Today we’d like to introduce you to Sean Oliver.
Hi Sean, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I know I’ve gotten older, because the notion of my origin story has finally begun to sound dull to me. Like many filmmakers, I’ve allowed myself to imagine my autobiographical film playing out on screen, but I can’t help but hear the Producers in the back shouting, “It needs more action! It needs more romance! This is boring!”
I’m not sure proper nouns for schools and travelled roads would reveal all that much. I was born here, I went there, learned a touch over yonder. But the question still hangs: “What is your story?”
You’d think a self-professed storyteller would be better at answering. Which makes you wrong. How does it feel being wrong? Are you wrong often? Is that a feeling you’re comfortable with? Sorry, I’m not deflecting, I swear. And I know I shouldn’t attack the reader, but reading can be dangerous. Like most worthwhile endeavors, it may hurt you.
Speaking of worthwhile endeavors – no I can’t do it. That’s a terrible segue. I can’t just start listing off my achievements like that. That’s not classy. It needs to come out organically, naturally, seductively. Scratch that last one. The rule of threes can get you into all sorts of trouble. Sometimes you just gotta draw the line at two and move on.
Right about here, The Producers would be asking for a car chase. Something to engage the viewer. I have been in several car accidents. Cars like to hit me. But I’m guessing that’s not the kind of backstory you’re interested in.
I just need to rip off the Band-Aid, and get to it. Hi, my name is Sean Oliver and I’m a filmmaker. Is it odd that I’m introducing myself so late? I feel like I should have started with that. It is weird to do that now. I can tell you are weirded out. I’m really botching this. They keep telling me that I can erase what I wrote and start over. But that’s not who I am! I’m committed now. There is only one way out, through!
If you’ve made it this far you might be the kind of person who would enjoy the comedy/horror film I directed “Forever Home” which was released last year. Unfortunately, since you’ve kept reading, it also reveals some troubling aspects of your character. I’m not legally required, but compelled, to encourage you to seek help. Not because I think you need help, but because I think we all need help.
If you take away anything from reading this extremely well-thought-out story about myself, please let it be that “Forever Home” is now available on digital platforms including Amazon, Apple, and Fandango.
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?
People poetically profess that if you love your job, you never have to work a day in your life. But I’ve found that loving something has encouraged me to work many more days in order to have that thing I love.
Making movies is a pretty terrible idea, all things considered. It takes far more time than folks assume. Not to mention more people than people imagine. Everything costs more than you would guess. And in all my life, I’ve never been more stressed.
But as I always remind myself, in no era has it ever been a good idea to be an artist. And yet, despite many a great effort, new poets are born. New painters arrive. New songs are sung.
When Joseph Campbell outlined the Hero’s Journey, he wasn’t pointing to the trodden path that mythic heroes take on their way to Valhalla. He was pointing at the road each of us walks every single day. Artists, athletes, and lawyers alike. We all encounter struggles and shadows along the journey.
I’m not sure my personal potholes deserve the cinematic treatment of transfiguration into story. Instead, I dwell far longer on the result of such challenges, on how they deepen my resolve and fail to deter me from continuing onward; how each failure teaches lessons success would have withheld from me.
The road has not always been smooth, but I daresay the view has always been fabulous.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Why is it so often in interviews that one’s existential identity comes into question? What do I do? Who am I? What sets me apart? Am I the thing that I do, or do I do the thing that I am? It’s all making my brain itch.
Officially, I’m a filmmaker. That’s what the internet tells me I am when I google myself, so that must be true. IMDb seems to think I’m a writer, director, producer, and editor. I guess I could be convinced to believe that too. I certainly have many memories of being on set, and I’ve spent more time with Adobe Premiere than any single person in my life. So maybe the internet’s right?
Admittedly, reluctantly, I’m also an educator. If you were to ask me if I enjoyed teaching, I would quickly say no. But my history betrays my false sense of self. In high school I coached youth soccer, in college I coached Speech & Debate, I’ve mentored at a summer film camp for over ten years, and now I teach film classes at GCC. I seem to have spent a lifetime teaching. Sometimes I wonder if I really know myself all that well.
When my life eventually flashes before my eyes, I suppose I’ll get a clearer picture. For if I’m not what I do, nor do I do the thing I am, then perhaps upon examination, right before termination, there can be some illumination of my lot and station.
Ask me again on my deathbed.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
All of my best mentors came into my orbit because I was being true to myself. There’s no sense in changing your taste to gain the favor of someone else.
There’s a reason all those cliché childhood books and movies are trying to tell you to be yourself. It’s not just a solid third-act lesson for children 12 and under, it’s a really wonderful daily practice for humans between ages born and dead.
I’d like to take my own advice, but unfortunately I just gave it to you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thirdproductions.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanothethird/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-oliver-5a413838/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVcvlXdSXHXZ_LDXjYNQd8Q
