Today we’d like to introduce you to Whitney Skauge.
Hi Whitney, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by describing your craft.
From an early age, I always had an interest in filmmaking. I would borrow my parents’ VHS camcorder and make my own little home videos. This love naturally progressed into the career I have today in documentary film. I graduated from the University of Montana with a B.F.A in Digital Filmmaking in 2016. After that, I packed up my car and moved to Los Angeles. More than the filmmaking career I was exiting off into a whole new life filled with joy, surprises, and inspiration.
In those six years since I packed up my car I’ve worked for The International Documentary Association, Interloper Films, The Sundance Insititute, Women In Film, and am now the VP of Development and Marketing at the Academy Award® winning, Breakwater Studios.
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?
Since moving to Los Angeles, I’ve learned that art is a business. It is filled with nuanced relationships, expectations, responsibilities, emotions, and sensitivities. This can all be difficult to manage when at the end of the day all you want to do is make beautiful, impactful art (that will find an audience).
With all that said, I’ve been incredibly lucky to find the people and communities I can rely on and have found my own kind of road.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work is ultimately an extension of who I am in the world and what I was influenced by as a kid. I grew up loving pop culture and bright colors, turning me into a nostalgic based artist. But also, as a Black queer person, I’m dedicated and hyper-focused on elevating the unappreciated history of Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, and other historically and systematically oppressed peoples. With this, I want to make these films about these essential figures and make them shine with an aesthetic reserved for the stars.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
More than luck I just never lost focus of my true dreams. You have to hold those close because it is so easy to take another path when things become more difficult. When you’re an artist, you have to remember the dream. That’s your only true currency.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.whitneyskauge.com
- Instagram: @whitneyskauge
