We recently connected with Kali Bailey and have shared our conversation below.

Kali, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I knew when I was 13 that I wanted to be a filmmaker. I was homeschooled in a tiny town in South Georgia and loved all things fantasy, sci-fi and action-adventure. My parents were conservative Christians and so I wasn’t allowed to watch Lord of the Rings (the whole “witchcraft is forbidden in the Bible” thing) but I snuck over to my friend’s house and watched it anyway. I fell in love with the story, the complex characters, the action sequences and the struggle between good and evil. I convinced my parents to let me see the final film of the trilogy in theaters. At the climax of the film, Frodo collapses in exhaustion. His companion Sam looks at Frodo and says, “Come on Mr. Frodo, I can’t carry it [the ring] for you. But I can carry you! Come on!” And he picks Frodo up and carries him the rest of the way up Mount Doom.

I was silent the entire ride home. I remember thinking, “If movies can make people feel this way, then I want to be a filmmaker.” I went home and told my dad that I wanted to be a director when I grew up. I saved the money I made from selling pecans I picked up in our backyard to buy a camera and started directing short films for online video contests and festivals.

My aim now as a writer and director is to create work that evokes the same type of emotional response that I experienced that day. I want people to be moved, inspired and motivated after they see my work, just like I was in that theater at 13.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up in South Georgia and knew at 13 that I wanted to be a filmmaker. I bought a camera with the money I saved from selling pecans I picked up in our backyard and started directing short films for online video contests.

The following year at age 14, I got my first real chance to work in the movie business. My church made indie faith-based films before “faith-based” was really a genre and I jumped at every opportunity to be on set. From there, I was able to get on projects in a variety of positions. I was a grip, camera assistant, and DIT but eventually landed in the AD department. I loved set-life but I eventually I made a transition into editing, where I felt I would learn more about writing and directing. I moved to Nashville to I work on my own short films, write scripts and develop my commercial directing portfolio.

My goal in the narrative feature/episodic world is to create “action-adventure with heart.” I believe that my purpose is to create family oriented, inspiring, and entertaining content. My first feature film “The Futurist” (which is now in the distribution/marketing phase) definitely fits in that category. As a commercial director, I love very personal and emotive projects. If I can make a viewer tear up in 60s or less, that’s a win for me. Pulling on the heartstrings definitely a strength of mine.

I think what sets me apart from others is my breadth of experience. I’ve done so many different jobs within film and it has made me a better leader and a better director. I understand the crew experience on a very personal level and it informs how I approach projects and enables me to get more things made myself. My “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” approach to filmmaking is something I’m proud of. Lots of people talk about writing, directing and producing a project but I want to be someone who actually makes things happen and I think I’ve gained a reputation as someone who gets stuff done.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

One thing people don’t really realize is that most of directing is pitching. Knowing how to do pitch decks and treatments for commercials and films is critical. There are a lot of AI options these days but for now, I still use Keynote to do mine. I wish I had known about websites like ShotDeck and FrameSet years ago. Pulling reference images is usually what eats up a lot of time with pitch decks, but these resources help you find what you need so much faster.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

While I am so grateful that I spent so many days on set in various positions, I had to unlearn that anyone is actually “ready” to direct. I feel like a lot of times women in particular have this sense that they need to be overly prepared before they can take the leap into writing or directing. It simply isn’t true. The only way to do it is to do it and unfortunately you can’t do it until you’ve done it. Once I realized that, I stopped taking jobs as an Assistant Director or Editor and spent my time and money on creating my own projects. Those projects eventually got me my first paid commercial jobs and helped foster important relationships in the industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: kalibailey.com
• Instagram: @kalibaileydaily