Today we’d like to introduce you to Bridget Stokes.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Bridget. So, let’s start at the beginning, and we can move on from there.
I knew I wanted to direct a film in my first semester of college. Throughout my childhood I was drawn to theatre, the visual arts and writing over and over again, but it wasn’t until I took an “Intro to Modern Culture & Media” course that I realized I could bring my passion for stories and drama and art together as a film director. After school, I moved to New York City and where I interned for Tribeca Productions and the Urbanworld Film Festival.
My first paid gig in the entertainment industry was in Marketing for IFC Films. From there I worked for a boutique film production, distribution and sales company and then headed up research on a Jonathan Demme-helmed documentary before starting a distribution company with two colleagues. With great effort and a Kickstarter campaign during the early days of crowdfunding, I finally shifted into film production and wrote, directed and produced my first feature, Herman & Shelly.
My frequent collaborator, Vicky Wight, produced with me and two years later, I produced her feature, The Volunteer. After completing those two features, I moved to Los Angeles and directed and produced the short film Think Fast, written by Jan Stanton and produced the Netflix documentary, The Rachel Divide.
Last year, I completed my second feature as a director, the family comedy, Emmett, starring Miles Brown and Rita Wilson, which will premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival in April and will play the Bentonville Film Festival in May. Emmett will be out in theatres and on VOD in late summer/early fall of 2019. I’m currently finishing up a feature I produced last year, The Lost Husband, starring Leslie Bibb & Josh Duhamel.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road to directing has been anything but smooth, but I’ve learned a great deal.
Knowing there is no easy path to getting projects made, I’ve learned to enjoy the journey. Development can be a really long process. It doesn’t matter what your budget is for a film, you are investing an incredible amount of time, effort and money and you’re asking others to invest their time and effort as well. So it’s incredibly important to have a great story and the right cast and talented, hard-working crew.
Though I inevitably get fatigued during the process, I have to keep tapping into my enthusiasm and love for the story to make sure I’m not letting anything slide. Finding financing is always a struggle in filmmaking. It often comes from multiple places and can be unreliable. Lastly, there is the struggle of getting your project into the world once it’s complete. Every step requires constant engagement. It’s definitely a tough gig, but it’s seriously rewarding, and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
As a director, I have made two feature films and worked in short-form, from web-series to commercials. I have spent a significant amount of time as a shadowing director for television, and I would love to work in the episodic format.
What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was a voracious reader and always interested in the arts from drawing to photography to community theatre. I got into team sports in middle school, and that was a really rewarding experience.
I learned so much from being on a team that wasn’t taught in school. That was my real social education. I was a pretty introverted kid when I was young. It wasn’t until we moved when I was in 6th grade that I found my inner extrovert.
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