Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracie Laymon.
I always loved writing stories and playing around with the home video camera. I would shoot sketches, spoof commercials or bands performing at local Houston venues and turn in video reports at school rather than book reports. I remember I made a music video report for Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five using an old Guns N’ Roses song. I made all my friends dress up and act in it.
I had no idea until much later that I could actually make a career out of what I was doing. It’s not like anyone was encouraging me to become a screenwriter or filmmaker back then or like I knew of any directors who looked like me. Despite all the obstacles, I just couldn’t seem to stop. It was in my DNA or something.
At 16, my first job was a clerk at the video store in Houston where I was like a kid in a candy store. I suddenly had access to so many films and filmmakers I had never known existed. It was around then that I was slipped an underground copy of an older indie short film called Superstar: the Karen Carpenter Story by Todd Haynes.
I didn’t come from money and hadn’t seen being a filmmaker as any kind of viable option. I thought only children of celebrities or people with wealthy families could choose that path. However, Todd Haynes made Superstar with a Super 8 camera using Barbie dolls to tell the story of Karen Carpenter’s battle with anorexia. While watching that short, something just clicked for me. I thought even if the filmmaker had way more money, telling the stories with Barbie dolls was the more powerful and fitting choice. It made me realize that more money isn’t always the answer (though it definitely helps!) and that maybe there was a way to tell my stories, no matter how much money I had. I think the film may never have been officially released due to rights and licensing issues, but it changed my life.
In college, I worked at a movie theatre and studied Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas at Austin. I had the opportunity to intern for Richard Linklater’s company Detour, which was such a wonderful way to start. Really great people making great films.
Then, while still an undergrad, I became a photojournalist for Time Warner News there in Austin and was thrown into shooting, editing and a high stakes professional environment at a very early age. I also directed a couple of very early short films and music videos there in Austin. My first music video won the jury prize for Best Music Video at SXSW, which felt great and made me think maybe I shouldn’t give up on this whole film thing! One of my early feature scripts garnered some interest from an established production company in Los Angeles that had made some of my favorite indie films, so I moved out to LA all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed with the thought that we were going to shoot the film right away. That was over ten years ago at this point and that movie hasn’t happened, but plenty of other truly amazing things have.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, but I’ve learned a lot from the struggles. At 17, I broke my back badly in a horrific car accident and learned how to walk again. In scripts, there is often this period of the story called “All is Lost”. When writing that section, I often think back to that hospital bed and not being able to sit up or move and being in excruciating pain. I remember the hopelessness and the strength I had to dig deep down to find in order to step into “Act Three” in my own life.
I even named my first production company “Fractured and Fused Films” as a teenager to remind me that sometimes we are broken in life, but when we find the hope and strength to put ourselves back together, we can become stronger than we ever were before. I think a lot of my favorite movies teach us that.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Laymon’s Terms – what should we know?
I formed a new production company last year called Laymon’s Terms, inspired by the spelling of my own name of course, but it has also become my intention to take sophisticated, deep and meaningful themes and package them in entertaining stories and in a way where anyone can relate.
I’m mainly a writer/director, but I also produce. In regards to my own scripted projects, I’ve found a home in dramedy (drama/comedy). I genuinely love my characters and want us to laugh with them, rather than at them. At the moment, I most treasure lovable, flawed and often somewhat awkward characters and I have found the most affinity with fish out of water, underdog, and late coming-of-age stories. The humor I write and direct tends to be a bit more earned character humor than super broad comedy. I try to never just go for the laugh. The stakes are high and real for my characters and they don’t know that they’re funny. But thankfully…they are.
I’m looking forward to this upcoming chapter of my career. I feel like all the hard work has been paying off lately. I’ve gone through a bit of a reboot, personally and professionally, and have gotten out of my own way, so the majority of my time and efforts now can be spent just creating fresh new material and collaborating with great people. We will be going out with some of my brand new TV and film projects soon. That’s all I can say for now, but stay tuned!
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I had the privilege of meeting script consultant and writer Blake Snyder (of the “Save the Cat” book series) before he passed away. He was such an incredibly positive person and sometimes when I feel stuck in a story or down on myself as a writer I can hear his positive voice cheering me on in my head.
My directing mentor is Judith Weston who wrote the bible on working with actors called “Directing Actors”. I also carry and reference her other book “The Film Director’s Intuition” pretty much constantly when I’m alone prepping a scene before shooting. She is a genius, a truly wonderful person, one of my greatest heroes in life and I feel very lucky to also call her my friend.
Pilar Alessandra has read most of my work over the last decade. She is an incredible script consultant and I would recommend that anyone who is serious about writing attend her classes, writing groups, or private sessions. She can be found through www.onthepage.tv.
Veteran Hollywood producer Mark Johnson (Rain Man, Breaking Bad, The Notebook) produced the first film I ever worked on. He seemed to really listen to the filmmaker, respect the cast and crew, be able to problem solve, and always put the story first. He also just has the presence of a calm, but assertive leader. I remember thinking that is what a real producer must look like. When I’m looking for people to collaborate with, especially producers, I often look for those traits that I first saw in him.
Thankfully, I’ve been able to work with Alex Lake of Orange Grove Avenue on my last couple of films and he is great at listening, managing egos and juggling the endless needs of producing a film. It can often feel like there are so few real producers left out there, but I feel like Alex has become one of those few. Any filmmaker would be lucky to work with him.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tracielaymon.com
- Email: t@tracielaymon.com
- Instagram: traciel
- Other: http://www.orangegroveavenue.com/mixedsignals http://www.orangegroveavenue.com/ghosted
Image Credit:
Atreyu Smith, Adam Dix, Alex Lake, Jesse Stagg, Tess Allen, Hannah Whitaker, Women Texas Film Festival
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
