Life & Work with Courtney Sell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Courtney Sell. In case you missed our last conversation with Courtney, you can find it here.

Hi Courtney, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today. 
I can’t recall a moment where I haven’t been obsessed with cinema. When I would watch a movie, I would fall into another dimension filled with inspiration and excitement, and it fed my overambitious imagination with ideas of what I hoped to do when I grew up. I knew I didn’t even simply want but needed to make films, so it bothered me to be a child without any resources or knowledge to do so. I just wanted to grow up quickly so I could start making movies. While my childhood friends looked up the major league Athletes, my Heroes were people like Vincent Price, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart. 

In fourth grade, I finally got the chance to make a short movie with my friend in his basement on his father’s old clunky camcorder, and that kickstarted everything. At school, after school, on weekends, holidays – you name it – I would be writing “scripts,” though it was more just scattered ideas misspelled on the back of my homework papers. The passion was undoubtably there. My high school was even so inspired by this tiny backyard filmmaking “movement” my friends and I began in our small town that they formed their own Film Festival! From that point on, I continued on my earliest cinematic journey, making short films with my friends in our backyard every weekend all the way up until I graduated High School. It was true DIY style. Make a movie, create hand-drawn flyers, copies the movie on a bunch of VHS tapes to hand out, and hold screenings at house parties. Once I dropped out of Film School and hit the road, my “official filmmaking” journey began. 

I spent the next 21 years making films in various genres, but primarily documentaries, as I found that was where my true passion was. I loved to document and capture the amazing and inspiring people and places I came across while living a nomadic life, traveling the country with my backpack and camera. It was my way of seeing the world – through the lens of my camera. It’s hard for me to separate my reality with my films because they just coincide perfectly. What is beautiful about it is that when I feel nostalgic about a person or place, I can just look back at whatever film I made of that specific subject. It’s a gift to have this creative spirit. 

Eventually, my interest in spirituality, metaphysics, and esotericism brought me to the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, where I made a series of documentaries centering around various esoteric ideas. And now, I am blessed to be able to merge these two passions and make films that will hopefully help inspire and enlighten the viewer on subjects that perhaps they may not know anything about. 

Now, as a certified End-of-Life Companion / Death Doula, much of my current work centers around alleviating the fear of death and the act of dying. Essentially, I just hope that my films will bring a sense of joy and inspiration to anyone who stumbles across them. I don’t make big films simply because I don’t have the resources to do so, so I’m a one-man show, and I’m completely ok with it. I don’t really do Film Festival either and have essentially stopped dealing with distributors as well, placing most of my work on my site for free for anyone to see and enjoy. I guess it all goes back to that DIY attitude we had as kids, making our work in my parent’s backyard. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
NOT AT ALL. If anyone tells you that being an Artist is easy, they are a liar with a capital L and should be avoided at all cost. Obviously, most of us come to deal with financial hardships, always hoping to get funding or an investment for our work, but most, not all, but most of the time, that doesn’t happen. Few and far between, I should say. And that is completely depressing. However, with that huge creative spirit and undying passion for one’s craft, even the most intense hardships can be overcome. That is the power of art afterward: to help us overcome and heal from our dark moments. 

In my personal experience, I’ve suffered more setbacks than I can count. However, most of these don’t deal with lacking funding or being rejected from Festivals but more in tune with my work. Being a documentarian, I’ve witnessed a lot of distressing and scary moments that can be hard to shake off. Whether it be making a documentary on the final days of my Father, documenting the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, homelessness, violence, and so much more. The struggle for me is to be able to remain grounded, allow the passion to continue on, and not allow any negativity to distract from the work. Challenges and obstacles, however, are all a part of the journey and should be expected and never feared. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I attempt to make films that uplift, inspire, and educate the viewer on subjects that they may not know much about. I enjoy taking the paths less traveled, capturing the things I come across on my travels that interest me, and presenting them back to the viewer as if being a reporter. My recent films concentrate on various esoteric and metaphysical ideas, such as the true spiritual history of Hollywood (Hollywood), the therapeutic values of music and sound (The Color of Music), and collective consciousness and how it can shape our entire political system (Breaking the Egregore). 

What am I known for? Well, I’m certainly not famous, but anyone who knows my work would most likely realize that I am a DIY Filmmaker, a one-man show, and all of my films are made out of absolute passion and love. I am proud of all of my work and to have been recognized enough to have my work archived at the NY Filmmakers Coop. That’s pretty awesome to me! 

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Being an animal lover, I once started a film production company in Beachwood Canyon, where I would make short films with my neighbors’ dogs. And it was hilariously amazing! I am also a certified End-of-Life Companion / Death Doula. 

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.courtneysellfilms.com
• Instagram: @courtney_sell_films
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneysellfilms100/