We recently connected with Brandon Mishawn and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Brandon, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
From that point (early 2023) I have rededicated myself to being a story teller and liberating myself from the limits and doubts I’d placed upon myself and that had been taught to me through life or work. So, when you talk about meaningful projects then I have to look at the entirety of what I’ve been doing since that moment because it is all related and it all ties back in some way to perceptions of mortality and a respect for the power of time and consequence – especially when the clock seems to be winding faster than we’d thought and far faster than we’d like. I call that point my ‘mortal revelation’ and it has opened me up to new ways of doing and relating to story telling that have all been for the better.
Since that point I have emerged as a poet – taking the stack of notebooks that had followed me from apartment-to-apartment over the years and pruning each and every one of everything that wasn’t pure gibberish or a confirmation code and writing new pieces to help myself process where I was and what I was going through with the physiological process of alcohol withdrawal and the mental space demanded by going through that process while being and thinking like myself. Those poems became the foundation of everything I did in ’23.
First, I married my poetry to my photography to create a cohesive collection (some of which are shared on my socials). Those would eventually become the highlighted poems in my self-published collection. Next I began dabbling with short stories in an attempt to shamelessly seek story telling opportunities wherever they may present themselves. One of those made it into the version of my self published collection that I read from during a variety night I conceptualized and co-organized. I then moved on knocking out a short film anthology that revolved around my poetry. From Oct. 22nd through Dec. 20th, I worked to produce, direct and crew 7 separate short films that would come together to create a single cinematic experience; revolving around my poetry and based in what I call ‘cinematic blues’. Finally as I alluded to earlier, I held my first poetry reading (ever) at an event I put together with a lot of help and kindness. Titled, ‘Last Regrets’, I was able to pull off that variety show with the help of my co-organizer, H Carter, and I believe it was exactly what it needed to be for a first attempt – including the interactive “live burial” portion.
And all this was done while the industry that serves as my day job and my ever-evolving film school underwent two historic strikes and negotiations with intent to hold out and starve out people like me and the folk I care most for. That in addition to the general infuriating state of our world. To do what I did I needed to find a fanatical dedication to the work and the process and find ways to thrive while getting these things done and a willingness to let go of pride and seek help when needed to continue on the path I’d set. It was not ambition, but a promise made to myself that made it imperative that I do everything I did (and am continuing to do).
In this coming year I will be releasing one of the short films from the Anthology in anticipation of submitting and screening the full piece in ’25. I also will be doing another version of, ‘Last Regrets’ with a Jazz note (as opposed to the classical note of the first version). I’ll be working to get representation for myself as a director, cinematographer and writer of fiction and poetry. I also plan to seek distribution for the official release of my collection of poetry, photography and short stories. But this big goal this year is to finish a novella manuscript I’ve been sitting on for around 5 years now and give it a real try to get that published and distributed by a major publishing house.
I say to myself that portals open for us, as humans, where we have the opportunity to see things more clearly or even change things drastically. Some choose to look, some choose to ignore, I’ve always told myself I am the kind to look. But with where I’ve been and what I have seen and done since I’d like to say I climbed through in addition to looking and it has been for the better for myself as an artist, and a human being. I climbed through that portal and came back holding my devils by the tail and am mercilessly wielding them as weapons.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I got into film making through studying filmtheory at Georgia State University. Film, was the best aggregate of all the interests, and former majors, I’d had at the time and it is still where I feel most comfortable. I’ve made the crappy student film, worked as a PA on film sets that shut down multiple blocks and have big name celebrities, shot music videos and doc footage and short films and indie features and web series and Political content and even a couple weddings and the thing that I see about those experiences and products – the ones that go well and the ones that reveal a mess – is that the fundamental respect of the “set” and dedication to the story above all else are the best predictors of success on the day and in screening. I try to bring a clearheaded focus on those two things- respect for the set and dedication to the story. The fame isn’t the goal for me, the money is only necessary and a sign of validity (not the only sign or even the most important) and the cash and the tech cannot save you from your shit story.
These are things I believe to be truths and these truth are durable enough to withstand time and place.
I try to not just work within limitations but to embrace them. instead of a 20 ton truck that needs the proper amount of man-power and time to make use of what’s been rented a set can move freely and fluidly with the right intention and novelty. That is where I believe I thrive most as a director, cinematographer and photographer – I take pride in taking a low budget project and making it punch above its weight class.
In regards to poetry, literature and live events (all talents I’ve newly shared with the world) I can only say that they are an extension of the child who played with action figures on the carpet floors, using shoe boxes as wrestling rings. I’ve always valued the imagination. Now I’m allowing myself to embrace my imaginative outlets however they find me. I consider myself a wild presence when it comes to these mediums and that’s alright with me – I’m not a networker, or a grammar scholar, I’m a story-teller who’s doing what he can to say something real.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
Focus on one thing and do that.
This is advice that you’ll hear a lot coming up in the film industry and I do believe it works for some but is a curse for others, such as myself. I focused on cinematography (tangentially a photographer) as my lane for the last 5-ish years out of following that advice and because I selfishly wanted to not have to worry about the networking and people pleasing that I saw around the industry that is antithetical to how I’d like to live and work and for reasons of avoiding anxiety laden interactions. I wanted to stay safe behind my viewfinder.
That did not nurture me. I fell out of love with creating.
If you know you need to do many things to be your complete self then please do them and do them without doubt. anything less runs the risk of not being you.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I see a lot of these questions are aimed at lending advice to find financial or social success (as they often go hand-in-hand), but I cannot say I’m a good source for such advice.
When I truly got my social media following to expand exponentially it was back when hashtags were actually useful on Instagram. Since then, and since the aggressive push spend money to boost your posts, my growth and reach have stagnated as I refuse to pay for reach that was once organic based on audiences seeking out topics based on hashtags and what feels like a soft ban on my reach. Alternately, I refuse to play games with the algorithm and turn the sharing of my work into a job where we’re looking for the right concoction of content, timing and paid placement to truly get an audience. That’s no good for me.
So what I want to say is: f*ck the algorithm. If you really want to do this (whatever it is you do) then I’d hope you get the most pleasure from being able to look back on it at the end of the day and be able to truly say that you gave it you best shot based on your context and that you said something worth saying. And when you find success know that it was a matter of you doing the work that got you where you are. Sometimes part of that work is networking, sometimes part of that work is playing (some) social media games, but the foundation and the main driver of the work can never be confused with anything other that the thing that fills your creative heart and hopefully speaks something worth saying to your audience.
If you want much more than that then I’d say you run the risk of putting the cart before the horse. But what do I know, I’m just a guy trying to say something worth hearing for people who need a little understanding.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bmishawn.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/bmishawn/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandon-mishawn-b480a257/
- Other: linktree: https://linktr.ee/bmishawn
Image Credits
Image 1: model:@bc_ilove.you image 2: model: @solar_ye image 3: model: @paradoxicalabe Image 4-5: ‘Last Regrets vol. 1″ photographed by @pvillaphoto Image 6: credits: Director: Brandon Mishawn | Director of Photography: @blacklabel_atl | actor: Elliot Dixon Image 7: credits: Director: Brandon Mishawn | Director of Photography: Brandon Mishawn | actor: @queenterrible Image 8: credits: Director: Brandon Mishawn | Director of Photography: @bmwcruisin | actor: @chappie_anne