A Career In Film Takes Different Routes - Creatives of Houston PART 3
Their Path to a Creative Industry Career
Houston, Texas
Film is a team sport. It takes a range of professionals to collaborate in making a film -- set designers, wardrobe, directors, producers, art directors. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and have different passions, yet all can come together to create something beautiful and well done.
This week in the Bird Feed blog, we continue our series of Creatives in Houston and how these successful professionals took different career paths into the creative industry, and what the next generation should learn from them.
Tom Vaughan
Screenwriter/Director/Teacher
University of Houston
How did you find yourself in a creative industry career?
I never really did anything else. I started writing and making stupid movies with my brother when I was in 7th grade. I acted in high school plays and studied acting and playwriting at the University of Houston. I opened a small theatre when I left school and that led to me working as a screenwriter in LA.
Did you go to school?
Yes. I studied playwriting with Edward Albee at U of H. I had been acting, writing and producing theatre for about seven years before I switched to screenwriting. That served as a pretty stable foundation.
Did you apprentice or intern?
Not exactly. I was largely self-taught when I transitioned to screenwriting. That was a tremendous amount of work, but I enjoyed it. I was fortunate enough to have a producer in LA work with me and teach me a great deal about being a professional. That served a bit as my apprenticeship.
How would you define the work you have done?
Still a work in progress. I have had seven films made at this point, and I can’t say I am satisfied with how any of them turned out. I am grateful for each experience, but I am still working towards having everything fall into place at once. I love that chase though.
What is the advice you have for the upcoming generation?
Do it yourself. Learn. Get better. Do it yourself again. Find the healthy middle ground where you’re a perfectionist willing to fail. But never ask permission. Go do it.
Graham Painter
CCO/Cofounder
WOND3R Creative Agency
How did you find yourself in a creative industry career?
As a philosophy grad from a liberal arts school, I had no idea what I wanted to do after college. I guess in the back of my mind, I knew I could write creatively, so I began poking around for writing jobs in Houston. After having been rejected from numerous PR outfits (for not having an MBA!), I had one last interview with the Executive Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather. He liked my style and gave me my first gig.
Did you go to school for this?
I did not go to school, nor did I study advertising – initially. After working for a few network agencies and at Grey Worldwide in New York, I decided to up my game and go to Miami Ad School, which is a portfolio school for creatives. This was a great move on many levels. First off, as a writer, it allowed me to collaborate with many different art directors. If you really want to work for good agencies as either a copywriter or art director, you really need to identify a partner who can (in the case of a writer) visualize your ideas (or as an art director, write the copy for your visuals). The second reason Miami Ad School was a brilliant move is that it allowed me to spend the entire second year abroad, which helped me become the Gypsy, global-dwelling creative director I am today.
Did you apprentice or intern?
I started out with internships. First at Ogilvy & Mather Houston and later with Miami Ad School in Bucharest, Romania. After ad school, I landed my first job in London and have been in apprenticeships ever since. Our industry is all about learning your craft from other creatives whether paid or not. In the best advertising cities, like London, creatives usually intern two years (after ad school!) before they get their first job. I was an exception.
How would you define the work you have done?
I like to think of my work as communication, rather than advertising. I have always hated obvious ads. Though most of my work (in various media) would be considered advertising, I try hard to make it entertaining without feeling ad-like or salesy. I think of all advertising as pick-up lines from brands. You're initiating conversation (often interrupting people) and you're often trying to convince them to go with you. As with singles in bars, if your pick-up line sounds like a pick-up line, you're probably not getting very far. Conversely, in advertising, if your ad looks, feels, smells like an ad, I don't think you've communicated effectively. In a nutshell, I do ads that don't feel like ads.
What is your advice for the upcoming generation?
Creative, in any capacity, is not a job. It's a lifestyle. If you don't live creatively, your work will be the same way. Don't worry about what you major in. Don't worry about grades. Just pursue lots of interests and stay curious. The more you can do that doesn't make any sense at all – but that just interests you – the better off you'll be. Embrace your weirdest fascinations without abandon. And travel! It's not enough to just visit places. Move somewhere you know nothing about and embrace it. The ultimate trick is to always stay out of your comfort zone.
Tammy Franklin Davis
Sr. Event Manager
Ward & Ames Special Events
How did you find yourself in a creative industry career?
Hated everything else and didn’t even realize I had made this choice. I was selling ad space for a magazine and signed up for video electronic college on a whim. It advertised a promising career in a new field.
Did you go to school for this?
KGTV - Video Electronics College in Baton Rouge La. First career. Event planning was learned at Ward & Ames from Danny and Nancy.
Did you apprentice or intern?
Never interned in either field. Only worked for $$ but worked my way up at both film and events.
How would you define the work you have done?
Hard, Interesting, entertaining, and rewarding while sometimes very stressful. But, I love it.
What is your advice for the upcoming generation?
If it feels right -- give it your all. That is the key to success. You have to put your heart and soul into it. Neither of the businesses I have been in are for the faint at heart. They require drive and determination.
Kalli Carter
Assistant Director, Production Manager, Production Development | Bird House Productions
Business Development Coordinator | Houston Creative Endowment
How did you find yourself in a creative industry career?
From a very young age, I was fascinated with theater, film, and television. I’ve always loved the land of make-believe and story-telling is my passion. My creative industry career started in acting, directing and producing for the stage in New York, NY, and Austin, TX, from 2001 – 2008. I learned through great success and great failure, both. It was an extraordinary initiation into the arts world. In 2008, a cinematographer was so moved by the work my team and I had done, she asked if we would collaborate with her on a short film. It was that collaboration that brought me to the film and television industry. It was love at first sight, I had never been so inspired, the medium of film was IT for me. I never looked back. In 2011, I produced my first feature, a documentary called TO GO VIKING with MP FILMCRAFT, and then opened my first production company in Austin, TX, called BW FILMS, which ran successfully in commercial, film and television production until 2014. Life and love brought me home to Houston, TX, in 2014. Now, I work as an Assistant Director, a Production Manager, and in Production Development with Houston’s premier production company, Bird House Productions. I have also taken a position at the Houston Creative Endowment as a Business Development Coordinator. I will return to directing in 2020, collaborating with Houston’s best on my debut feature film, a drama-thriller.
Did you go to school?
I attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, to study acting, in New York, NY, in 2001, and then moved to Austin, TX, where I started producing and directing for theater in 2002. I schooled myself in film and television, seeking experienced filmmakers that were willing to teach me the ropes. I learned by doing primarily, getting my hands dirty with any and every department that would have me. I chose this path as every film school I looked into taught theory, but rarely taught practical training and I needed a tactile learning experience.
Did you apprentice or intern?
My apprenticeship in the Theater was under Ken Webster, celebrated Artistic Director of Austin’s famous Hyde Park Theatre, and my film apprenticeship still continues to this day as I am always learning. I am a devoted student. Primarily, these days, I focus on studying the art of story-telling, taking every Master Class I can get my hands on, studying the fascinating Hero’s Journey and working on several scripts, a drama-thriller feature, a fantasy-drama TV series and several competitive short scripts, all of which will be produced in 2020-2021, in Houston, TX.
How would you define the work you have done?
My early works were highly experimental, somewhat dark, and I found them incredibly intriguing. As I progressed as a creative over the years, my work has become more elevated and thoughtful. Now the work I do as a writer, I would define as purposeful and inspired. The work I do as an Assistant Director and Production Manager I define as fun! My days are filled with joy and laughter at Bird House Productions, and I have such passion for the work that we do. I usually feel like I am getting away with something. Production is the backbone of the industry in so many ways, and I adore seeing a project come together from the ground up. I love my production life and am so blessed to have been welcomed into Houston’s creative community by Lynn Birdwell and everyone at Bird House Productions.
What is your advice for the upcoming generation?
Stay present in your passion. Persistence, productivity and passion are key to succeeding in the creative industry. Be willing to collaborate. Film is the most collaborative art form there is, in my opinion, and knowing how to work with other creatives is so critical. Don’t give up, no matter how hard it is, how competitive, believe in your vision and commit. Respect everyone, from the Executive Producer on a project to the greenest Production Assistant, every single entity on a film set is CRITICAL to that project’s success. Have fun! This might be the most fun, rewarding, exciting industry to work in. Never forget that.
Jessica Green
Artistic Director
Houston Cinema Arts Society
How did you find yourself in a creative industry career?
My friend and legendary graffiti artist, historian and archivist Alan Ket, who has just launched the first Graffiti Museum in the world in Miami, was starting a hip hop magazine in the mid-90s with a group of friends and asked me to join the team. It was titled Stress, and we published it from 1994-2000. It was the first magazine to feature Jay Z on the cover and the first hip hop magazine to feature Eminem on the cover. It was distributed around the world, and I started out as a senior editor and eventually served as editor-in-chief and was a co-owner of the mag.
Did you go to school for this?
I double majored in writing and literature and black studies at Eugene Lang College at the New School in NYC, so in a sense, yes.
How would you define the work you have done?
I consider myself a media maker and content professional. I have worked in magazine publishing, the internet (I was the executive editor of BET.com from 2000-2005), and film (I was the director of the Maysles Cinema in Harlem, NYC from 2008-2018 and worked in post production on a Noah Baumbach and Ira Sachs film). I am motivated and moved by storytelling and narrative, and the medium is less important to me than the message, although I remain fascinated by how intertwined medium and message are.
What is your advice for the upcoming generation?
Embrace the grind. It will find you or you will find it if you seek success.