacker wanted an exorbitant amount in cryptocurrency within days. If Hillin refused, the footage would be dumped online and emailed directly to foreign buyers, an act designed to intentionally tank the film’s distribution prospects.
Hillin did not flinch. He refused to pay.
He immediately contacted the FBI and the Santa Monica Police Department. He called his political contacts, reaching out to Senator Benjamin Allen, Assembly member Rick Chaves, and Congressman Ted Lieu.
Most importantly, he picked up the phone and called his investors directly. In a moment of intense pressure, he chose radical transparency over fear. He broke his own story to the press, refusing to let a hacker control the narrative.
He stated publicly that they stand by their decision not to pay the extortionist, reinforcing that as indie filmmakers, they are resilient and will deliver an amazing film.
The hacker leaked screenshots online, but the production kept moving. Hillin stated this was not his first time dealing with extortion.
His response remains identical every time: document it, report it, and keep working. For his investors, it was absolute proof of his unshakable stability. For the younger generation, it was a definitive lesson in how a real leader acts when the walls close in.
Beyond the Frame
Away from the daily fires of production, Hillin lives quietly. He surfs at dawn and splits his time between California and Thailand.
Thailand became the place where he saved his own routine. After getting sober, he spent time in Thai temples. He took full accountability for his past mistakes and began the grueling work of putting himself back together — tools he now shares in his journal for others walking the same path.
The journal is not filled with empty theories. It is a direct distillation of the exact mental tools Hillin used to reconstruct after addiction. Every prompt comes from a moment where he had to make a hard choice.