Daily Inspiration: Meet Kyle Stocking

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle Stocking.

Hi Kyle, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in the small town of Mount Shasta California, where as a kid I would make short videos on my family’s home video camera in the backyard with my brothers and friends. In 8th grade, I also became interested in acting and started participating in school plays. When I got into high school, I became more serious about filmmaking and began taking production classes at the local community college while I continued making small short films that were only seen amongst family and friends. My grandfather was the town’s official weather observer and I decided to make a short documentary on him which ended up airing on the local tv channel. During my junior and senior years of high school, I made three more films, two of which were roughly feature length, all of which I wrote the scripts for, directed, produced, and edited. The cast would usually include myself, my friends, my brothers, and since I started acting in college theater, I had a couple actors from the drama department join the ensemble. These films only made it as far as YouTube and a few burned DVDs, but it still fueled my desire to keep going.
After graduating high school, instead of going straight to college, I decided to use all my time and energy to make my next feature film that I was writing. I worked various jobs so I could buy a professional camera to shoot it on and a PC to edit it on. It was a very ambitious project and I went full blown over my head into it. It was a unique sci-fi alien invasion film called, “Heir.” On top of directing and producing it, I had to do everything else myself, including the prosthetic makeup for the aliens, and I cast the roles with fellow actors from the college. The movie took me nearly three years to complete and it was the first film I did under my production company, Frank Storm Pictures, named after my grandfather who passed away at the age of 69 before I managed to finish it. Although the movie showed a lack of budget, resources, and experience, it managed to end up on the front page of the newspaper and I was given the opportunity to screen it at the local college theater where over a hundred people showed up to watch it. Following that, the DVD was rented out at our local video store after the owner heard the movie was actually pretty good. This caught the attention of a couple industry professionals that happened to be in town at the time who brought me on to help with a couple of their video production projects they were producing where they showed me some of the ropes and introduced me to more professional techniques of the trade. I then went on to make another short film that had a more professional edge to it.
I then moved down to southern California to attend San Diego City College. I was 22. Of all the short films I made here, there’s a very significant one that stands out. It’s a crime thriller called, “Pictures of Deceit.” I had this idea that suddenly clicked in my head and I wrote the screenplay in a day. We managed to pull off a very realistic fight scene with just the right blend of choreography, cinematography, and editing, which gave the movie a spark that catches the eye, followed by a twist ending that ties it all together. Not only was this my first film to be accepted into a film festival but it also received an Emmy nomination in 2018. Although I didn’t win, I experienced what it feels like to have a story that works, and I seek that feeling out to this day as I write my scripts. It was during my time at SD City College that I landed a job as a production assistant at KUSI News. This gave me the opportunity to really cut my teeth in a professional industry setting amongst some very talented individuals who gave me the chance I needed to prove myself. I was able to move my way up to full time director on the weekend evening newscasts. This taught me so much, not only about how to deal with the intense live on air situations that come with television news broadcasting, but also things about myself that I needed to work on to become a better leader.
A year after graduating City College, I moved to Los Angeles where I began working on my Bachelor’s degree at Woodbury University. This provided me an avenue to actually get my foot through the door in the film business by interning as an editor for the Lollipop Theater Network and later as a script coverage writer at Di Bonaventura Pictures while I completed my course work. Aside from the internships, I made some great connections that lead to me landing a few gigs on various sets. However, the most I take away from my time at this university are the films I made with the people I made them with. I completed two of my most professional short films to date here, both of which have gone on to screen at numerous film festivals. Most significantly, my thesis film, “Her Motive,” which has a twist that’s led to it winning on the festival circuit, including best crime thriller short film in the Golden State Film Festival where it screened at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. After attaining my BFA, I landed a job on the reality television show, “The Masked Singer,” for FOX Alternative Entertainment where I became an Associate Producer in post production. It’s been an amazing experience and a great way to stay active in the industry while I write the feature version of, “Her Motive,” which has been in development for three years now, but I’m excited to say that the story has really come alive as I make my way through each draft of the script.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a terrible road, but I wouldn’t call it smooth. I’ve made many mistakes on my journey through my career. I’d say the struggle is having to live with those moments in your head, but you recover and move on and especially learn from them, so the struggle is kind of valuable in a way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a filmmaker who writes, directs, and produces my own movies. I’m known to have good editing skills. I’ve had the pleasure of working on a very popular TV reality show as an Associate Producer. I’m most proud to have a film that’s Emmy nominated. When I set out to make a film, I will complete it.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I define success as not giving up. I’m always trying to reach higher for better things, but the ability to keep going and maintain consistency regardless of the forces working against you, to try and try again, that seems pretty successful to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kylemotionpictures/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-stocking-9936a01a0/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FrankStormPictures
• Other: [email protected]