We recently connected with Alex Koebke and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex, thanks for joining us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

I graduated from film school in June, and for awhile I wasn’t sure how easy it was to find consistent work in the film industry. I had moved to Atlanta to finish my last term at SCAD, and before then I’d only been paid for film work on one other occasion – a low budget short film that paid me under the table, and though it was great experience it didn’t lead to any further work. Atlanta seemed like the best decision because I’d be able to finish school and, unlike Virginia where I grew up, the film industry is rich and growing – probably the next best place to the expensive New York and LA. But having absolutely no contacts upon moving and knowing next to nothing about finding work in the industry, it was a bit of a gamble.

For our first three months in the city, my girlfriend (also a filmmaker) and I didn’t know where to begin looking. All of a sudden we were graduated, unemployed, and no closer to finding paid film work than before we moved. All we had done was a short film, my senior thesis project, which took months of planning, three days of filming, and a few thousand dollars out of our pockets. At this point, we weren’t certain we were doing the right thing, but eventually our efforts paid off. It turned out that one of the actors from our short film was knew the production coordinator at Storyteller Studios, who is responsible for producing movies for the Lifetime Network. It turned out the next time they needed assistants for a project, they called us! And luckily, they produce up to 15 films a year and rehire the same people for each, meaning we could pay our bills, buy our groceries, and go out once in awhile by being on their payroll.

We aren’t living like kings, but this lucky break has softened our worries about the film industry and reaffirmed our desire to make a living out of our passion.

Alex, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Alex Koebke and I’m a 22 year-old graduate from the Savannah College of Art and Design where I attained my BFA in Film and Television. I love nearly everything creative and artistic, especially music (I play piano and guitar), but above all I love movies. I have written/directed/edited 5 short films and 2 documentaries to date that I am very proud of. The best movies to me are ones that both entertain you – whether through thrills, chills, laughs, or smoldering drama – and impart some sort of important message about life, society, human nature, etc. This, to me, is the one-two punch of the greatest movies: they get you to think critically about something and forget you’re doing it because you’re so entertained. This is what I strive to achieve with my own movies.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Just consume. Needless to say the pandemic has harmed the film industry – it stemmed the amount of content that could be made and prevented people from going to theaters – but it’s also shown us how important it is to have content as much of the world was stuck at home with nothing but TVs, books, and the internet to keep them occupied. Consuming art is an easy and enjoyable way to exercise your brain, and is all one can do to stimulate the creative ecosystem. The best thing an artist can ask for is an audience, anything extra on the consumer’s part makes them a patron or a creative themself!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I spend countless hours every day working on creative projects, and the most rewarding thing for me is seeing progress. Knowing how hard it was to get something a particular way and finally seeing it in its finished state, is very satisfying, like knowing your work is paying off and you’ve done something you can be proud of. I’ve been lucky to have people help and support me through the process of making these short films and my greatest satisfaction would be knowing they’re impressed or that they’ve enjoyed the product we’ve put so much time and effort into.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alexkoebke.wixsite.com/website
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex_koebke/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexkoebkefilm
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkoebkefilm
• Youtube: https://vimeo.com/alexkoebke
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm11715792/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0