Today we’d like to introduce you to Skyler Lawson.
Hi Skyler, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up on a grain farm in Indiana. Making movies was far off from that lifestyle. But I watched my family work that 100-year-old tradition, putting seeds in the ground, praying that the weather and conditions will cooperate to put up a proper crop, and hoping that the equipment will hold up and get us through the harvest. Sounds awful, similar to the physical process of filmmaking in a lot of ways. I was always artistic and left for art school as a painter and came out as a designer.
I went on to do commercial work for a time, got married, and I gave that up full stop to make feature films. I made short films to hone my craft, find my narrative voice, and build a team around me.
Then, right before the challenging season of 2020 hit, we produced my debut feature film, “Whelm” under my Endrow Pictures banner. We captured the landscapes that I grew up on with glorious 16mm Kodak Film and were able to immerse theatre audiences in the dusty 1930s with 35mm prints of the film. We found ourselves the first and only movie presenting on 35mm in America post-COVID at that time. What an incredible experience we had touring the United States supporting local cinema houses with our 35mm Roadshow before it was released digitally to streaming. Speaking to the diverse crowds of this country got me excited about the films we have coming next for them.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I had spent years on a couple of feature films that didn’t quite get off the ground because I was writing stories that required to large of a budget. So I looked around and wrote a film I could make NOW with assets I had access to, with the top-tier team I had grown fond of working with. I raised the money in the location I was going to shoot in and made that debut feature happen. Now I have proof that I can carry something to the finish line with the odds stacked against me. Making a movie and delivering it to audiences is the only way to learn. Making sure the quality is worth their time is the trick.
I’ve been very blessed to work with incredibly talented collaborators that have made my experience thus far incredibly rich. It’s all about surrounding yourself with equally driven people whose taste you trust and inspiring them to do their best work. That’s the absolute best part of being a director. I was honored to join up with my incredibly talented friend, director of photography Ed Herrera, who actually co-produced my debut feature film with me. That collaboration is one I will always cherish. He’s one of the best in the business and a great director in his own right. Directing incredibly generous and skillful young actors like Delil Baran who give everything to their roles gives you a glimpse at just how powerful this art form can be. I compose music for my films as well, and that has always been an upside in setting the tone for everyone involved before we even roll a foot of film, but on my debut film, “Whelm” I composed music with the legendary composer and musician Chris Dudley who saw things in the material that I coudn’t. You gotta have people around you who will shoot ya straight. That’s so valuable.
I think the key to this business is being able to be like water moving downstream; just keep moving forward no matter the obstacles. You have to know in your gut when it’s time for a specific project to exist. If you try and hit the zeitgeist you’ll miss, and you’ll be too late. The goal is always to make work that will resonate fifty years from now just as it does today. That’s what I’m after.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I write the films that I direct. That solitary time crafting the world we’re going to bring to life is so important and often times I do that work far from the noise, as I write where I grew up in Indiana. My family has grain farmed for over 100 years and being immersed in that world from time to time keeps my vision clear for what’s important. You have to earn the time you’re asking of an audience. A lot of people work extremely hard to make ends meet, they entrust you with their hard-earned dollars. We can’t forget that cinema can be an act of service. We can entertain people, but we can also enrich their lives and inspire.
I try to evoke an era of filmmaking that’s fallen a bit to the wayside in the form of the American Epic, but bringing those stylings forward with a modern voice. I’m well aware that those films of the past came with a price tag, but I’m talking about more than physical scale. Transporting the audience is a top priority. Immersion. Letting the real world get behind you for a couple of hours is a cause worth the effort.
That blue-collar upbringing allows me to tap into another gear and present my vision for what cinema can be. That mentality starts on set. I don’t sit in video village. I’m right by the camera where the action is. If the actor and DP is in the mud, so am I. I love that part of the process.
Overcommit and deliver. I live by those words. Risk is present in every component in my work, I almost see it as a collaborator. I feel the real work happens once you’re outside the comfort zone. I like pushing everyone I work with to let go of expectations and let the work speak. I always tell my cast and crew, “If the needle lands in the middle, then we made nothing.” Taking risks is the key to making something fresh. I see it that simply. I think the audience can feel that energy, and they can relate. That might be intangible and abstract, but I believe it.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Sometimes, you stumble into the orbit of someone who sees things the way you do. Sometimes, you have to seek that person or group out, but what I have found, and what I believe to be true, is you always have to bring value to the equation. Asking yourself with honesty how you can enhance someone else’s trajectory. That is a good place to start. It’s all about taste and work ethic. Movies are often made in the trenches of high pressure and these relationships work best when you can come out the other side of intense experiences glad you did it. These are life moments. Best to work with people you enjoy being around to begin with. Real recognize real.
Contact Info:
- Website: Endrowpictures.com
- Instagram: @skyler_j_lawson
- Twitter: @skyler_j_lawson
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzS7zGuw-n7fS5CBRgMarew
- Other: https://www.musicbed.com/artists/skyler-lawson/43658
Image Credits
Natalie Lawson Paul Schreiber
