Today we’d like to introduce you to Canyon Prince.
Hi Canyon, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I moved to Los Angeles from Orlando, FL in 1999 to pursue a career in acting. Background work laid the foundation for me with an understanding of the way film and television sets worked. That was my film school. That work quickly led to working as a PA on a lot of those same shows. I continued living the life of an auditioning actor until the WGA strike of 2007.
I was fortunate enough to act in one of the last episodes of television shooting before the shutdown; at which time my actor friends and I all found ourselves out of work with nothing to do. So I started writing, producing, and directing web content, which was new and exciting and all the craze at the time. That ultimately lead me down the path to directing and producing feature films. In 2012, I wrote and directed my first feature film “Hard Sun”. Since that time, I’ve made my living directing, writing, producing, and acting. Currently, I’m in a post on two features I recently directed: the horror-anthology “All of You Will Die” and the drama “Four.”, based on the novel ‘Waiting for Rainbows’.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing about this business is smooth or easy. When my friend Jay Flats and I first moved to L.A. we thought “give it a year and we’ll make it”. That quickly turned into the old saying, “It takes ten years”. In reality, the saying is more like “Give it 20-25 years and if you’re lucky you’ll have a career in the business”. I think when the “dream” finally becomes a “job” you’re in the right place and frame of mind. I’ve had to work for everything I’ve gotten and spent a lot of time just trying, through trial-and-error, to figure out exactly what that entailed. I believe that this town still has a very strong gatekeeper mentality, like “if I help you, you might take work from me, so I’m not gonna tell you my secrets”. But I’ve come to learn that life is not a zero-sum game. To quote an old Scottish saying “What’s for you won’t go by you”. To combat that, I’ve begun thinking about how I can pay it forward and save those that come along after me some of the leg work. I’m creating an online resource called ‘Kick Open the Doors’, which will cut through a lot of the b.s. and red tape that surrounds a lot of areas of show business, breaking down EXACTLY how the job is done.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I think the secret to my long-term success in this business has been the fact that I do so many different things within the business. Directing, producing, writing, acting, and even the occasional editing or VFX work. I’ve learned every job on a film set and it’s allowed me to pivot and stay busy when work slows down in one area. I own my own production shingle Not a King Entertainment and am gearing up to launch the “Sub Million Dollar Film Series” as part of ‘Kick Open the Doors’.
My acting credits include “Survive the Game” with Chad Michael Murray and Bruce Willis, “Fortress” with Jesse Metcalf and Ser’Darius Blain, “The Trouble with Billy” with Angus Mcfadyen and Allison Eastwood, and “The Riches” with Jared Harris & Eddie Izzard.
My directing credits include the upcoming drama “Four” starring Meghan Carrasquillo, Spencer Breslin, Stacey Dash, and Taryn Manning; the Award-Winning feature film “Hard Sun” (2014 Dances With Films); SyFy’s “The Final Level: Escaping Rancala” starring Bai Ling; the soon-to-be-released horror film “All of You Will Die” featuring Zack Ward; as well as several episodes of the Hulu Original Series “Goodnight Burbank” starring Laura Silverman, Jim Rash, Miracle Laurie, and Dominic Monaghan.
I am an active member of SAG-AFTRA, the Producers Guild of America (PGA), and am a voting member of the Television Academy.
I have produced numerous films for companies including the WWII actioner “D-Day: Battle of Omaha Beach” for Cinedigm, starring Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell; the SyFy Original Film “Megalodon”, starring Michael Madsen; “The Trouble with Billy” starring Tom Sizemore, William Baldwin and William McNamara; and the family Christmas film “Rent an Elf” for ION Television starring Sean Patrick Thomas and Kim Shaw.
Other directing credits include “Monsterland” for Travel Channel and pilots “The Men’s Room” for Michael Wilson and “Monster Murders” for SyFy Television.
I have acted as 2nd Unit Director on “Fortress”, “D-Day: Battle of Omaha Beach”, “Street Survivors: The True Story of the Lynyrd Skynyrd Plane Crash”, “Near Extinction: Shangri-La”, and “Megalodon”.
My produced writing credits include “All Of You Will Die”, “The Final Level: Escaping Rancala”, “Megalodon”, “Hard Sun”, and “Run Like Hell”.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
This is a life lesson I keep learning and subsequently forgetting. Life is all about risks. My biggest achievements, the most life-defining moments, were always risks – and they always scared the shit out of me. I am constantly reminded of this fact: If it scares me, do it!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.canyonprince.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/canyonprince/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/canyonprince
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1111796/
Image Credits
Main photo by Dantino Scarfo @pic_to_kill BTS photos by Alizare @alizarephotography from the upcoming film “Four.”
