Meet Steve Desmond of Dreaming Ants in West LA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Steve Desmond.

Steve, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
When I was five years old, my babysitter helped me make my first home movie involving my toy dinosaurs. I remember even drawing a poster for my movie because at that age, I thought “If you make a movie, it plays in a theater, right?” A couple of years later, I dressed up as a film director for my 2nd-grade career fair. Of course, I had no idea what a film director looked like so my mom and I looked up a photo of one in an encyclopedia (remember those?). It was a picture of Cecil B. DeMille in a brown suit and a fedora, so that’s what I wore to school… So of course, all the other kids thought I wanted to be Indiana Jones when I grew up (which would’ve been cool too).

In high school, I found out that film school was a thing and being a filmmaker was an actual career path, albeit a challenging one. I was lucky enough to get accepted into USC Film School where I made a whole bunch of short films and met my now filmmaking partner, Michael Sherman. After graduation, we went the starving artist route for several years, writing 17 spec screenplays, until we became fortunate enough to earn a living at it. Now we have feature films set up at Warner Bros, Legendary, and FilmNation and a whole bunch of new ideas we’re excited to pursue.

Great, 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?
Hahahaha no, it has not been smooth. It took nine screenplays before I earned a dime and 17 screenplays before I started to earn an actual living at it so I could quit my day job. There have been numerous near-misses and projects falling apart at the last minute. But that is hardly unique to me as it’s just part of what the film and TV business is. While these struggles were very difficult at the time, I’m ultimately grateful for them because they made me want my dream even more. With every victory along the way, big or small, I feel like I’m earning it.

Dreaming Ants – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I’m a writer and director in the film and TV industry. Along with my writing/producing partner Michael Sherman, we create new stories that we want to see on screen. We’re known mostly for writing big fun wish fulfillment stories in the classic Amblin vein but set in modern-day, which you’re not seeing much of lately but I feel audiences crave more of. I’m most proud of selling our passion project “Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers” to Warner Bros and of the short film “Monsters” that I directed.

What were you like growing up? Personality wise, interest wise, etc.
In high school, I played football in the fall and did competitive public speaking and theater in the spring, so my interests were all over the place. But most of all, I always gravitated towards writing stories and making movies, even if they were small little ones made for barely any money. I like to think of myself as being gregarious, compassionate, and I feel happiest when I’m making someone else laugh or feeling like I’m really getting to know someone.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dreamingants.com

Image Credit:
Michael Sherman

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