Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Nelson.
Alexis, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m a Producer of Film and TV, as well as Visual Effects and Motion graphics. A big chunk of my heart is also in photography.
I’m a Southern California native so making a move into the entertainment industry was easier for me than for some. I have been around Film and TV since I was a kid. My grandfather Dick Nelson worked at CBS Television City and helped develop television as we know it working on shows like Sonny & Cher and Red Skelton. I took every opportunity to gain on set film experience. In high school, I would drive to see my friends at Brooks Institute of Photography and Film in Ventura to work on their student films in any capacity. I would act in their black and white Bolex films, hold a bounce board or a slate, sweep the floor, make coffee, you name it.
I moved to Los Angeles when I was seventeen to get my B.A in Design-Media Arts and a Film and Television minor from UCLA. I worked on student films to start, once as the Special Effects rainmaker (with my current producing partner William Mark McCullough). I filled up all of my spare time working on films. On set, I was always the one to stay late and put in little extra effort. People would see that, and hire me back for more films and promotions. I would go from Production Assistant to Key Production Assistant, to being handed the reins as Assistant Director and Producer.
I began a career at Warner Brothers as a production manager, coordinating CG artists on projects for the government. Next, I moved over to Motion Theory and was involved in commercial projects for Buick, Heineken, and Tanqueray. I began working more and more on the VFX side of the industry, while still keeping my foot in live action.
Fort Argyle Films, a film and television production company now based in Savannah, Georgia was in the making while I was still at UCLA. My producing partner William Mark McCullough and I formed the company officially a few years later and have been developing and producing since.
In 2010, I founded a visual effects and motion graphics company, HOAX Films, delivering work for commercials, music video, television, film, and branded content for production companies and agencies.
We received an Emmy Nomination for our work for a History Channel show “Ultimate Guide to the Presidents.” This recognition blew me away. I went to New York for the News and Documentary Emmy awards. The nomination was for Art Direction and Graphic Design. After this, I moved HOAX more and more into motion graphics since I love the creative aspects of it.
In 2017, my husband Elion Olson and I had our beautiful daughter, Dakota Lynn. We bought a cabin up in Lake Arrowhead so we can bounce back and forth between Los Angeles and the mountains more freely.
Has it been a smooth road?
Somedays I feel like I’m working in the Wild West. Projects come and go within hours, financing disappears, politics happen and it can be utterly exhausting. Creative goals often outweigh resources. I’m grateful to be working in this industry because of the pure magic and limitless possibilities, but the road is steep.
This industry is not family-friendly. Having a baby has made it even more difficult. The industry hours are long, but I’ve had to be more creative to make sure I’m still raising my daughter instead of someone hired. Dakota starts preschool soon which will give me more time to work. My husband also works in film, so while he is on set, he’s not able to be around us. Thankfully shows and films have breaks so he will have a week or two here and there to be home fulltime and we have been building a great village. At her young age, we are able to just pack up and fly her with us to Romania for work. We have many adventures. The travel is hard, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Please tell us about Hoax Films.
HOAX Films is a Motion Graphics and Visual Effects Company with Los Angeles as its home base. I bounce back and forth between East LA, Lake Arrowhead, and Savannah, Georgia. We specialize in motion graphics design and high-end compositing work. I am most proud of our ability to truly collaborate on creative development, which comes from a combination of my live-action background and arts education.
We are known for our work on campaigns for Game of Thrones, Harry Potter 7, feature films like Fast 5, Zombeavers, and music videos for Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Little Dragon, and Absolut Vodka. Through HOAX Films, I have served as visual effects producer for Spike TV’s Deadliest Warrior. I have also managed graphics, animation, and visual effects departments for the Discovery series Bad Universe, and we have completed work on Title and Graphics packages for shows like Lifetime’s “The Rap Game,” Nickelodeon’s “The Substitute,” Travel Channel’s “Lost Gold,” and commercial content for Dairy Queen, Nerf, Cable One, LG, and Guess Handbags.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is a great place to meet fellow filmmakers. I’m a member of the Television Academy, and I enjoy the events in Los Angeles. However, having a business in California is very expensive. The overhead of just staying afloat means that sometimes we can’t work on all of the cool passion projects that come our way. Also, much of the work has gone elsewhere. So much has moved to Georgia, Canada, and even abroad. I’m a California girl born and raised, our family is here, and we have no plan on going anywhere else. For a new filmmaker, I think Los Angeles is a great place to start out, but there are plenty of great opportunities in Georgia as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.HOAXFilms.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @HOAX_Films
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/hoaxfilms
Image Credit:
Kat Lyon, Corey Brooks, Tanika Hamilton-Lamar
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