Rising Stars: Meet Erynn Mitchell

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erynn Mitchell.

Hi Erynn, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Hello, it’s so wonderful to be asked back for another interview. Last time we caught up with my growing pains of moving to Los Angeles from Colorado. I’m so excited to be back much closer to my graduation date. I am almost finished with my MFA at USC School of Cinematic Arts and I am really focused on making the transition into production.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Graduate school has been the hardest time of my life. My grandfather’s ALS has progressed since last year and he is fully nonverbal and almost completely immobile. I’ve been spending so much time flying back and forth between Colorado and California to help my family go through his belonging and to see him as much as I can before the inevitable. That on top of my graduate struggles has been such a surreal experience to go through. Two of my classes are being held at the top agencies, UTA and CAA respectively, so I’ve found myself on multiple occasions flying to Colorado for the weekend to my childhood home that has since become a makeshift hospital. Then quickly flying back to make it to class in the middle of the Hollywood machine. It’s a clash of worlds that has been hard for me to wrap my head around. The contrast between the glamour and the devastation of the two is not lost on me and has changed my perspective on a lot of things. I feel so different as an artist now. I think I’ve fully embraced this poetic life I’ve been privileged to lead. My grandpa was a long-time artist but he was always afraid to embrace it as more than just a hobby. So seeing him lose his ability to create makes me feel a huge responsibility. Being able to create and communicate is such a gift and I didn’t understand that before.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Through graduate school, I’ve been able to narrow my focus. I’ve embraced my film studies background and find myself particularly drawn to classic film history while working on my projects. I can’t say much about details until a later date. However, I am gearing up to direct and act in my first real feature film after graduate school and my largest goal has been to pay homage to the eras of film I love so much while embracing my modern lens. I consider my work to be creating a medley of sorts to update what I love about Old Hollywood. This project is the most explicit I have ever been able to be in my work and I think I’ve gotten over this fear of showing myself in my art. As artists, we are supposed to give voice to all of our deepest impulses, good and bad. I felt a pressure for so long to deliver the right message that will inspire. But I now find myself simply wanting to share what I’ve been through and what I have felt. I think we are all the same. We all go through different shades of the same problems and so the job of the artist is to put themselves on display to create places where we can all connect to each other and see our similar experiences.

I also find myself wanting to integrate social media into my work more. Because of my travel, I’ve been so focused on places as a subject so I’ve found myself documenting a lot of what’s around me with my iPhone. While it’s not directly tied to my films, I find using social media as a scrapbook as something that can be fun. It doesn’t always have to be about getting the best reach possible or being really polished. I think of social media as a tool and personal gallery that can be a place where you can work out what interests you.

Finally, my online magazine Scorpia is getting ready to open up a call for Spring/Summer on May 1st, so my team and I have been getting ready for that. We have an issue concept that harkens back to the past and we can’t wait to feature more talented artists this year.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Right now I think our industry is on fire. But it’s a good thing. It feels like a wildfire is sweeping through and wiping out the infrastructure that couldn’t sustain itself. It’s making room for new growth. I think we are in a place that will be looked back at similar to collapse of the studio system in the 60’s, and the film generation of the 70s and 80s. I think we will see some interesting shifts in theaters due to the ‘sunsetting’ declared on the Paramount Decree. But the biggest shift will be this online integration. I think social media will be a consistently big part of the creative process in this era. The way filmmakers can use it to give an additional glimpse into their lives or their process is unprecedented and gives so many creatives such power and strength in defining themselves. Streaming is changing on a profound level, libraries are being swiped up left and right. It’s hard to know exactly what’s happening but it’s not lost on anyone in Hollywood that we are all living through a big historical period for the film/tv industry. The possible (I think more likely than not) writer’s strike is the largest thing looming over all of us right now. But as history has shown us, strikes and changes are always needed to push us forward into a better place for the artists and spectators that enjoy entertainment media.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://erynnerynnerynn.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erynnerynnerynn/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@erynnerynnerynn__

Image Credits
Scorpia Images: Nicole Morpurgo (@wanderlustcinematography)