Life & Work with Josh Buoy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Buoy.

Hi Josh, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I am a filmmaker and entrepreneur hailing from Metro Detroit. A graduate of the University of Michigan, I co-founded Filmic Productions, U-M’s first student-led production company. After undergrad, I spun my experience into Snowday, a creative + production studio that I co-founded with fellow alums Roddy Hyduk and Chris Duncan.

As the Executive Producer of Snowday, I led a growing team as we produced 100+ pieces of digital video content for some of the largest nonprofits and technology brands in the world. We bootstrapped the business in Ann Arbor and moved the team to NYC in 2016; I spent the next four years in lovely Fort Greene, Brooklyn – leading Snowday while directing, writing, and producing digital spots and branded films.

Building on my experience running startups and working with tech companies, I next co-founded the Tuesday Company: a venture-backed political technology startup in NY/DC that helps progressive candidates and causes organize their volunteers online. As Creative Director at Tuesday, I grew the brand and helped amplify the stories of our tech products: Team and VoteWithMe.

In 2020, I took a mid-pandemic leap and moved to Los Angeles to start Buoyancy. My lifework thus far has been situated at the intersection of impact and storytelling; with Buoyancy, my hope is to tell more stories that uplift the world.

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?
I often joke I came out to my family twice – the second time was as a queer man, but the first was as a filmmaker. I’m lucky to have a family that is proud of my filmmaking pursuits, but their message was clear when I told them the plan: “If you pursue this career, you’ll need to find a way to make a living for yourself.” That lit a fire in me, and I’ve been an entrepreneur ever since.

Which is funny because I never planned to be an entrepreneur.

Growing up, I always imagined I’d end up on a corporate track, working my way up the ladder. But when my dream internship at a major studio was canceled after graduating from undergrad, I pivoted. I wanted opportunities to start making my own work; so, I launched my first production startup.

It’s been a lot of fun, a lot of learning, and (at times) a lot of stress. A couple of years ago, when I was in the throes of the NYC advertising scene, I was lamenting to a guy I was dating at the time how it’d been many years since I’d directed an original film. “You want to be a director?” he asked earnestly. “You spend so much of your time running companies, I assumed that’s what you wanted to do.”

It was then I realized: people know you for the work you do, NOT the work you want to do. I had lost track of the reasons I became a filmmaker in the first place.

A big part of my goal in moving to Los Angeles and launching Buoyancy is a commitment to telling original stories that help us make sense of our world. It’s been a bumpy transition given everything that was 2020, but I’m excited to really settle into LA this year and kick off this next chapter.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a director, writer, and producer – with experience telling stories in scripted narrative, documentary, and 2D-and-3D animation.

As a queer artist with Midwestern roots, I strive for the stories I tell to reflect the multiplicity of our identities, holding up empathy and tolerance among our most prized, aspirational values.

I recently completed my first two short films, “Ghosts” and “The Tutor”, and have begun submitting them to festivals. Both are meditations on loss and were particularly meaningful to wrap during COVID.

I’m lucky to work with a team of brilliant writing partners, and together we are developing a collection of features and series that confront some of the most pressing challenges of tomorrow: the instability of our democracy, climate refugees, adoption rights for non-traditional families, and class mobility.

Ebert famously said: “Movies are empathy machines.” I’ve long turned to film and art to better understand myself in an increasingly complex world; my hope for the work we’re developing is to continually help people process and grow.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Perseverance, with a sense of humor.

Also these are two quotes that I often turn to for inspiration:

“Art isn’t everything. It’s just about everything.” – Gertrude Stein

“To be an artist means to search, to find and look at these realities. To be an artist means to never look away.” – Akira Kurosawa

Contact Info:

• Email: josh@buoyancy.studio
• Website: buoyancy.studio
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshbuoy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshbuoy
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jb_buoy
• Other: https://vimeo.com/buoyancystudio