Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Baker.
Hi Paul, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Film and music are my professional and artistic passions. It started growing up in Rhode Island, progressed through time spent in Miami, then bloomed during the last 22 years in Los Angeles. I now own production company Golden Horseshoe Entertainment which is based in Studio City. This is how I got here:
My love for film and music was sown growing up in New England.
Both my Mother and Father introduced me to movies and my Step-Father cut a deal with a local movie theatre as he did their printing. It was only supposed to be once in a while, but I saw movies for free from ages 12 to 17 years old. I studied them without realizing it was pre-film school. Then in my teens a cousin made an independent film in New York that became a horror cult classic. The first inclination that filmmaking could be done by someone in my life. It was a reality.
Musically, I had 2 older brothers who played guitar and drums. I took guitar lessons from Mark, who made me drive to another town to take them at a music store like everyone else. He taught me music was good for your soul. I became obsessed with the instrument, practicing songs, scales, and chords until my fingers ached. I joined bands, got better, and started to think of it as a career path.
When I attended Rhode Island College, my plan was to get a degree to satisfy my Mother but to really chase a career in music. I took TV production and film courses, learning about storytelling with cameras and editing. Hours and hours of editing. I was addicted to it. Combining images to tell a story took hold of me. When Professor Philip Palumbo expressed I had a knack for it, I told him I was pursuing music. He had me bring my guitar into class and plugged it into an Apple computer. I played into it and could see the sound waves AND manipulate them. This was pre-Pro Tools and Logic recording software. We laid it over the scenes I had filmed and the two together hit me hard. Change of plans. Now I wanted to direct and score movies.
My initial post-college years were spent in Miami, FL. First, at a production company as a PA / Assistant Editor. I also made my first attempts at screenwriting there. Next was freelance crewing on movies and tv shows as a union prop assistant. A few years into living in Miami I wrote and directed my first short film, Elevator Music, which won a festival award. Los Angeles called.
Once in LA, I started working on sets to pay bills but kept directing short films The Boxer, Chance, and Advent, which won more festival awards, and Bedtime Story, which sold and made a profit. I mixed in directing local commercials, music videos, and corporate content. Slowly but surely I carved out a reputation as a filmmaker who was serious about the craft. Then in 2018, I created Golden Horseshoe Entertainment LLC.
GHE has a commercial division that offers production services, music scoring, video editing, and voice-over recording. However, I left home with the goal of directing feature films, so GHE has a film division where we find screenplays, develop them, option their rights, and then raise funds to make them. Currently, we have two scripts optioned and are planning to make them back-to-back. First up I am directing the crime caper Mattress, to be followed by the werewolf horror thriller Hair of the Dog Diner.
Balancing daily commercial requirements with the long-term grind of developing and making feature films is my main challenge. Both creative sides give me a thrill as I continue to learn the meaning of the business of making art. Los Angeles has provided me with everything I’ve needed to accomplish this, and I look forward to continuing the journey.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The longer I work at my career, the more I realize it’s about the journey. I’ve put myself into debt funding my short films multiple times, had three feature films almost happen then fall apart, worked ridiculous hours crewing on sets to keep my dream going, and missed time with family and lifelong friends because I moved away to pursue filmmaking. But in the end, through experience and mistakes, I’ve managed to find a way to balance it all creatively and personally while chasing my filmmaking dream from Rhode Island to Florida and onwards to California.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Golden Horseshoe Entertainment?
Being an operator/owner of Golden Horseshoe Entertainment allows me to direct, produce, edit, compose and record music and talented voice-over artists. All fall under the overall umbrella of filmmaking to me, and I think mixing all of these skills helps keep me creatively sharp for directing narrative projects. I specialize in and most enjoy directing films. I love the job of developing an overall tone to a story, casting and directing actors, setting shots with a cinematographer, and then editing and scoring. I’m most proud when I can see progress and watch a script go through each stage of prep, production, editing, and finally screening in front of an audience. That process is amazing and I love every part of it from start to finish.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Balance makes me happy. For me, it’s always a challenge to find it. Between my health, personal life, business, and art, I’m most happy when I’ve achieved balance. Then life happens and throws it all out of whack, and that’s ok. You adapt. Happiness for me is also quality time with my girlfriend, family/friends, clam chowdah, chicken parm, laughing uncontrollably, striking a loud A-chord on a guitar, runners high, tending to my army of plants, being at the ocean, and hiking into the woods to escape life or a bit.
Contact Info:
- Website: goldenhorseshoeent.com
- Instagram: @goldenhorseshoeent
- Facebook: Golden Horseshoe Entertainment LLC
- Youtube: Paul Baker
Image Credits
John Kiefer – The Proscribed Music video & Damn Short Film Festival Peter Lefevre – The Boxer Scott Everette White – Advent Topher Hopkins – Bedtime Story Frank Perl – Skateboard Dolly pic
