Rising Stars: Meet Ashton Swinford Giaume of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashton Swinford Giaume.

Hi Ashton , 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?
When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a horse. When that didn’t work out – I turned to acting.

I started acting in college (poorly), and decided to ignore my degree in Journalism to pursue the NYC actor hustle while attending Stella Adler Studio and auditioning full time. I did ok, booking mostly commercials with the occasional theater festival or random hand modeling gig. It wasn’t glamorous or financially stable, but I loved it.

It wasn’t until years later when my career took a turn. Having moved to LA to persue more roles in Film & TV I had jumped into standup and the comedy scene in LA. While driving to perform at The Comedy Store, competing in my very first Roast Battle, I got hit by a drunk driver – breaking my spine. In those first moments where I thought I was dying, I vividly remember watching the crowd of people outside In-N-Out on Sunset Blvd frozen in shock and staring as I screamed that I was dying. Luckily I was not dying, and an ambulance was close enough to hear the crash and was on scene within minutes.

The near death experience and severity of my injuries forced me to switch gears. At the time I was cast in an indie pilot and tried to back out of the role citing my injuries. Luckily the director proposed modifying the character to have a back and neck brace, like me, and asked me to help out with some clerical duties in an associate producer role.

That role started my career as a Producer and now writer, with many TV shows, commercials, and films under my belt in various capacities. I now have my own production company, Paragram Productions, which produces comedy projects and most recently the award winning sci-fi film WIZDOM, which will screen on Sept 6th at Regal LA Live.

I could never have predicted this career trajectory but I like to live by the code of Amor Fati – the stoic philosophy to love fate regardless of what it brings.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There were a few other times I had to start from scratch like going back to being a Production Assistant even after Talent Producing 30 episodes of a live-to-tape TV show for The Onion. But filmmaking is a team sport and you have to find your team which requires staying humble and doing whatever is needed to move the needle. After managing big crews, I wouldn’t make anyone do something I wouldn’t do myself, so I consider my PA experience invaluable.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’ve always been drawn to comedy and satire, especially as a vehicle for change. I got my start in TV playing opposite Zooey Deschanel in New Girl as the girl who steals her boyfriend in the first two episodes, so essentially I’m the reason she’s the New Girl. Although it was a small part I fell in love with the process of making comedy, seeing how the team worked together to create jokes, while trying not to ruin takes by laughing.

Since then I’ve worked at The Onion, while studying improv and musical improv at Second City, and writing and directing sketch comedy. During the pandemic I created and starred in the political satire series called “Miss Information”, about a beauty pageant queen reporting on the “news” while teaching folks basic media literacy, which was recognized by the UN for International Media Literacy week. Since then I’ve wrote, produced, and star the Sci-fi proof of concept called WIZDOM (projectWIZDOM.com) which has garnered a bunch of awards including a Telly for best Sci-fi. We hope to turn the project into a series or feature film, which will be a satire on the healthcare industry.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
In addition to Amor Fati, which is now tattooed on my wrist, an important lesson I’ve learned in this business is nothing is real until it’s real. There’s so many times that I’ve gotten my hopes up for a part or a script I wrote that got green lit, until it dissipated before coming to fruition. I remember being so heartbroken about it until I realized nothing is guaranteed in this business, and the only way to keep going is to have multiple eggs in multiple baskets and understand it’s a privilege to be selected for a seat at the table even the whole table collapses.

Filmmakers are a resilient bunch and I’m forever grateful for the people who took meetings with me and passed down knowledge as I hope to as well.

Of course the most important lesson is one we all know well: Never Give Up!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://AshtonSwinford.info
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ashtonswinford
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashton-giaume-34194b3/
• Other: https://independentartistgroup.com/roster/ashton-swinford/

Image Credits
Abbi Chase, Lily Lawrence,