Today we’d like to introduce you to Kylie Hazzard.
Hi Kylie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I was 18, I moved from the Midwest to Los Angeles to go to film school with just myself and everything I could fit in my cute little car. This included things like my cameras, guitars, amps, canvases, and any stray piece of creative paraphernalia I could cram in. That overpacked, the neon yellow car may have been foreshadowing to becoming whatever I am now, a professional multi-hyphenate. How could I choose just one creative discipline to carry with me? A blood cell doesn’t know why it races, a bee doesn’t know about pollen, and for me, that immutable compulsion is creativity and curiosity itself.
I fell in love with music and cameras around the same time, as a single-digit child. Both cameras and instruments had this magical appeal, which I now recognize as different methods of time travel. At the time, being told to “be careful” with these highly regarded objects made their potential all the more fascinating. Growing up surrounded by plastic, these clearly stood out to be objects of a higher order. I would sneakily use my parent’s “fancy” point-and-shoot cameras at night, and venture excitedly into any wondrous music room I was allowed. I started incubating my passions and had a booming portrait photography business, as well as several accumulated instruments, by the time I was in middle school. I quickly recognized the power an image could have in changing someone’s emotional state and wondered how that power could be used for good. A trip to a film school in Chicago during high school let me intuitively know that film would be the career I pursue.
Throughout my time at The Los Angeles Film School, I sharpened my focus on Cinematography and, with hard work and smart connections, managed to find opportunities that began to snowball. Some of this formative work included shooting behind the scenes for numerous ASC Master Classes and film summits, which allowed me to meet and learn from so many legends, all while holding a camera. By the time I finished film school, I moved into a full-time job with Zeiss as a Cinema Technology Specialist. Suffice it to say, I know more than one practically needs to about optical physics and why cameras, lenses, and lights work the way they do. In 2019, after roughly 2 years of OT and no breaks, I managed to take a half-day to see a concert. Upon realizing I hadn’t stood outside and enjoyed a sunset in almost 2 years, I knew something was wrong and I needed to get back on my own path. About 4 weeks later I put my resignation notice in, and while I’m grateful for all I learned, I’m most grateful to have intimately learned to trust the intuition I always knew was there.
In the spirit of restoring my eroded creativity and putting my revived intuition to the test, I said yes to a totally random creative opportunity: playing in a band. My friend Sean needed a bassist for a show – I had a bass, and knew enough to play, so why not play just one show? It turns out that the charming, talented, handsome saxophonist for that show, Cameron, would eventually become my husband. That group, The Natural Supernatural, is still together and I guess I’ve become another person who quit their job and joined a band. Meanwhile, I got my freelance film career going again, was able to keep my bills paid, and could keep building that snowball. A win for intuition.
In this chaotic time since 2019, I’ve managed to elevate my life in ways I never would’ve imagined, or even thought possible, for which I feel so grateful. To name a few, I’ve shot and produced a music video for a grammy winning album for St. Vincent. I’ve modeled, shot, and edited for Hayley William’s hair dye brand Good Dye Young in my own home studio. I maintain a freelance career that lets me do something different every day – I’ve even been dipping my toes into concert photography. I’ve also started my own music group, Sand Box, with my best friend, who I was lucky enough to marry at the Natural History Museum. I have time to read, cook, learn languages, spend time with friends, play with my pets, be part of sunsets, and feel a sense of freedom to do anything else – this very real work/life balance feels like a dream come true.
While I haven’t remotely accomplished all that I aim to career-wise, I already feel successful because I am in love with the process and the day-to-day life I’ve worked hard to build. A variety of other works are coming out soon that I can’t talk about yet, however, they encompass where I am heading. I’m venturing more deeply into directing while embracing a resourceful approach to production, which I’ve been finding a niche in lately. While I know I was capable before, having an extremely supportive partner makes everything that much sweeter, and I have so much to thank him for. Even in the tough moments, I feel lucky today to be in a place where taking things a day, hour, and a moment at a time feels like the greatest gift!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
A smooth road is an illusion created by developing shock absorbers. The road will never stay smooth, but with the right equipment and understanding, you can navigate anything.
Self-esteem and not comparing yourself to others is an obvious and eternal struggle of creatives, but no one could ever prepare anyone for an entire global shutdown. Truly, the struggle became survival. At that time, I had to adapt and found a copywriting gig, as well as other odds-and-ends creative things like composing or remote editing. I also had to untie the connection in my brain that equates working with self-worth.
This has been the most rewarding thing to have unraveled and, while I’m sure I’ll have to detangle it again at some point, I feel much more fulfilled by my work now that it isn’t inherently tied to result. Fall in love with the process and you’ll find the bumps on the road may even start to become fun.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m proud to not specialize – to be comprehensive.
Simply put, if you put more information and experience into your brain, you have more to draw from. You can learn something about cooking from painting, and vice versa. Watching a tree might lead to discovering gravity. Being a musician gives anyone an advantage in any area of life, as playing music requires a conscious practice of mind/body connection in order to work. I recall a shoot at The Redcat Theater where I found a method to set lighting cue timings based on the sheet music, which proved to be far better for timing information than the script, and this lets us work extremely efficiently when the time was of the essence. I am also a focus puller with a reputation for being able to accomplish extremely technically difficult focus pulls with precise sharpness, without rehearsals. I would venture to guess that musical dexterity, and years of practicing improvisation are exactly why this skill comes easily.
I feel the same way about balancing resources when at the helm of a project, as DP or Director, reasoning “how do these things we have on hand connect best to accomplish our goal?” As a gaffer, I work in tune with the sun and the physical laws of nature to save us time, effort, and money. You’ll often find me wearing many hats at once; like roller skating and shooting, or playing in the band and directing, or dancing and lighting – usually something involving a marriage between aural and visual mediums. I take pride that this is just what I feel compelled to do, not for superficial reasons, but because finding and solving creative problems resourcefully is what my brain is best at.
I listed some specific works in the first question, but please feel free to explore my website if you’d like the complete portfolio.
What are your plans for the future?
I like to stay on top of things by assuming the job I’ll be working in 5 years doesn’t exist yet, I get to cultivate it and I’m always prepared to adapt. In the immediate sense, I’m looking forward to releasing my first album and using that to explore areas of visual art I might not otherwise get to venture into. I’m looking forward to more musical collaborations in the grandest sense of that phrase. I’m also eager to direct more, and that feels like the biggest personal change as far as my film career is concerned.
Down the line, who knows – Cam and I shook up the lockdown boredom by learning German together, and we’ve since fallen in love with Berlin, so we’re eager to see what germinates from the seeds we’ve planted in that respect. I’ll always keep learning new things and following random whims wherever they may lead.
“Das Schönste, was wir erleben können, ist das Geheimnisvolle.”
Contact Info:
- Website: kyliehazzard.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyliehazzard/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thenaturalsupernaturalband/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNssklDELRsmJgn2QIqVz1w
- Other: https://www.entersandbox.com/
Image Credits
Kylie Hazzard, Cameron Black, Michelle Shiers, Nikki Neumann, Haley Winckler, Irina Logra, Heinz Kobernik, and Tammy Hua
