Today we’d like to introduce you to Michelle West
Hi Michelle, 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?
I grew up in Cottage Grove, MN – a suburb of St. Paul/Minneapolis. Growing up, I had no idea that filmmaking or film school were real things that real people did. I was an avid reader and loved art of all kinds – I remember writing, singing, dancing, and drawing – but I was pretty clueless about what I wanted to pursue when I went to college. My parents lovingly persuaded me into business school, after which I was hired at a top ad agency in Minneapolis. This exposed me to commercial production and completely changed my trajectory. I’ll never forget walking on to my first set on the Santa Monica Beach and seeing all the people running around with walkie-talkies, the actors in superhero costumes, and the director chairs set up for us – the agency. Sitting in that chair for the first time, I felt like I had truly come home.
Following that experience, I immersed myself in anything filmmaking I could find. I went to screenings, coordinated a 48-hour film festival, and PA’d for anyone that would have me. Eventually, I felt confident enough to quit the agency and give full-time filmmaking a shot. I managed locations and coordinated for a number of local production companies and applied on Craigslist to every opportunity I could find. I hustled, made mistakes, and learned a lot.
After a few years I moved to LA, and it was like being a minnow in an ocean of blue whales. I got production gigs here and there, but I also had to get survival jobs to stay afloat. I’ve been a hostess, bartender, Lyft driver, background actor – you name it. I once typed captions into customer survey videos for a marketing company that paid me in American Express gift cards. Hey, it put gas in my car and food in my fridge. It was a lot to juggle, but I was committed. Eventually, the freelance work was consistent enough that I didn’t need the side hustles any more, and I worked consistently as a line producer, assistant director, and actor.
About four years ago, I realized that all the years working in different sectors of filmmaking were really my version of film school, leading me towards directing. I had stories and a vision of how to tell them – and I knew how. I’ve now shot four short films which have screened at dozens of festivals and won awards.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
So many obstacles on this journey! Remember the survival jobs I mentioned working after moving to LA? Yeah, finances have been a huge hurdle for me in one of the most expensive cities in the world to live. As a developing director, I still spend more than I earn from directing, so I’ve had to figure out how to supplement my income. I’m fortunate enough to work with other creative folks at Columbia College Chicago, where I teach and am on staff at their Los Angeles campus. It’s a needle-in-a-haystack kind of blessing that I truly enjoy.
The biggest obstacle overall has been navigating grief. Over the last few years, I’ve had to let go of multiple people I loved, including my father, and it’s forced me to reflect and feel in unfamiliar ways. When I let go of people, I’m also letting go of all the future moments I thought I had with them, and that’s very disorienting. At moments, grief has been a conductor of loneliness, rage, and sadness that I wanted desperately to bypass; I didn’t want it to distract me from the projects I was working on. Who has the time? But as I sat with it, and allowed it to move the big emotions through me, I discovered that grief is actually a teacher showing me what truly matters. It was vital to give it time. Acknowledging my grief, and how it shows up uniquely for me, has become a gift in both my professional and personal work. It seems like something I’ll be holding hands with for the rest of my life.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a film director focusing on scripted narratives that are emotionally challenging, opening the door to the internal struggles that people typically want to keep locked up. I create layered portrayals of self-discovery, connection, and honesty through stories that are women-centered, aesthetically rich, and have socially-driven messaging.
I’m incredibly proud of my short film Lineage, which I wrote, produced, directed, and performed in, about three generations of women navigating trauma during the Great Depression. It’s loosely based on true stories within my own family, including abortions my great-grandmother had, abuse, and a mysterious fetus found in a trunk. These stories were kept secret, as were most issues that women dealt with during that time, and by weaving them into a narrative I felt as if I was releasing them from shame, in a way. Breaking that generational cycle of secrecy through film has been incredibly healing.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
It’s sounds a bit cliché, but the most important thing for me is finding truth. Truth in a story, being true to my intention, speaking truthfully to myself and others, and surrounding myself with others who can do the same. Multiple things can be true at the same time, which I love exploring through character perspectives to expand the tension in a story.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.itsmichellewest.com
- Instagram: @its_michellewest
Image Credits
Photography by Christina Belle.
