We recently connected with Dycee Wildman and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Dycee thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

In 2014 I was invited to be a part of an ambitious project that would change me as an artist and a person. Nashville-based musician Sarah Saturday (Gardening, Not Architecture) was looking for filmmakers to help her build what would become an utterly epic feature length, collaborative, music video film for her album, Fossils. As a rule I start all inquiries that come out of the blue with a “yes” because one never knows what unpredictable gifts and lessons may be on the other side. When tempered by clear boundaries and a high value on downtime this has had a wondrous influence on my life. What followed was a year of intense collaboration between 1 musician, 3 filmmakers, and countless other creatives including cinematographers, actors, dancers, and a painter. The resulting film is deeply important to me and I remain incredibly proud of the finished product. But the time spent working together, envisioning something fresh and scary, developing a hive mind full of shared ideas and wild concepts was absolutely priceless. Those friendships are some of the most important to me and the magic of collaboration will always be something that I champion and respect.
The following year in 2015 I was asked by local filmmaker Billy Senese if I might be interested in starting a film festival. Even though the prospect of something so huge and unknown to me felt way outside the bounds of possibility, I followed my “rule” and started down that path of discovery. What resulted is Defy Film Festival and 8 years later I could not be more proud of what we have built together. With a small team and a lot of audacity we have created a place that celebrates film and filmmakers that are exploring new cinematic languages and putting their stamp on the film world.
These two projects taught me how to create things that I had never conceived of before with the help of community and the importance of trying new kinds of creative experiences.

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 am a filmmaker. I enjoy making, watching, and talking about horror films the most.

I co-founded the Defy Film Festival in East Nashville which has been celebrating local and international cinema that takes a fresh or radical approach to the medium and storytelling since 2016!

When I am not working on the next film/project with my creative partners (Jennifer Bonior, Stephanie Adams, or Sarah Saturday) I aim to make the arts community of Nashville stronger. I grew up here and have lived here for most of my adult life. It is important to me to be a part of a scene that supports and lifts up our creatives and new creative voices. I want to be the friend that got you the gig that made your year!

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

Coming from an art school background and the lifelong goal of being an Artist, I believed for too long that the goal was to make your art pay all your bills. That’s how you knew that you had made it. I remember times in my mid-20’s when this was the case and the admiration I felt from peers when I could boast that the world of day jobs was behind me. I was an artist. I no longer align with any part of that narrative. First of all, being a freelance director/editor was hard and the hustle was often degrading and frustrating. Even in months when the checks were coming in, I hated the insecurity of not knowing what next month would offer. Finally one scant month I found myself on the phone with a potential client, they were dangling the possibility of a pitiful budget for a music video and all of their ideas were offensive and frankly racist. I had had enough of busting my butt to be offered gigs I did not want. I did not take that music video (obviously) and decided to try a new approach. I got the dreaded day job.
Even though the job was in my field and used my skillset on a daily basis it was hard for me to not feel like a failure, crawling back to the world of normal non-artists. How wrong I was! When I was full-time freelance I almost never made anything for myself because all my time was taken up with these other gigs and the scarcity mindset of not knowing how long the gigs would be there, made me hoard the income I was generating, never spending it on my own creative output, never making something just to express myself. As soon as I had a steady paycheck I was free.
To quote my dear friend and one of my creative soulmates Sarah Saturday, if your art is your baby then why are you putting your baby out in the street to feed you? My art, my creativity, was precious to me, and yet I resented having to sacrifice for it. As soon as I understood that my relationship to my art needed to be flipped inside my head I was able to joyfully work my little non-identity-defining job in order to feed and nurture my creative voice. Suddenly I was pushing myself creatively and making work that wasn’t for other people’s visions but my own.
The same is true of my short-lived idea that I needed to live in New York City in order to be a real artist. All these nonsense ideas that you sometimes have to confront to see the error inherent within them. I am very glad that I don’t live in NYC anymore and I have no shame in my day job.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Sometimes I’m lucky enough to travel to film festivals with my fellow collaborators and view what we’ve created with an audience. The pressure is real but the experience is electrifying. In fewer still instances I have been approached after the screening by someone who just needed to tell us how our work affected them, made them feel seen, made them excited to create work themselves, and justified their attendance of this tiny niche festival in the middle of nowhere. Those moments thrill me and make me excited to go home and get back to work, to earn my place in the conversation the following year.

Contact Info:

• Website: dyceewildman.com
• Instagram: @diceydycee
• Other: defyfilmfestival.com @defyfilmfestival

Image Credits
Danielle Shields