We were lucky to catch up with Falicia N. Cunningham recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Falicia N. thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
Hidden Falls is a project that began in the year 2019 and went into production the summer of 2020. My best friend had written a script and we intended to just shoot some footage with an iPhone for our reels but when I read her script, I saw too much potential in it. We decided to really breathe life into it and it ended up becoming an 8 episode mini series. We shot the pilot with no budget and it ended up costing us around $7,000 out of pocket. In order to give us a fighting chance, I taught myself marketing and crafted a plan that included a Kickstarter. I researched for about 4-6 months and gathered graphic designers who created our brand and then we launched the plan. We ended up crowdfunding $36,000 to finish the rest of the series. Our little fantasy series about a Prince and his friends on a race against time became a locally popular show. The process itself was incredibly difficult, I also had to teach myself how to be a producer so we were sort of building the plane as we flew it. We somehow managed to create a network of incredibly talented, incredibly hardworking filmmakers, actors, musicians, designers and fans. Our goal was to give everyone a platform to take the next step into their future whatever that may be: if it was something to make their children proud or if it was to connect with other artists to get another job, or if this gets bigger to move up in the industry and expand their network. This project has brought a community of vastly different people together working toward one common goal. We went from 12 people to 215 people on this project. I love the community this project has created and I love my team.
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 have always been a performer and I’ve always believed that performance is a gift for those who watch and experience it. When I was about 3 years old I recorded a little version of twinkle twinkle little star and gave it to my grandfather as a gift. I view performance as a service to the audience. This world is complicated and often so hard. If I can shed some light, lead people to a new perspective, or help them forget their troubles for a little while, I want to do that. I try to do that with every project and with every job I am a part of. I am most proud of Hidden Falls because it impacted so many people so closely and it will continue to do so as we keep pushing it forward. I just want the people who work with me and the people who consume that work to be uplifted and cared for. Luckily, I have two best friends who gladly join me on my performance/business adventures who are of the same heart and mind of me. Greta Nisswandt (singer songwriter) and Abby Day (performer/writer) are two of the greatest people in this world and I can’t be convinced otherwise. Truly they are my support and my engine.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
I think it’s difficult to understand when a creative doesn’t instantly become famous. I feel like we often make the mistake and think that success means fame. Every path to success must start somewhere. Asking if a creative has a “back up plan” is probably one of the most hurtful/insulting questions you could ask or assume. It says “I see you as unsuccessful” or “I don’t think you’ll make it so what are your other options”
To be an artist is to sacrifice a lot of luxuries, work jobs you really don’t like, and remain constantly diligent while performing at your best 100% of the time in an insanely competitive field. It’s really really hard and you constantly ask yourself if you should give up. So give your artist/creative friends a little more grace and compassion.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
At the end of filming a large chunk of the series for Hidden Falls there was a colossal miscommunication on the end of our executive team. At the time I was battling a court case regarding an officer who had treated me terribly and I was also working a full time job during the week and filming every weekend. Needless to say I didn’t have much capacity for things to go wrong. Things went SO wrong. There was an extreme amount of discord amongst our team and there was a mass exodus of designers and crew members alike from our film series. I was absolutely devastated and exhausted. I wanted to scream and cry and give the whole thing up. I blamed myself for not seeing some of the red flags sooner and I was deeply upset that my crew members were treated less than the excellence that they fully deserved and that I hadn’t been lying enough attention to stop it. It was a really dark situation and I remember thinking “I don’t think this is going to get done. I can’t see how we will make it out of this one” it would have been a year and a half of work wasted. I hadn’t been paying enough attention to stop it” instead of “I hadn’t been lying enough attention to stop it
In the end my best friend (series creator and executive producer, Abby Day), the rest of our executive team and I gritted our teeth, rolled our sleeves up and ended up taking on a lot of the extra jobs of those vacated positions. Eventually we were able to fill those positions with new folks who brought the sunshine back through the clouds. We were able to hold on just long enough to get our team to the finish line. We nearly worked ourselves to death doing it, but we pulled through and everyone’s hard work didn’t go to waste and the story was told and it was told WELL. Most importantly, we protected the rest of our people from burn out and were able to maintain good pleasant working conditions. I still can’t believe we made it through that.
Contact Info:
- Website: Hiddenfallsfilm.com | FaliciaNichole.com
- Instagram: @Falicia.Nichole | @HiddenFallsFilm
- Facebook: @HiddenFallsFilm
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCuRXinSdnWdXlyajguJSKYA
Image Credits
Clarence Insixiengmay