Life & Work with Stanley Sievers of The Valley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stanley Sievers

Hi Stanley, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started out touring in hardcore bands after high school. I spent 4-5 years doing that, and then I was kind of at a point where I didn’t want to tour anymore but didn’t know what I wanted to do next. I spent a full year playing call of duty and working at jimmy johns until I started to find my way into filmmaking. I PA’d on sets for an ad agency that my friend worked at, and saw that I didn’t need to go to college to do what those guys were doing. I made me choice that way.

After making a few short films in Kentucky (where i’m from), I moved to Chicago to get more filmmaking experience and to do improv/sketch comedy. I spent another 4-5 years there honing those comedy skills at places like iO Theater, Second City, etc. before moving to New York and working on it even further.

Then, COVID hit. I couldn’t perform live, and I needed an outlet. My wife convinced me to get on TikTok, and I made it my mission to figure that platform out. I hadn’t had any success through traditional means of getting industry attention, so I told myself that social media was going to work.

I relentlessly worked at figuring out how to translate my writing/humor to the internet, and eventually cracked the code. My characters on IG and TikTok got me the attention of representation, which is what I wanted all along – to do TV and Film.

Now, i’ve booked roles on Tires (Netflix), High Potential (ABC) as well as a Blink 182 commercial. I also continue to create my own work whether it be short films, writing samples, or more characters on social media.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, not at all. It takes years to get good at anything if you aren’t born with some insanely high level of talent. Even then, with any amount of talent, it still takes a long time to figure out the entire other side of things – the business side. Some of the biggest struggles have been just not knowing how to get where I want to go, but having to keep the faith that i’ll get there eventually. It’s hard to keep chugging along and not give up on your initial vision for your life when early on the wins are few and far between.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I write, direct, and act in stuff. Sometimes that stuff is on social media, sometimes it’s on TV. I’m most proud of the following i’ve built on social media, because I love making people laugh.

What’s next?
My plan is to keep trying to make projects that resonate with folks and fill a “gap in the market” so to speak. I have so many ideas for things to make, so I try to focus on what the most realistic ones are. No big changes, other than hopefully getting to be on TV more. That’s pretty fun.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stanleyws.com
• Instagram: @stanleyws
• Youtube: @stanleyws

Image Credits
Photo by Randy Gonzlez