Today we’d like to introduce you to Steven Shea.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Steven. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up on a small island near Marathon in the Florida Keys. I first decided I wanted to get into the entertainment industry when I was 16, and immediately immersed myself in as much as I could in that remote space. I worked at a cable news station shooting live TV, managed a Blockbuster Video, built location portfolios for my local film commission, and I worked at a movie theater to learn projection, all before I graduated high school. The first set I was ever on was “True Lies”. I was next to the 7 Mile Bridge, when James Cameron had the Harrier jets land for the ending of the film, and I thought to myself, “Yes, this is what every movie set must be like!” At that time before DVDs and special features, it wasn’t as easy to see behind the scenes, so I wasn’t fully aware of the expanse of the film industry. But I knew that I never wanted that moment to end, and I never looked back.
I moved to Orlando, FL for college, but after getting rejected from film school, split with an AA degree and spent a portion of my college fund to finance my first feature film, which was a Biblical thriller called “The Night Owl”. In 2002, I opened my production company Abyssmal Entertainment. While living in Orlando, I directed a horror/comedy feature “Hoodoo for Voodoo” and co-directed the horror anthology “Doomsday County”. I also wrote and directed a short horror film “2:22” that did very well for us on the festival circuit, playing around the world and garnering a few awards. I’ve always enjoyed working more on the darker projects, and love being in the horror community. I soon got into photography and started shooting for local magazines, as well as set photography for other film projects and posters.
When Florida lost their film incentive program, the industry went cold overnight, and we realized it was time to move on. So four years ago, my wife Melanie, my son Victor and I relocated to Los Angeles. Here Abyssmal continues to thrive as an “alternative” multi-media company, offering video production, photography and design to a number of local and national clients. It also serves as the back end for all of our film, television, and music video work. Alongside the film and photography, I have also delved into writing for multiple comic books, and even co-writing my first novel “Film FestEvil” with novelist Terry Cronin, based on a screenplay we had written. We just completed post-production on my fourth feature film as a Director, the documentary “Surviving Supercon”. I have also been on the producing team for ten features and three series, and have directed over 26 music videos. We are currently living it up in Los Angeles, where I constantly write, package, pitch, repeat.
Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t think that any road is smooth. I mean, literally. The entertainment industry, like all industries, has it’s ups and downs. It always feels like a constant feast or famine. I feel lucky to have come in right during the start of the digital revolution. I originally learned editing on deck to deck, but within a year non-linear editing started taking over, and I quickly switched to that. Our industry is constantly moving and evolving, and all of us are just trying to hang on and stay current.
The expansion of digital has definitely proven to be a blessing and a curse. It’s easier now than ever to get your projects out and seen by millions of people. Cameras and gear are getting cheaper and smaller and the quality is getting better and better. This all adds up to an over-saturation of the market, leaving every independent filmmaker jumping in the air at all times and yelling “Look at me! Look at me!” It’s never been more difficult to try to make yourself stand out among the thousands of others vying for the same success. I have a firm belief in showing face and getting out there as much as possible, whether it be with new content, or public appearance.
The challenge of a work/life balance is a struggle as well. Being there for your family, while being in an industry that if you step away for five minutes, people forget you exist. It’s a constant juggle and for myself, I just got really good at juggling.
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I have always been enamored by the Friedrich Nietzsche quote: “If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” People sometimes confuse Abyssmal with abysmal, but the creation of the company couldn’t be farther from that. See, we have two S’s, it’s totally different. 🙂
I was a child of the 1980s, obsessed with slasher films, and staying up late at my great grandma’s house after she went to sleep to watch Tales From The Crypt and other horror movies I probably wasn’t supposed to. I’ve always had a love for the genre. But to me, horror movies have nothing to do with death, they have to do with LIFE. Movies are meant to be roller coasters, and the viewer is meant to experience that. With horror movies, the audience always survives, no matter what happens on screen. I was constantly inspired by that, and love making movies that can give the same zest and inspiration to my viewers. Everyone on this planet can connect with the fear of death, and that is what has made horror films so successful over the years.
I was 17 years old when I decided I wanted my company to be called Abyssmal (based on a level in the Dungeons and Dragons campaign we were playing at the time) At Abyssmal, the spiral goes up, not down. I was always an outcast kid, an alternative kid, and I wanted a title that displayed my persona as well as the content I hoped to create. Here we are with the company celebrating it’s 17th year of incorporation and going strong.
Abyssmal is an “alternative” multimedia company, focusing on film, television, and music video production, commercial, documentary and industrial production, photography, post-production and design. More recently we have been playing with comic/novel books and merchandise. We cater to a very wide variety of local and national clients and have tried to create a one-stop-shop for media.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I’ve only lived in Los Angeles for four years, and it literally feels like we just showed up yesterday, but I fell head over heels in love with it. This is the heart of the industry, and that will never change. All roads lead to here. Every corner is a new opportunity and inspiration.
But it is definitely a tough city to make a dent in. I have seen friends come and go, some go homeless because they can’t keep up with it. It’s an extremely expensive city, so if anyone did plan to come here, make sure to save up and have a good five-year plan! It blows my mind when I see people show up and give themselves a six-month window to “make it”. I’ve been working in the industry for twenty years and I haven’t really “made it” yet. Have a good plan! We had a great network of friends before coming here, and I built up a roster of national clients, so I could work from anywhere. We bought a house in an area with good schools, to raise our family. You have to look at the long term.
I had a friend ask me once, “What’s your plan B?” I was so confused. There is no plan B in this industry. You just keep trudging forward until you outlast everyone else.
My biggest advice is to make as many friends as possible. This city isn’t just a melting pot of talent, it’s an explosive boiling over pot, splashing talent all over the kitchen tile. It’s overflowing with talent. I feel like as long as you realize and understand that “you are not special”, it will make it a lot easier to succeed in this city.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.abyssmal.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abyssmalentertainment/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abyssmalent
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/abyssmalent
- Other: www.stevenshea.com
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