Check Out Harry Locke IV’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Harry Locke IV.

Hi Harry, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born in Chicago, IL and raised in a suburb located across the city’s southeast boundary called Calumet City, a long way away from the film industry. My parents got me involved in the creative arts at a very young age, with activities ranging from acting in grade school plays to playing trombone in the school band, so I naturally sort of gravitated to these different art forms that tango during the process of film production. I was about 14 or 15-years-old when I started making concentrated efforts to take written word and committing it to screen. A couple of my high-school English teachers allowed me to experiment with doing class projects outside of the usual three to five page paper structure. So, I got together with a small group of my friends, and we began shooting what were essentially short films to present for class. I absolutely fell in love with the collaborative spirit of film production, how crafting a film seemed to be a culmination of all these other creative endeavors I had taken part in, and the excitement of showcasing the finished work to an audience. My classmates were entertained, and my teachers were very supportive, so it encouraged me to explore the art further, and I did! I worked a part-time job at my local library and saved up enough money to buy a used Canon GL1 off eBay that had a ton of wear and tear on it and three very noticeable dead pixels in the center of frame. But, my friends and I used it to film two micro-budget feature-length films that managed to get us some press first in the local papers, then the Chicago Sun-Times, and eventually a lesson in self-distribution as we sold copies of the finished films on DVD.

I continued pursuing opportunities to become a filmmaker during my undergraduate education at The Ohio State University, and despite not majoring in film studies specifically, I eventually earned the opportunity to direct college campaign videos for Nike as well as promotional material for the university’s School of Communication. Both of these jobs were my first foray into becoming a “hired” director, working with a budget, and getting paid for my efforts. It was also the reaffirmation I needed for myself to prove that I was capable of becoming a working filmmaker. I headed for Los Angeles in the fall of 2011 to attend graduate film school at USC. Three years later, a few months shy of graduation, I was hired by independent screenwriter and producer Ronald A. Blum to direct City of Gold, a feature-length action-adventure film that was filmed in Maui and released internationally in the US, UK, Germany, and India. The successful completion and launch of that film eventually opened doors for the development of The Redeemer, my latest directorial effort that I am currently developing with production partners located both here in Los Angeles and in China.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
One month after I graduated from USC in 2014, my father passed away unexpectedly from heart failure, and this sudden confrontation with a loss that great was absolutely devastating to me. Here I was, 25, freshly graduated from film school, in pre-production on a fantastic career opportunity, and I found my entire drive and focus had shifted dramatically. I was consumed with concern for my grieving mother, questioning my work and life goals, and beginning to foster an obsessive fear of my own mortality that often left me sleepless, exhausted, and silently depressed. Personal loss of that level can disrupt dreams with frightening ease, but it can also help inspire new motivation and reaffirmations. Fortunately, I found myself surrounded by many compassionate friends in the wake of my father’s passing that believed in me and my abilities. Their faith helped me to change the narrative of those fears and negative energies and create a positive transformative event that has helped propel me along my journey to not only where I am today but where I will go tomorrow.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a writer/director who also does a substantial amount of work as a digital intermediate colorist and color assist. For anyone unfamiliar with what a film colorist is, we are the creative technicians that collaborate with the directors and cinematographers to craft a film’s look or mood by defining the color, contrast, tint, and hue of the final image. I have racked up over 100 on-screen post-production credits and worked on everything from as massive as X-Men: Days of Future Past to as small and personal as Sean Baker’s Sundance hit Tangerine. In 2020, I colored a number of popular and well-watched docuseries including STARZ’s critically acclaimed Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult, PBS’ And She Could Be Next, a two-part mini-series documenting transformative women in politics like Georgia’s Stacey Abrams, and Netflix’s newest home makeover series Dream Home Makeover. I’ve been extremely fortunate that my post-production abilities have not only kept me gainfully employed over the years but also allows me to collaborate and network with other brilliant filmmakers that have shared knowledge and resources that have benefited my directorial projects.

I’m extremely proud of the two-year development process which has gone into the creation of my second feature film, The Redeemer, a revisionist western that weaves a sprawling revenge epic dealing with identity and race in post-Civil War America and the fallout of the Chinese Exclusion Act that was passed in 1882. I wrote and directed a short-form version of the film that was co-produced by my wife, Fama Locke, and longtime friend and creative collaborator Alain Azoulay, which premiered at the Downtown Los Angeles Film Festival in 2019. The film has since gone on to win several awards at multiple festivals, including “Best Director,” for which I am extremely grateful to my talented cast and crew who helped make it all possible. Based off the strength and success of the short-form version of The Redeemer, we are currently developing the feature-length version with producing partners in China, with plans to start filming later this year. More information about the film and its development team is available at our official website (theredeemerfilm.com) and Instagram (@theredeemerfilm).

How do you define success?
For me, I feel successful whenever I am working in my element, energized by my creative decisions, and knowing that I am living a life that would make my father proud. But everyone defines success using their own barometer, and sometimes comparison truly is the thief of joy, a lesson that I think carries double the weight with those that work in the creative arts. It’s all too easy to get lost comparing our level of success to those of others and force ourselves into feeling inferior or lacking because we may not have reached a similar level of success by a certain age or point in our careers. It’s critical that we be able to learn to appreciate our individual journey and allow ourselves to be fulfilled by all the accomplishments that have gotten us so far from where we initially started and where we are going. It’s a lesson that I have to constantly remind myself to be cognizant of during my own journey. Life is a marathon, not a sprint, so pace yourself accordingly and enjoy the view.

Contact Info:

• Email: harrylocke4@gmail.com
• Website: http://harrylocke4.com/
• Instagram: @socal_hal
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harry.lockeiv
• Twitter: @SoCal_Hal

Image Credits:
Lam Yuen, Brad Starks, Matthew Halla