Career Area: Film and Video

  • Michelle Iannantuono

    Michelle Iannantuono

    Interview

    Transcript

    00:00 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Alright, hello! My name is Ryleigh and today we are talking with Michelle Iannantuono as a professional creative working from and within South Carolina. 

    As we get started, can you tell us your current career and where you’re from? 

    00:15 Michelle Iannantuono 

    I am from Charleston, South Carolina, in the north area suburbs. I am a filmmaker and have been for 10 years. I am making a little bit of a transition into the games industry, I think. 

    00:29 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Very cool, very cool. 

    00:30 Michelle Iannantuono 

    I’m kind of between this career nexus point right now. 

    But yeah, the majority of what I’ve done and still continue to do is film and video. 

    00:40 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Very cool. So, before we go into the details of your profession, I know you’re talking about a little bit of a career transition right now. 

    We have this brief section of the interview, and it’s called “One Career, Sixty Seconds,” where you describe your job in 60 seconds or less. I know you kind of briefly discussed about it in the previous question, but this is similar to an elevator pitch. 

    Okay? Alright. Are you ready? 

    01:07 Michelle Iannantuono 

    Oh, I’m actually being timed. Okay, great. 

    01:10 Ryleigh Kelley 

    I have a stopwatch ready. 

    01:12 Michelle Iannantuono 

    Alright. Yeah, let’s go. 

    01:14 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Okay. You’re on the clock. Let’s start. 

    01:17 Michelle Iannantuono 

    I am the creative lead and owner of Octopunk Media, which is a film and video production company located in Charleston. I am a sole proprietor, so I do a little bit of everything above the line and often below the line. So that includes direction, writing, producing. 

    I run a streaming service called Octopunks.tv, which is for our fan community to enjoy exclusives that we produce, as well as our entire backlist library of VODs, films and shows. I’m most known for the feature films Live Screamers, Live Scream, and Detroit Evolution, as well as over 7 or 8 short films over the past few years. 

    I also take client work on a per-project basis for editing, post-production, that sort of thing. 

    Or I’m a bit of a Swiss army knife, so whatever you need to put me in, I’ll do. 

    02:08 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Okay. That was really great. 

    You had six seconds left. 

    02:12 Michelle Iannantuono 

    I also do Unreal Engine. That’s the other thing. 

    02:15 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Yes, yes, yes. I know that. That’s another kind of thing that another part of your background that you do. Obviously we’ll talk more a little bit about that. But yeah, thanks for playing. 

    So as the director of Octopunk Media and especially with your background in working with Unreal Engine, is there anything South Carolina, or your region in South Carolina, or city in particular that brings to your work? 

    Does it have a unique influence on you compared to people in the same profession in different states? 

    02:51 Michelle Iannantuono 

    Oh, that’s a really interesting one. 

    So, in terms of film, I think we have a really good community here, especially because of Trident Tech. I have a lot of admiration for Trident. I’ve worked with a lot of graduates from Trident. 

    My mother actually graduated from there in graphic design 20 years ago, 30 years ago. Then I also have gone through their animation program when the COVID stuff and when the tuition was free. 

    And, yeah, I wouldn’t have been able to make my SC Indie Grant film, Lotso, without them as well because they fronted a lot of the bill of that film and let us use their motion capture volume and stuff for free. 

    We also ran an animation practicum for an entire semester where a bunch of students worked on the film. So yeah, I think that that’s probably one of the major places that Charleston has, and South Carolina has that other places may not. 

    I would say  Rough House, the Danny McBride, David Gordon Green stuff is also pretty significant. They kind of have staked their claim on a lot of the film industry in South Carolina. For better or for worse, I think that they do a lot of good for giving opportunities to new grads from Trident and stuff to get on a real set and make union money and that sort of stuff. But I also think that they hire a lot of above the line from out of state. 

    So, I would like to see more opportunities for directors and writers and department heads to be here in the region as well, particularly from these bigger productions like Outer Banks and Righteous Gemstones and other stuff that’s kind of come to the area. I do think that is a struggle though, even in Atlanta, even in Georgia, they like outsourcing or bringing in from out of town, those department heads and stuff. 

    We have talent in South Carolina, and I think that we should be given a shot as well. But, yeah, in terms of other influence on the region, I mean, I’ve lived in Charleston for 25 years. I was originally from Wilmington, also a film town. So, it’s kind of just always sort of been a thing for me.  

    I think that my latest film, Lotso, which was the SC Indie Grant film, takes place in Charleston. It is a cyberpunk Charleston. It is like 2059. King Street’s flooded. It’s all built in Unreal because it’s a fantasy world, but I still sort of am recreating my hometown in there, which is really cool to be able to combine real life references with this sort of sci-fi vision of the future of this town. 

    As well as the FC&D grants, I should mention as well, that’s another unique opportunity that South Carolina has. You can get up to $45,000 for a short film, and they do that every year. A lot of places don’t have, a lot of states don’t have anything like that. 

    So that’s a really cool opportunity for short filmmakers to be able to have a significant budget for a short and have access to festivals that they wouldn’t normally have access to and resources and department heads and stuff as well. 

    06:02 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Speaking of real life, was there a defining moment in your life which had an impact on your creative journey? I know you talked about how your hometown or Wilmington, or Charleston means a lot to you and is featured in your work. 

    Was there a particular project or something you produced which showcased your creativity in a way you never had before? 

    06:26 Michelle Iannantuono 

    Oh, so I’ve had a lot of big moments. In terms of, I’ve always wanted to be a storyteller since I was four years old and I’ve always wanted to be a filmmaker since I was 8. So that was always part of me. 

    But I actually went to school for chemistry. I went to the College of Charleston and got a chemistry degree. 

    I graduated high school in ‘09, so right in the Recession. I was like, “well, I’m going to get a pragmatic career and then this film stuff will be kind of like the plan B, I guess.” It turns out I did some cool stuff as a scientist. 

    I was an intern at NASA, I was an intern at MUSC, and I was a chemist for four years, but I was kind of lousy at it. It was very clearly for somebody who’s actually passionate about this and was good at it could do it better. 

    I remember I was stuck on this project in summer 2015 at that job, and I was really, really miserable in that job. I remember I just turned to my spouse, and I was like, “I can’t do this anymore.” I was like, “I have to do something.” 

    This job is destroying me. 

    I just had a vision board, and I started just writing down a plan. I was like; I’m going to make a videography company. I’m going to be self-employed. I’m going to climb my way out of this job. 

    Within a year, I had started an LLC and started taking clients. Then a year after that, I quit my job and was full time in just corporate freelance video editing. Never did super well at that either. 

    I did okay, but I was not making a lot of money. I remember there was sort of another defining moment in Summer 2018 after I’d been doing the freelancing for a year or two, and it was not super lucrative. I was doing okay. But I had just completed my first feature, Live Scream. At that point I was making movies because it was fun. 

    I didn’t really have any sort of intention to do it as a career. I remember I was part of a female networking group called Elevate, which was all online. There was a life coach, business coach lady who was giving free consultations as part of our group. 

    She gave me a personality quiz or something and told me what category I fit into, what are my strengths, what are my weaknesses, whatever. She’s like, “your strengths are power and excellence, and your weakness is discretion.” I’m like, “oh yeah, I have no poker face at all.” 

    That doesn’t surprise me, but power and excellence. I was like, “so what is that?” 

    She’s like, “you’re committed to quality, and you have, you can command, and you can lead, and you have the ability to be able to get attention.” 

    I was like, “what do I do with this?” 

    She was like, “so you just put out this feature film. What have you learned?” 

    One thing that’s surprising to me, as I go to festivals and stuff, is how much it connects with the audience to where they actually want to see it again or they want to buy it. They want to watch it. I’m, for the first time realizing that, as an independent person, I have the ability to get fans. 

    I have the ability to actually get an audience interested in my work beyond other filmmakers supporting me and being a peer-to-peer thing, but actually getting an audience interested into my stories. She’s like, “okay, so act like that is possible.” 

    I started doing these live streams called Octopunk Live on Facebook Live, where basically it was State of the Union for Octopunk. 10 people showed up, mostly my friends, but it started to build a brand. 

    It started to build the identity of my films and my company as beyond just me, but actually a brand. 

    I made a fan film called Detroit Awakening, which is in the Detroit Become Human Universe because I was obsessed with that game at the time. Within 8 months of that, I published that movie, and it kind of blew up on YouTube and connected with the fandom. I was having 70, 80, 90 people watching my Twitch streams to talk about my movie. 

    Long story short, over the next year or two, I leaned more into that fan film thing and built an audience. That audience ended up crowdfunding over $100,000 of other original projects and provided the basis for what Octopunks.tv is today. I had a Patreon with them for six years, and then Octopunks kind of replaced the Patreon. 

    I’ve basically been able to finance my film career all in crowdfunding and audience building from the last six years. 

    So, I would say deciding to actually do it and take the life less ordinary. Then also realizing that fans can come. 

    Like you, even as an independent, even without a publicist, even without a studio connections in finance. If you can find a niche, you can find an audience; you actually can find other people like you who are interested in the stories that you have to tell. You have to believe that. 

    You have to get over that kind of imposter syndrome of like, “who’s gonna pay attention to me? Aren’t they gonna watch Disney movies instead?” 

    11:37 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Yeah, yeah. 

    11:38 Michelle Iannantuono 

    Are they gonna pre-judge me? Some will. There’s a lot of audience out there for people who, like for me particularly, like the queer community really latched on to our work. Even specific niches within the queer community have latched on to our work. They’re like, “well, we don’t see like this sort of representation in movies, in Hollywood movies.” So, this means a lot to them. 

    12:04 Ryleigh Kelley 

    That’s really beautiful. 

    So, imposter syndrome, before you entered the field, when you were having these conversations with your spouse about like, “I don’t want to be a scientist anymore. I don’t want to live this kind of life, something needs to change.” 

    Did you have any fears about becoming a creative professional? What inspired you to continue beyond them? 

    12:32 Michelle Iannantuono 

    I think the inspiration was really my spouse being a safety professional, talked a lot about the burning platform. 

    You’ll be on a burning platform and then there’s shark-infested waters, but the platform ain’t gonna last, so you better take your risk with the sharks. That’s kind of where I was with that chemistry job is like, “well, I can’t stay here.” 

    I don’t have to go home, but I can’t stay here. So, I have to find something else. Actually, within three months of me quitting, I do believe I had a performance review where my boss was just like, “hey, so, we don’t know if you’re gonna be here in six months, you know?” 

    I think I would have been fired from that job, had I not quit. What inspired me was necessity. I had to do something else. 

    Did I ever have doubts? I mean, yeah, it was scary. Luckily, he made enough money to where we could pay our bills. We would not be destitute so long as he had his job.  

    So, we could live on one income. So, we were never going to lose our house or anything. I was still kind of like, “all right, well; I have a decent amount of savings. I have a 401k. I’ve lived pretty frugally these past four years as a chemist, and I made decent enough money to where I was able to build up a bit of a safety net.” I wasn’t super worried again about that, but I definitely didn’t want to fail, and I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. 

    I was hoping to have big contracts and stuff within a few years, and it was really hard for me to find work. It was really hard for me to find clients. I actually have to think back on it now. I was…24? I was a kid. I didn’t know anything. 

    Now that I’ve, looking back on it 10 years later, I’m like, “oh, one of my prime issues is that I kept saying that I was a company and that I was a business.” I don’t like the word freelancer, but I still behaved like one. I still conducted my searches like one. 

    Now, going into the game stuff and thinking about starting new businesses and structures and what do I do, I have a much different mindset about it. It’s like, “oh, I actually know how to think like a business.” 

    I know how to think like a studio. I also have the network and the connections and the partnerships to be able to make a structure like that from the jump instead of doing everything myself and pricing my stuff per hour instead of per value. 

    I also just understand now that people got money. They do, it exists. Companies will write a $50,000 check and not think about it. You just have to know where to look and also understand that writing down that number is not insane. 

    And it’s still to this day something I have a hard time wrapping my brain around because to me $50,000 will never not be a lot of money. That will always be a lot of money. 

    It is actually pretty standard if you’re working with a certain level of client and working with a certain level of partnership or sponsorship. 

    15:49 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Do you have any advice for young adults or students who have an interest in pursuing a similar career to yours or pursuing a career in the creative world? Are there any particular skills one should practice or have before entering the industry? 

    I know you talked about when you’re writing that $50,000 check as a director of a company, they don’t blink twice. If you could maybe speak a little bit more about that, especially particular skills that young adults or students may want to think about before or develop before entering the field? 

    16:22 Michelle Iannantuono 

    The biggest thing that I see in young people that I always sort of shake my head at is scope. Know what you know and realize that the dream project is gonna take time to get to. 

    Don’t try to drink from a fire hose and learn it all at once. It’s impossible. 

    I actually have an apprentice right now in Unreal, and I’ve sort of had to navigate this a little bit with him, and he’s just like, “well, I want a job in six months.” I’m like, “we’ll try, buddy. I’m gonna try my best.”  

    He’s a very hard worker. He’s a very great learner and he’s becoming very good at something, but in order to achieve his goal, we’ve tried to niche down just into animation. 

    I’m like, “I’m gonna make you really good at animation and you can maybe get a job in that. There’s still gonna be a ton of other stuff that we’re gonna learn over time that I know that I can share eventually, but we’re putting on the shelf for right now because I’ve been doing this for the better part of a decade, depending upon what we’re talking about, whether it’s Unreal or editing and stuff and I’m still learning all the time.” There’s still certain things where I know a little bit about that, but I’m not an expert at it. 

    I’m kind of a jack of all trades. I think that that’s something I definitely didn’t do well when I was younger. I also see it in other people all the time. I see kids graduating from film school at 21 and they’re like, “I’m gonna go make a feature film.” 

    I’m like, “buddy. Whoa, whoa, whoa. You will regret that because it’s not gonna be what you want it to be.” 

    You’re gonna be like, “man, I failed my passion project or I’m gonna be apologizing for this movie two years later when I’m publishing my second feature film,” and all the press are gonna be like, “well, we really hated his first one.”  

    No, you move in silence. You only get one shot to be able to move in silence and build yourself up. Fail in private. Don’t fail in public; you can’t come back from it in a lot of cases. I see this a lot as well with crowdfunding. 

    I see a lot of people who say, “I’m gonna crowdfund $25,000 for my first project and I don’t know anybody.” Then they make 500 bucks, and then the Kickstarter fails. No, you have to have an audience before you can try and do that.  

    I kind of worked myself up to that a little bit because I crowdfunded Detroit Evolution, which is my second feature. I self-financed Live Scream. That was $1,500. 

    I just paid for it. Detroit Evolution was about $17,000. That was more money than I had. I was like, “I’m not gonna do a Kickstarter for this because this is still a little fledgling.” 

    I’m gonna do a Patreon, I’m gonna do Ko-Fi, I’m gonna do Twitch, I’m gonna do a merch store and just any money that I get from that over the next nine months, I’m gonna put towards the movie. That’s basically how I financed the film. 

    Then after that was a success, I was like, “okay, we have the audience now. Let me see if I can make another one and we’ll do an Indiegogo.” We set the goal at 10,000. We achieved that in 3 minutes. Then ultimately raised $50,000 in that campaign because our stretch goals were doing an event in Europe and doing an event in New York. 

    Over a month we were able to raise $50,000. And so, I was like, “okay, now I understand crowdfunding.”  

    You have to have the audience, you have to have the people who are eager for what you’re selling because otherwise it’s really, really hard. I’m really glad that I didn’t try to do a crowdfunding campaign when I was nobody because that sticks with you forever. It’s always going to be on your page that like, “oh, they got the failed crowdfunding campaign. Nobody wanted this project.” 

    Unfortunately, a lot of it’s about appearances. It’s funny how people who just know me through social media or just know Octopunk through social media perceive it. They perceive it as so much more successful than, maybe it is financially. They’re like, “oh, can you hire me?” I’m like, “I don’t have money for that. I barely pay my own bills. What are we talking about?” 

    I would say that young people fail in private, move in silence and work yourself up. I know it sucks to basically be like, “oh man, I have all these big ambitions.” I’ve spent maybe my entire life. I mean, I spent my entire childhood in high school and college, wanting to make movies, wanting to write. By the time I finally was an adult and had the free time and the wherewithal to do it, I’m gonna go out there and do it. 

     Those first projects were not good. They weren’t. They weren’t very good. Luckily, I didn’t spend a lot of money on them. Luckily, I didn’t spend a lot of time on them. I learned a lot. Luckily, a lot of people didn’t see them. 

    Then by the time I actually did have something that people liked, which was Live Scream. I still made a lot of mistakes on Live Scream, but it was good enough. I was able to be proud of the work that I was putting out and be able to look back on it years later and be like, “oh, people still watch that movie. People still like that movie. Cool. It’s something that I don’t have to apologize for.” 

    21:37 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I really resonate with your advice about failing in private. Move in silence. Take your time because especially with the kind of work that you do. That does take a lot of time and learning. 

     I’m curious to know more about your work with Unreal Engine, which is a 3D computer design software developed by Epic Games. I’m curious to hear more about your experience with that and how you came across it. What was your experience with that? 

    I know that you mentioned you have an apprentice learning skills in that. Could you speak a little bit more on your work with that and just the experiences you’ve had with Unreal Engine? 

    22:24 Michelle Iannantuono 

    Yeah. 

    I’ve been into the games sphere since 2014. I didn’t grow up with video games. They just were not a thing in my house. I had a couple PC games, but that was it. 

    Then I won a PlayStation 3 at work in a raffle at Christmas in college. So I had that and my then-boyfriend, now spouse, was really into games. He grew up with games, and he’s like, “can you use your PlayStation 3 as more than just a Blu-ray player, please?” 

    So, I was like, “okay, well, what should we play?” 

    And of course, Portal 2 was my gateway game, as it is for 25% of my generation. And then I played Heavy Rain. That I would say was such a life-changing game for me in so many, so many avenues. It introduced me to Quantic Dream, the studio that made it, which later made Detroit Become Human, which later I made fan films on, which later changed my life. 

    It introduced me to the fact that motion capture could be used in games, and you could make this sort of photorealistic-like story that wasn’t high fantasy, that wasn’t Beowulf or the Polar Express or anything that had been used in Hollywood. Like a gritty David Fincher crime thriller you could do with mocap, and you could tell a story through it. 

    Also, it was my gateway into video games at large, which again has completely changed my life. Actually, I interviewed at Quantic Dream last year, which was really, really cool. I applied to be a writer for one of their games, and ultimately, I didn’t want to move to Paris full-time. I was like, “I would love to work for you guys, but yeah, if we can’t do this remotely, this isn’t gonna work.” 

    That was such a watershed moment for me because I was talking to the interviewer, and I was like, “literally, you guys are responsible for my entire life right now.” 

    This is big for me. So Heavy Rain was kind of my gateway. From that point on, I started learning more about motion capture, and I started playing more games like Life is Strange, Tales from the Borderlands, a lot of those Telltale games, interactive games.  

    I was also watching a lot of Let’s Play culture, watched a lot of Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, that sort of thing. I was absorbing so much about games history and games culture, game news, how games are made.  

    I saw that a lot of people were using Unreal Engine to make little games. It’s free, so these people with no experience were just downloading the engine and just building things in it, putting it online for free, and these streamers would play it. Some of the games were good, some of them were not very good, but it was a tool that I learned about through absorbing, over the course of five years, the game industry. 

    As I got into film, I was thinking about maybe doing some animation stuff. I downloaded Unreal and just played around with it for eight hours. I was like, “oh, this is surprisingly user friendly. This is very intuitive to me and easy to learn.” There’s a lot of documentation about it, so, I kind of had that on the back burner of my mind. 

    Then when I had the idea for Live Scream, which essentially is a found-footage movie. It’s a real time found-footage movie. It’s like a screen capture of a Twitch stream as an uninterrupted webcam for 70 minutes of this one actor reacts to gameplay footage that is happening on screen and there’s a chat as well with narrative characters who come and go. Basically, if he dies in the game, his followers start to die in the chat. So, it’s like a high-stakes horror film that I had to build nine fake games for in order to achieve the concept of the film. 

    When I had the idea for the movie, again, having watched Let’s Play Culture for so long and understanding that world in and out. I was like, “I got to make fake games for this.” 

    Unreal it is. I was able to pick it up really quickly and by using assets that I was, because I wasn’t a modeler, I couldn’t like square the circle of like, how do I get the stuff to put in the game? All that is available for purchase or download or for free. There’s a lot of assets out there. 

    If you need a door, if you need a monster, if you need animations, you can find that stuff online and then just cobble it kind of together in Unreal and do some visual scripting and make it work. That was my first intro to Unreal, and this was in 2018. This was at a point where like nobody was using Unreal for film short of James Cameron and like the Mandalorian, maybe. 

    Over time, I revisited Unreal in 2022, when I was making the sequel to Live Scream, and that was when Unreal Engine 5 came out. Lots of new features, incredible new features. Unreal and Epic Games are starting to get more into the film industry at this point in time. They’re doing a lot of virtual production. They were also doing a lot of like in-engine animation and that sort of stuff. 

    They were starting to realize that like, “oh, there’s more people who could use our tools than just game makers.” I actually went to the AFM, the American Film Market, in 2023, when I had finished Live Screamers and was pitching it. 

    I remember seeing Unreal Engine logo everywhere and I just had to laugh. I was just like, “yeah, I knew it. Yeah, right? Yeah. 

    I was like, “hey, I just made a movie with this.” 

    They’re like, “oh, virtual production.” 

    I’m like, “no, not quite.” I was like, “I’m doing a hybrid live-action game capture cinematic thing. I don’t really know how to describe it.” I really dove into Unreal in Live Screamers. Just working on it for months and months and learned the cinematic creation tools really, really deeply. Then the SC Indie Grant(s) thing happened because I have, by sheer happenstance, met an OptiTrack rep and OptiTrack is a motion capture company. 

    They’re like, “oh yeah, we have a system at Trident Tech.” 

    I’m like, “that’s in my backyard. I can walk there.”  I knew that Trident Tech and the Indie Grants were tied together. They like to put Trident Tech students in the Indie Grants projects. 

    I wondered if they would go for a pitch where I use their volume because the OptiTrack guy was like, “yeah, they don’t really do much with it. I think that they would like somebody to come in and use it.” 

    I wrote a short film that was completely animated, completely actually CGI-animated in Unreal, and would use motion capture. Through my Detroit movies, I also got to know Neil Nubon, who is Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3. He’s one of the best motion capture artists in the world. 

    I was like, “hey, would you like to come direct my mocap?” 

    He agreed. 

    Through him coming on to the pitch and us having this interesting concept, I think the Indie Grants went for it. We were able to shoot on their volume at Trident Tech and then use their animation program as well to get some students on the project. I’ve spent the last two years in post. We’re really close to finishing. 

    That’s sort of my journey with Unreal Engine. 

    Ultimately, my thesis on Unreal Engine is that it’s the most democratizing thing for indie filmmakers since the DSLR. It is a free program. It is easy to learn. You can make anything in it.  

    I’m not going to say it’s easy. I’m not going to say it’s going to be quick, but I would never be able to make cyberpunk Charleston in real life. It would always look cheap no matter what, if we had a low budget for that, even with VFX workflow. For me to be able to build that completely from scratch in Engine and also have photorealistic versions of our actors who are able to come to life, who are very, very high fidelity of what they look like in real life, all due to free tools that came with Unreal Engine. Yeah, it’s really cool. 

    I remember Neil; I was showing him how we were capturing facial mocap on an iPhone, literally just right here beside me. I had my actor sitting in front of an iPhone, and they were doing their facial capture. 

    He was like, “it captures the neck movement? That’s insane. Like we can’t do that on these big stages.” 

    I was like, “yeah, man, it’s the future.” 

    31:05 Ryleigh Kelley 

    It’s the future. 

    31:09 Michelle Iannantuono 

    Yeah, and completely marker-less on the face, which he was telling me is actually pretty normal now. It’s pretty old fashioned to do the markers on the face, although some people still do it. To be able to even introduce some of these tools to a seasoned veteran in this technology and in this world, who’d been doing it for 10, 15 years himself was really cool. 

    I think that just goes to show how powerful this resource is. It also has so many, if you want to go get a job in it, you could do arch phys, you can do automotive, you can do, the military actually has a lot of applications for Unreal as well. I know that from my mother working for the Coast Guard. So yeah, it’s not just for games and film and television. It also has like wide-ranging applications that anybody can pick up and learn.  

    32:06 Ryleigh Kelley 

    Yeah, that is just really so fascinating and thank you for speaking more about that. I know that’s one of the key tools that you use in your work. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. 

  • Ismael Valentin

    Ismael Valentin

    Interview

    Transcript

    00:00 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Hello everybody! My name is Victoria, and we are talking with Ismael Valentin, a professional creative working within and from South Carolina. As we get started, can you tell us a little bit about your current career and where you’re from?  

    00:16 Ismael Valentin 

    Sure. So, my heritage is from Puerto Rico. Tyrannal Roots. That’s native to Puerto Rico. Born and raised in Farmingham, Massachusetts. And, went to school in, Chicopee and Springfield, Massachusetts. 

    What would you like me to get into? How I got into my art?  

    00:52 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Before we do that, can you talk a little bit about where in South Carolina that you’re from?  

    01:00 Ismael Valentin 

    Sure, we’re at the Wild Wings plantation and golf course in South Carolina.  

    01:09 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Okay. Before we go into the nitty-gritty details of your profession, we have the “One Career Sixty Seconds” portion of our interview, where you give an elevator style pitch. If you’re ready to go, I can set a timer, and we can start.  

    Okay. Alright. Ready? Set. Go.  

    01:36 Ismael Valentin 

    Basically, I went to a store, and they asked me to, sign up for a raffle. I must have been eight years old.  They turned around, and I said “sure.” So, I signed up for the raffle. They called me a week later, saying I won. They gave me an easel with all art products and whatnot.  

    I just had it lying in the corner of my room, not knowing what to do with it. My cousin comes over a week later, and he’s like, “Oh, you know how to draw? You’ve been drawing? Oh, I’m a better drawer than you.” I said, “Word? Let’s go.” Ever since then, I’ve been trying to find the best outlet to express myself.  

    02:29 Victoria Bartolotto 

    What kind of mediums do you work with?  

    02:34 Ismael Valentin 

    Acrylic paintings. I do glass blowing, and I do bronze work. It’s called the Lost Work of Wax.  I sculpt in wax, and then I cast the bronze. I also work in stone. I sculpt stone.  

    I do a little bit of welding. I’m no professional at welding, but I can at least weld my form and then build up on it.  

    03:11 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Wow, that’s a lot of different things! Jack of all trades.  

    03:14 Ismael Valentin 

    Yeah. Yeah, I have touched on a lot, a lot of things, trying to find the best way to express myself and my vision as an artist.  

    03:27 Victoria Bartolotto  

    Yeah, for sure. With being located in South Carolina, is there anything in particular that the state or your particular neighborhood or region brings to your creative work? Does anything about South Carolina have an influence on you?  

    03:42 Ismael Valentin 

    Yeah, so there’s something called the American College. They have a course there where they do a lot of stonework. I find that to be very attractive, and what got me out here to begin with. 

    04:04 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Was there a defining moment in your creative career that had an impact on your journey? I know from the form that you filled out, you mentioned that you had an artist residency in Italy. Was there anything particularly, maybe in Italy or in the United States, that kind of have an impact on you?  

    04:24 Ismael Valentin  

    Oh yeah. So, Italy is the reason why I got into stonework. I went out there and did a residency. I did a marble ram’s head. I just found that to be the best way that I could express myself in art. That’s eventually what caused me to move out here. It was because the college out here that does all the stonework. So, I can continue working on that.  Unfortunately, where I live, my neighbors wouldn’t necessarily like me working on stone. 

    05:12 Victoria Bartolotto 

    I can imagine it is very loud.  

    05:14 Ismael Valentin 

    Yeah, it is. It can get there. So, it actually gives me a perfect workplace. To be able to have space to do my stuff.  

    05:25 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Is there a particular kind of stone or material that you prefer working with over others?  

    05:32 Ismael Valentin  

    Not that I have found. I like dabbling in all of it. One thing that I have found a caveat to that is marble. Marble is kind of like granite. It’s kind of a little bit harder to work with. It’s a lot harder to work with, actually. The soft stones are more my go-to. Just because I can get the form faster and it’s easier to work with. It’s not as hard.  

    06:16 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Yeah. Was there a particular project, maybe the Ram’s head that you mentioned before, is there a particular project that you have done that really showcased your creative abilities in a way that it never had before? Was there anything that really spoke to you and is a proud moment of your career?  

    06:38 Ismael Valentin 

    Yeah, so I did a bronze ballerina foot. I feel like that was really my standout moment where I was like, “Oh wow, I could actually seriously get into this.” I could also, how you say, have this as an actual career. I just got so many compliments from it. I got so many praises for it, and it was literally my first piece that I did for sculpting. Since then, I haven’t stopped my toes. I haven’t dropped my toes, I should say. 

    07:25 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Yeah. Before entering stonework and working with stone, did you have any fears about having that being your profession? Was there anything that might have held you back from pursuing it?  

    10:40 Ismael Valentin 

    Definitely. There’s that stigma where the artist is a starving artist. So, everyone was always pushing on me, saying, “Oh artists, you don’t really make any money off of it.” 

    I feel like once you find certain people that love your work, they kind of stick with you. They follow you. I actually found that to be a stigma that really shouldn’t be stuck to us artists.  

    11:19 Victoria Bartolotto 

    I recently graduated from Coastal. I got my degree in English because I want to be an author, and I’ve heard that so many times. when people say, “Oh, well, writers don’t make any money. Artists don’t make any money. Why don’t you pick something else?” But it’s what you love, and it’s your passion. It’s hard to just tell some people that, “no, I want to follow my passion.”  

     Do you have any advice for young adults or students who maybe want to get into stonework, about things that they should know, or any skills that they should practice before getting into it? 

    12:03 Ismael Valentin 

    If anything, you definitely want to know how to do anatomy. Depending on if you want to do human figures. If you wanted to go abstract, then I guess you don’t really need to. Just dive right in. Keep an open mind and keep an open eye. Sorry, keep an open mind. Yeah.  

     So, by going to Italy, I learned how the old-timers used to do it. By hand and chisel, and I definitely would not suggest anyone doing it that way. That is grueling at best. This is very tiring.  

    13:10 Victoria Bartolotto 

    Yeah, I can imagine.  

    13:13 Ismael Valentin 

    If you can definitely get an air hammer. Get some air tools, that definitely would make it easier on you.  The chisel, you are eventually going to have to work with the hammer and chisel, especially when you start getting into those fine details. Try to be open to all of it.  

  • Paul Mento

    “Read, read, read. Novels hold a wealth of knowledge, experiences, and creativity.” 

    Quick Facts

    Education: Undergraduate School

    Years of Experience: 37 Years

    About

    A producer, writer, and director at Silver Hand Productions, Paul Mento has been tinkering with the camera since elementary school. As his passion turned into a career, he primarily works with documentaries, short films, and commercial media. Mento’s documentary, “Howard Pyle, and the Illustrated Story,” was recently accepted by the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts in Los Angeles.  

    Originally from Wilmington, Delaware, he initially became interested in shooting Super 8 films, borrowing his father’s equipment. “I was part of Explorers in high school, which had a program that centered around advertising and media,” he says, “I was immediately hooked.” 

    What captivates Mento about filmmaking are its interdisciplinary roles, all working towards one project. In addition, he is inspired by the involvement of multiple skills across the team, from researching to camera operation. He encourages aspiring filmmakers to read and engage critically with literature, for it can serve as a springboard for ideas. 

  • C. Michelle Bryant Griffin

    C. Michelle Bryant Griffin

    “Be your unique self, and let the world catch up.” 

    Quick Facts

    Level of Education: A.C. Flora High School (Columbia); attended 27 schools across 12 years; some college 

    Years of Experience: 40+ Years

    About

    C. Michelle Bryant Griffin is an artist, author, and entrepreneur based in the Low Country of South Carolina who has spent more than four decades creating, building, and supporting others in doing the same. Her work today centers on helping dreamers, doers, and entrepreneurs bring their visions to life, transforming ideas into brands that shine and make their mark on the world.  

    Her path into photography began during a divorce in her late fifties, born out of vulnerability and a desire to rebuild. As she photographed other women navigating similar turning points, she found herself collecting their remarkable, under-sung stories which deserved a wider audience. That impulse became a magazine with a global readership for over a decade, dedicated to showcasing the overlooked and the underestimated. When the pandemic reduced print circulation, she pivoted to a fully online practice. She launched Fabulous Business Solutions, a practice that blends strategy, design, and hands-on support for writers, artists, and entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey.  

    She expresses her love for her work, saying that “everything I do is done with 100% heart and passion, as if it were my own personal project.”  

    Michelle describes her abundance of talent as both a blessing and a challenge; the question of how much to use, and in which direction, is one she holds lightly. But the answer she keeps returning to is love. Everything she does, she does because she genuinely loves it. And for her, that has always been enough.  

  • Ismael Valentin

    Ismael Valentin

    “Never be afraid to explore as many mediums as possible, because experimentation is where your voice begins to take shape.”

    Quick Facts

    Level of Education: Welding, Artist Residency in Italy

    Years of Experience: 35+ Years

    About

    Ismael Valentin is a sculptor, photographer, and multi-medium artist whose work centers on bronze, wax, and traditional foundry techniques. These methods give each piece its own distinct character and depth, allowing him to create across multiple mediums as a way to express how he sees and interprets the world.

    His relationship with art began at age eight, when he was encouraged to enter a raffle and won a set of artist supplies. That unexpected moment sparked a lifelong passion that grew alongside the mediums he explored. His artistic journey eventually led him to Italy, where he lived and worked during an artist residency that deepened both his technical skills and creative perspective.

    To emerging artists, Valentin offers this advice: “As you follow your journey, you’ll find many people who try to critique your vision or put you in a box. Stay true to yourself and your vision.” To explore more of Valentin’s work, visit his website www.valentinartisticdesigns.com and follow his social media platforms for updates on his journey. 

  • Ronald J. Rossmann Jr.

    Ronald J. Rossmann Jr.

    “Create relentlessly, and don’t be afraid to fail. Failure isn’t the opposite of success; it’s a necessary part of it.”

    Quick Facts

    Years of Experience: 10 Years

    About

    A writer, director, and producer with ten years of experience, Ronald J. Rossmann Jr. Is the Owner and Creative Director of Be Your Own Hero Productions, LLC, a York, SC-based independent film and storytelling company. His passion for science fiction and horror was ignited in his early years by his uncle who cemented Ronald in classic genre films such as “Thing from Another World” and “Forbidden Planet”. Though he spent years crafting stories privately, it wasn’t until Ronald’s late thirties and forties that he began sharing his work with the world. 

    His filmmaking journey began with a web series shot in a single take for its first two seasons, eventually expanding to over forty episodes. He then moved into feature filmmaking, starting with a fan film before writing and directing his first full-length horror feature, “You’re It”. For Ronald, storytelling is not just a passion; it is essential. He describes it as “a lifeline” he cannot imagine existing without. What sets his creative process apart is a deep investment in developing complex, authentic characters audiences can genuinely connect with. From there, the story reveals itself. “In many cases, the characters begin to guide me,” he says, “revealing their choices, their struggles, and the paths they’re meant to take.” 

    One of the most meaningful aspects of Ronald’s journey is the origin of Be Your Own Hero Productions. It began as a cosplay collective, a group of performers dedicated to appearing at charity events and community functions, always fully in character and committed to creating immersive, joyful experiences. The mission: to bring heroes, hope, and smiles to people who need it most. Over time, those bonds and that shared creative spirit carried over into filmmaking. The name was born from a period in Ronald’s own life when he had to find a way through darkness. With the mission to bring light to other, he often reflects, “Sometimes you must be the one to stand up, to push forward, and to pull yourself out of the darkness.” 

    Outside of filmmaking and writing, Ronald serves as COO of a major staffing firm. He draws a clear distinction between the two sides of his life; the first building futures for others and the second producing worlds from the inside out. He encourages emerging creatives to understand their own capacity, receive and apply constructive criticism, develop the skill of self-editing, and above all, avoid comparing themselves to others. “This isn’t a competition,” he says. “It’s a craft.” 

  • Silas Rowland 

    Silas Rowland 

    “The creatives who grow the most are the ones who stay curious, humble, and willing to get better with every project.” 

    Quick Facts

    Education Level: High School

    Years of Experience: 17 Years

    About

    An independent filmmaker, writer, and producer, Silas Rowland’s imagination has always searched for a creative outlet. What began as brainstorming novel ideas with his younger brother eventually led him to the camera, which became his go-to creative outlet.  

    Growing up, he experimented with cameras by creating skateboard videos. He realized he could channel his passion for storytelling through the camera in order to visually bring his stories to life. His YouTube channel, sighlus, has over one thousand subscribers, and highlights his 2025 independent horror film, “All That is Evil.” 

    For Silas, filmmaking is more than just a set of rules and techniques: it is experimental and expressive. He attributes the practice’s unique ability to create various forms of art, rendering it ‘inherently subjective.’ “Two filmmakers can approach the exact same story in completely different ways, and both can be valid and powerful,” he says, “That freedom to explore ideas, take creative risks, and translate imagination into something visual is what makes the job both unusual and incredibly rewarding.”  

    Silas encourages emerging filmmakers to embrace their inner self-critic as a tool for growth and improvement. It is not meant to “sabotage your confidence, but to constantly evaluate what you’re making, learn from it, and keep pushing yourself to improve.” From pen and paper to the camera, he aims to tell stories that not only connect with people, but prompt different pathways of thinking, feeling, and seeing.  

  • Michelle Iannantuono

    Michelle Iannantuono

    “Find what makes you unique, and lean into that thing. Whatever odd hyper specific thing you are obsessed about can be the thing that connects your art to an audience.” 

    Quick Facts

    Education: Trident Tech & The College of Charleston

    Years of Experience: 10 Years

    About

    Michelle Iannantuono has worn many creative hats throughout her career, from novel writing and chemistry to game design. Now, as Director of Octopunk Media, her film company, she has produced over ten films, blending emerging technology and interdisciplinary techniques into her creative practice. 

    In 2018, she was one of the first independent filmmakers to create a movie with Unreal Engine, a 3D computer design software developed by Epic Games, and she is a recipient of the 2023 SC Indie Film Grant. Through these experiences, she has refined her skills in teaching, communication, and filmmaking. 

    A storyteller since age three and budding filmmaker at age six, video games didn’t enter her radar until she reached adulthood. “But my interest in games was far more purposeful,” she says, “I didn’t have them growing up, and when I reached adulthood, Let’s Play culture made them a lot more accessible to me. First, I watched others play games and then became interested in them myself.” 

    Michelle highlights her own enjoyment for blending different tools, experiences, and techniques from other fields as part of her filmmaking process. She emphasizes the importance of “find[ing] what makes you unique and lean[ing] into that thing,” in order to establish a connection between an audience and a creative piece.  

  • Marsh Deane

    “Especially because right now is a digital world, the world is just an open oyster for creatives so just do it. Otherwise, the dream will just stay in your head.”


    Marsh Deane is a filmmaker, photographer, and outdoor educator based in Pawleys Island, SC. Through his business ML & L Media, he captures South Carolina’s hidden stories and landscapes with heart and purpose.

    Interview

    Transcript

    Creative Careers – Marsh Deane  

    Lexi Raines 00:00 

    So, first, just give a little introduction of yourself. What do you do for work and where are you currently working from? 

    Marsh Deane 00:09 

    So, my name is Marsh Deane. I’m a photographer and filmmaker, and an outdoor educator, and I’m based out of Pawleys Island, South Carolina. I own an independent media company called ML & L Media. 

    Lexi Raines 00:26 

    That’s awesome. So how long have you been doing this? 

    Marsh Deane 00:30 

    Well, I’ve been into photography since I was in middle school. So, really, probably 20 years as a photographer, but as a career, I only started in 2019 when I graduated from Coastal Carolina, so I’m in my sixth year in this career. 

    Lexi Raines 00:52 

    Yeah, that’s amazing. So, you said you work in Pawleys Island. What’s one thing that you love about working as a creative in South Carolina? 

    Marsh Deane 01:01 

    Well, for me, it’s definitely the access to nature, the access to the outdoors. Here along the coastline, we have, of course, amazing beaches that everyone knows about, but we also have amazing river systems. We have Cypress forests; we have remote barrier islands. We have a lot of special places that have been conserved and are kind of off the beaten path. 

    And a big mission of mine as a creative is I try to document, and I try to showcase our heritage. I try to showcase the parts of South Carolina that visitors don’t see and really, as an outdoors enthusiast, it’s a playground for me. I’m a boater, I’m a kayaker, and that’s kind of what I’ve become known for.  

    Lexi Raines 01:53 

    I would completely agree on that. I think that a lot of people, whenever they think of South Carolina, only think of the super touristy parts. And yeah, we do have that, but we also have a lot of other stuff. So, what do you think South Carolina brings to your work, and what is its unique influence on you compared to being anywhere else? 

    Marsh Deane 02:15 

    Well, I’m born and raised here, and a kind of unique part of my story is that I grew up in historical locations. My parents were antique dealers, and they purchased old plantation properties, and so I was very, very lucky to grow up on 50-acre properties by the river in 150-year-old former plantation houses.  

    And when you grow up in a place like that, on one side, I had the natural beauty, I had access to that which really shaped my development and my interests. And then there also is a negative side to our history, and I learned about that at a young age. We had slave cabins on the plantation that I grew up in, and so I learned about that history, and I learned about, you know, the dark truth of the South Carolina story. And that also shaped my interests, and it shaped the stories that I wanted to tell. And so, for me it’s a very personal journey as a proud South Carolinian, I hope to tell our story. I hope to share our heritage.  

    Also, in this area, we have a lot of tourism and a lot of development, and so I see a unique opportunity that as this region changes, part of my job is that I can capture moments in time, and I can tell these stories while we have them, because I know that down the road, this area is going to change so much, and I feel a little bit of a weight on my shoulders that as a South Carolinian, I’m trying to preserve some of our heritage for the future generations to enjoy. 

    Lexi Raines 04:05 

    I think that’s definitely an amazing thing to do, for sure. How would you describe your local professional community? 

    Marsh Deane 04:13 

    Very giving. I live in Pawleys Island, and we’re a little tourist town, and when I started out, I was with the Georgetown RISE program at Coastal Carolina. And from there, I was connected with the nonprofit world. We have a lot of nonprofits in this region, and I started marketing for the nonprofits. And I found out that this area is just so giving, from churches to school groups, just to community groups.  

    I mean, there are, I believe now, in Georgetown County there are 90 different individual nonprofits that you know have community missions. And so, I’m heavily involved with that. Southern hospitality, that is alive and well down here. And that can really impact your career, you know, especially as a creative finding ways to share the positive stories and the positive giving nature of this region. 

    Lexi Raines 05:12 

    One thing I’ve noticed is that everyone who moved here from the north, their number one thing they always say is everyone’s just so friendly, so like, I’m glad to hear that it’s the same in the professional community as well. So how would you define professional or personal success in your creative endeavors? 

    Marsh Deane 05:29 

    For me, it’s really about having a tangible impact that you can see. In the creative industry, there’s many, many different paths you can take. And nowadays we get sidetracked by social media. We get sidetracked by, you know, followers and views and short form media, right? And that gets a lot of attention, you know? So, you can focus on, “I am really going to try to focus on social media, Instagram, YouTube, and get those high views?” And there’s certainly a great career in that, being an influencer, but there’s also other things.  

    For me, it was more getting involved in local communities, creating short films that were, you know, supported initiatives that I’m interested in. So yeah, as a creative our work is individualized to us. It is an expression of us and our energies and our efforts and our interests. And so, no matter what it is, whether it’s on social media or whether it’s in the local community, there’s so many ways to feel justified and fulfilled in your time spent in this creative industry. And there’s so many different niches. There are so many different things that you can do nowadays, and it’s very rewarding. Once you find that path that’s working out, and you find that that job or that that gig or that niche that satisfies you, it’s just extremely rewarding, in my opinion, more so than any views or really any dollar amount, is just the satisfaction of being an artist and knowing that I’ve done something that has created a ripple.  

    Lexi Raines 07:11 

    Yeah, I completely agree with that. I feel more like long form content has definitely been lost with the rise of social media. So, I feel like it’s awesome that you are still finding beauty in that, because I think there is a lot of value in it. What was your biggest fear when you first decided to pursue the arts professionally? 

    Marsh Deane 07:33 

    Definitely the biggest fear is, you know, going out on a limb by yourself, not having a boss, not having a company that you’re working for, not having a guaranteed paycheck when you start a business as a creative.  

    The great thing about it is that you can shape it to what you want to do and have not having a boss is great, right? Setting your own schedule is great. But there’s also immense pressure with that, because you realize you are the one responsible for the income. And so, it definitely is; it’s taking a leap. It’s taking a leap of faith, if you really commit to it, I think anyone that takes that leap is going to find success, especially because right now, it’s a digital world, and so the world is just an open oyster for a creative, you know?  

    And again, whether you’re going to focus on social media or you’re going to focus on the business side of it, there’s just every company, every industry, every business needs marketing, needs to tell their story. And so, there’s just so much out there you might not even know when you take that leap. You might not have a clue what you’ll be doing next year, but you have got to take the leap to find out.  

    Lexi Raines 08:47 

    I think that is definitely one of the most important things. I’ve talked to a lot of creatives, and they have all said that you just got to take that leap. I agree that it’s very important. Can you describe a defining moment in your creative journey? Was there a particular project that made a significant impact on you?  

    Marsh Deane 09:09 

    I would say probably my internship with the Village Group started it off for me. I had been doing some real estate photography, and so I knew that I could make money doing real estate photography. I knew that there was some potential there, but it didn’t fulfill a lot of satisfaction. It was a great career to be in.   

    I started my internship with the Village Group, and I was doing marketing, showcasing what this nonprofit is doing for children in a rural Plantersville community. And through that nonprofit, first I was doing marketing, but then they found out, “Oh, well, you like the outdoors? Hey, would you like to take our students on an outdoor walk? “ 

    And then that outdoor walk began, I brought my cameras along, and I let the students use my cameras. Then that became a Media Club, and we got a grant, and we got 20 cameras for the students. It quickly went from a marketing internship to a teaching opportunity, and it was just this eureka moment, because I loved it. I mean, taking these, these kids, out into the woods on a nature trail, giving them cameras, and kind of teaching them photography, and just seeing how just how interested the kids were, it’s a fun class to teach, and so I get the best out of the students.  

    And that was the moment where I was like, I definitely want to do this for the rest of my life, if I could just keep doing this, finding an avenue to, you know, combine my camera, the outdoors and people having a good time, and the Village Group having that internship through the Georgetown RISE program. Had I not done that, I have no clue what I would be doing today.  

    Lexi Raines 10:58 

    That’s so special, like, I’m sure you made so many special memories for those kids, and you also showed them that you might have given them something they really love too. So that’s actually awesome. So, what’s the best and worst advice you’ve ever received?  

    Marsh Deane 11:15 

    I guess the best advice I’ve received in many ways over the years, the Nike slogan, “Just do it”. Just do it!  

    It’s so easy. Nowadays we’re surrounded by comfort, and it’s so easy to put things off. It’s so easy in the evening to, you know, sit down and turn on the TV. But if you have any goal, you have to just do it. You have to… sometimes you have to give yourself that little kick in the pants to get up and chase that dream, to make that project that you want to make. Otherwise, it’ll just stay in your head. You have to just do it.  

    You know, action, and especially nowadays, I think a lot of my generation and younger, with all these distractions around us. I think a lot of us do struggle with procrastination. And so, really, the best thing is you have to get up and do it. You know, you got to be moving, momentum.  

    The worst advice being opinionated online, I tell students, just to be careful with, you know, online right now, there’s so many different things going on in the world, and we’re all very passionate about many things, and online discourse, as we all know, gets very… it’s easy to misunderstand, it’s very easy to misunderstand people, and then it gets Negative pretty quickly, right? And so, I’ve learned just that you put something out there, and you really need to take the time to make sure that your thoughts are understood by the reader in the way you intend.  

    And let’s say, if they’re not understood the way you intend, don’t take it personally, and don’t get in those comments. And you know, it’s easy to get even a little triggered online. And that goes for all of us, and I admit to that. And you know, sometimes you can turn away viewers. You can turn away the audience you’re supposed to reach, just with online misunderstanding. Not bad advice that I’ve received, but I do just that’s, I know that that’s advice I try to give my students of things not to do is just take a little slower online when dealing with other people and just understand communication. We’re meant to communicate face to face and see each other and hear each other’s tone, I don’t know if that really answers the question.  

    Lexi Raines 13:49 

    It does. I think that. I think that is good advice, because I feel like if you don’t listen to that, there is so much that could go wrong in that situation. So, can you walk me through a typical workday? What does your process look like and what is expected of you on a daily basis? 

    Marsh Deane 14:07 

    Well, so the cool thing as a creative and owning my own business is that I am my own boss, and so I get to wake up when I like, usually, I’ll wake up between eight or nine, but it depends really, you know what’s on the schedule.  

    I have set up my business, so that most of the work I like to do after 10am, I like to give myself that extra time in the morning to kind of wake up and have a slower pace. So usually during the day, after 10am it’s meetings, I’m going out into the community to different locations for photo shoots or video shoots, interviews, and then the afternoons and the evenings are usually set aside for editing time and editing as a creative that’s one thing.  

    Yeah, we work a lot. We work a lot behind the scenes. Often, I’ll be editing until 11 or 12 o’clock at night, and so I’ll tell some people that I work 80 hours a week, but those 80 hours aren’t what you would typically think of as work. You know, because sometimes I’m sitting at the computer, I’m working on a project, but I am also, as the computer is rendering, I’m pulling out my phone and on social media, or I’m multitasking, I’m bouncing around.  

    My days are very, a little disjointed, you know, I’ll spend an hour working on something, and then I’ll get up and walk around my yard for a little bit, do some yard work. I’ll go inside, you know, make a meal. So, I don’t really have a set schedule. I don’t have a nine to five, and I love that. But also, again, sometimes it is annoying, you know, when you find yourself at midnight still editing and working on that project.  

    So, for creatives you kind of have the power to be as structured as you want or as unstructured as you want. I’m unstructured by nature. I’m ADHD. But I would definitely say being a creative, you do have that power to structure your life, whatever way you wish. And I think that’s amazing. I tell many people that I get up when I want to, I go to sleep when I want to, and I schedule work when I want to, but of course, you schedule your work around your client and when they’re available, and so really, on a week to week basis, it changes.  

    I travel a lot for work, which is great, and there’s also a lot of time spent, though people don’t see this as a photographer or any creative, there’s a lot of time spent packing gear, charging batteries, processing data on the computer, and if for painters or other you can translate that into dealing with, you know, the paint or your canvas, there is a lot of unseen It’s not as glorious as you think, being a creative, there’s a lot of time doing busy work in between to get everything lined up so that you can create. 

    Lexi Raines 17:09 

    I feel you have already explained this a little bit, but how do you create a work life balance where you’re able to maintain, like your professional creativity, your personal creativity, and what are some habits that you have that you think would be beneficial to others wanting to pursue the arts? 

    Marsh Deane 17:26 

    For me, having a work life balance, there really is no, well, it’s unbalanced, but that’s a little bit of a good thing for me, because it is my passion. All my time, every day, I’m working on projects. Some days that’s a project for a paid client, so it’s work. But then there are other days when I’m working on a personal project. And those personal projects, it might be a video going out into the swamp and showing people a really cool tree, right, or YouTube videos.  

    So, my balance is that I’m balancing the professional work and then personal work. The passion work, right, the work that I want to be known for, the work that I enjoy. I’m not getting paid for it, like the YouTube videos, or the swamp adventure videos. That’s not my career, but I do see it as work, because I see it as my portfolio, I see it as my legacy. And so, for me, it’s having that passion and doing what you love. If I didn’t have the time to do those personal projects that I enjoy, I probably would be miserable.  

    And so, I think, for any creative just make sure that, yes, you’re doing a lot of work for clients that are going to get you paid but make room for the personal work that you want to do. I feel that most creatives are always working on something, and so just be sure that some of that is giving you enjoyment. It’s for you, it’s for your soul, it’s for your satisfaction as an artist, because you can get burnt out really easily. And I certainly got burnt out about a year or two into my journey, because all I was doing was working for money, working for other people’s vision, and I wasn’t doing things for myself. 

    Lexi Raines 19:19 

    I think that’s honestly really, really amazing advice, because, as you’re saying, it is so easy to get burnt out as an artist. 

  • Caletta Harris

    Caletta Harris

    “Know your worth and follow your path, and entrust yourself” 

    Caletta Harris is the founder and owner of Reel2Real Productions, a video production company that has been transforming stories into powerful visual narratives for nearly 20 years. She is based in South Carolina and works nationally, blending creative passion with purpose-driven storytelling by using media to empower, educate, and amplify voices across South Carolina. 

    The powerhouse behind Reel2Real Productions is a woman with a camera and a mission. For nearly two decades, she has built a full-service video production company that thrives on diversity of stories, clients, and causes. Based in South Carolina, her work stretches far beyond its borders, but the state’s rich history and collaborative spirit have deeply shaped her creative journey.

    Interview

    Transcript

    Lexi Raines  00:01 

    So, what do you do for work, and where are you currently working from? Well, I 

    Caletta Harris 00:05 

    Currently I have my own business called Reel to Reel change to Reel2Real Productions, and we have been there for 19 years, almost 20 years. Next year will be 20 years, and I’m kind of out of everywhere. I’m remote, but I do work all over. So right now, I’ll say South Carolina, awesome. 

    Lexi Raines  00:26 

    And so, what is your official job title, being the creator of realtor. I am the owner. And what is one thing that you love about working as a creative in South Carolina? 

    Caletta Harris  00:37 

    Well, I love the rich history in South Carolina, and to have that creative freedom being a creative there’s a lot of stories to be told. A lot of rich history here, and just the people connecting with some great, like minded individuals, is always a plus. 

    Lexi Raines  00:55 

    I completely agree. So first, just tell us a little bit about Reel2Real. 

    Caletta Harris  00:59 

    So, Reel2Real is my baby. My production company is a full service video production company. So we basically do everything from commercial marketing all the way to documentaries. I am the videographer, the editor, all of the above, the marketer, all of that. So we basically do a lot of branding for companies. So we are going on our 20th year, next year. 

    Lexi Raines  01:25 

    Awesome. That’s so cool. So what does South Carolina bring to reel to reel, and what is its unique influences on you compared to anywhere else I can 

    Caletta Harris  01:33 

    Say, South Carolina has brought me a lot of diverse clients, like my projects totally different. And when I was starting the business, people always would say, you need to get, like, a portfolio that’s vast. You can’t just do one thing, and then expect people to say, Oh, well, you can do it, but they have to see it. I’m like, This has definitely given me an opportunity to have different type of clients, different type of genres. And I just love it. I love just creating people’s vision that 

    Lexi Raines  02:03 

     Awesome. I feel like South Carolina is definitely a very diverse community. And saying that, like, how would you describe your local professional community? Local 

    Caletta Harris  02:11 

    Professional community? They are wonderful. They’re very interesting. They’re very talented. And, you know, they bring opportunities with them. So it’s not like, this is just mine. They see where people can fit in. And then once I start talking, you know this, the wheels start spinning, and it’s like, oh, well, maybe we can fit you here. And then my wheels start turning. Say, oh, maybe I can connect you with so is a good connecting hub? I like, yes, 

    Lexi Raines  02:38 

    That’s actually something I’ve heard a lot throughout, like almost all of my interviews, is that South Carolina really is such a good community where people want to like be able to lean on each other, which I think it achieves pretty well. How do you define professional or personal success in your creative endeavors? Well, 

    Caletta Harris  02:57 

    I would define personal professional success is retention rate. I can say my longest client has been 15 years, and then the next one has been 11. So I can say that I have a great rent retention rate with a lot of my clients. And then from there it’s still, you know, multiple years, and then even the new client is like, we don’t want to just stop here. We want to keep that show’s success. To me, that I must be doing something right, and then just personally, it’s kind of the same thing. Sometimes I’d intertwines, but just building relationships personally, because it’s not always professionalism with my clients. So we build that relationship. Yes, 

    Lexi Raines  03:38 

    That’s awesome. And sometimes that’s the base you need to work on. So that’s really great. What was your biggest fear when you first decided to pursue the arts professionally? Can 

    Caletta Harris  03:47 

    I be self-sustainable? I think that’s a lot of people fear. Can you do this long term? So I was smart with it, because I held on to a job until I said I can do this long term. It kind of worked out. And then when I got my first office space, I just took off from there, because people want to see that to make it real for them, right? So that I just didn’t have to go back doing anything else for anybody else. 

    Lexi Raines  04:15 

    And that is awesome. I know a lot of the creatives that I’ve interviewed so far like they are kind of working on their projects, and then they have, like, a day job, and so that seems like difficult to juggle. So it’s awesome that, like, you aren’t having to do that. Okay, so can you describe, for me, like, a defining moment in your creative journey? Like, did you have a particular project that made a significant impact on you 

    Caletta Harris 04:40 

    Absolutely! back in 2013 I started a journey while in my office downtown, I read it in the newspaper that city council wanted to do something about their homeless issue, and I was called by what the options were. So I was like, I want to do something about. It. I already have a production company. Let me just start filming and talking to people and seeing what’s going on around me. And it became a full feature documentary. It’s called No Address. It’s a documentary series featuring Columbia, South Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia.

    So it talks about, you know, the criminalization of homelessness, what’s going on as well as practical solutions, because we can’t keep talking about the problems without the solutions. And that has had the biggest impact on my life. I the first one came out. Columbia came out in 2020 and Atlanta came out in 2022 so we hit the whole film festival market, and now it’s on Tubi, Amazon. I’m about, I’m thinking, I’m on about 10 streaming platforms now, so it has made a huge impact. I’ve spoken to a lot of colleges, even middle school and high schoolers, and they’re excited about doing something in their own community. So this has been one of my biggest passion projects, and I continue to expand with it, because I want to be a part of the solution now, yes, 

    Lexi Raines  06:01 

    That is, like, actually so amazing and so meaningful that is, and being on so many streaming sites like, that’s so cool, that’s actually awesome. So what is the best and worst advice you’ve ever received on your career path? That 

    Caletta Harris  06:19 

    Was a struggle, because I can’t really think of the worst advice, because I really block out a lot of that negative energy, right? The best advice, I would say, is when you know someone told me just going through this is to trust yourself, follow your own path, because had a lot of challenges at the beginning, me being a woman owned business, so that was a challenge in itself, and people taking you seriously. So that I that was the best advice was to say, you know you know your worth and follow your path, and you know you know and trust yourself. So but the I could say something generalized, like the worst advice would be something like, it doesn’t matter, everybody’s doing it, so go ahead and do it. And I’m not that type. If you say go right, I’m gonna go left. Open your mind and think creatively, yes, so that I don’t say that. Yeah, 

    Lexi Raines  07:16 

    I think that is, like, really good advice to, like, stay true to what you want to do, not what everybody else is doing. So that’s awesome. Can you walk me through like a typical work day for you, what does your process look like and what’s expected of you on a daily basis? 

    Caletta Harris  07:32 

    So normally, I wake up, I stretch, I meditate, then I go drink some coffee or tea, and then I either edit or film, depending on the day. So every day is different. I usually work until like seven, unless it’s a long shoot or something, but I kind of cut it off at seven, and then I have me time. I relax and do whatever, and then I try to go to bed by 10 o’clock, because rest is so important to me, because I use my brain so much, and sometimes I’m juggling two or three projects simultaneously. So it’s like shifting gears here and there all the time, somebody else talking about something totally different. So it’s like your mind is always going so I’m like, shut it down at 10 o’clock and then, and then I just start the day, just to rejuvenate and start the day. So that’s kind of my routine. And then I don’t I try not to talk business after seven. 

    Lexi Raines  08:28 

    I think that is super smart, like, and a good practice to have, because I think so many times people don’t know where the line, like, the line kind of blurs between, like, work life and personal life. So I think that’s really, really good advice. Actually, 

    Caletta Harris  08:44 

    Being entrepreneurs, we people don’t know how to cut it off. It emailed at 2am from people in that one time, and then I said, You know what? This isn’t healthy, because you’re going to burn out at some point. So it’s like, every day is a new day, and I’m ready to conquer it. You know, along 

    Lexi Raines  09:01 

    Kind of with that, I know you’ve explained some of them trying to get to bed early. What are some habits that you think would be beneficial for others wanting to do what you do? I 

    Caletta Harris  09:10 

    Would say, you know, just find your peace. Whatever it is at times, just take breaks and find your peace. I’m a nature person, so I go out in nature and, you know, just soak it in vitamin D, go out to the farm, you know, things like that, just to digress, and then you can kind of recharge yourself and get back into because you don’t realize, once you do that, how much information can come in and Creativity can come in when always thinking about everything else. So take that time, even if it’s five minutes, whatever it takes, just go out, walk, do something, stretch or just be silent, you know. And a lot of times that really can make a huge difference, subtle, but it can make a big difference. 

    Lexi Raines  09:57 

    Yes, I completely agree, just for. My personal experience, I feel like just those few moments that you take to like, ground yourself, super, super important.