Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andy Volk. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Andy, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

In November 2021 I packed up my car with my entire life and took a two-week road trip from Seattle, WA to Austin, TX. In the year prior, I had been sharing with all my friends that I wanted to move to New York or Los Angeles to pursue more opportunity in film. In Seattle, I quit my service job in October 2020 to freelance on set full time. I established a network and worked my way up from Production Assistant to Production Coordinator and Script Supervisor. But I felt I needed a change of scenery, to be thrust into a new place and see if I could survive. So, after a year of thinking about the big move, I hit the road. I made it to Austin in one piece after visiting friends and family along the way. I moved in with strangers from Craigslist, had one friend from college, and no job. When you’re forced with survival in an unknown place, it really does push you to try harder and pursue every avenue. With no job and rent to pay, I reached out to every gig posting I could find and took gigs that paid something or nothing, and slowly built up a network. These foundational relationships introduced me to their contacts, shed light on Austin, and for the next six months I freelanced and explored the city with the eagerness and wonder of a kid in Disneyland.

In June 2022, I got a call from Austin Film Festival. I completely forgot I applied to them weeks before. They were hiring and asked me to come in to interview for the Short Film Programmer position. A week later, I was in the office and jumped right into work. A month later, the team shifted and I became the Lead Film Programmer. Having only just started during the most hectic months of festival prep, it was a massive undertaking. I’m not going to lie – I was terrified. I had never led a team like this and had so little time to get everything in shape for the festival in October while learning the ins and outs of my new role. Despite the sleepless nights and anxiety attacks, I attended Toronto International Film Festival, built a festival program of 154 outstanding films from all over the wold, made new friends here and abroad, and hosted Q&As with Darren Aaronofsky, James Gray, and one of my personal favorite filmmakers, Rian Johnson.

Even before I started at AFF, I reached out to Austin filmmakers whose work I admired. Literally just messaged them on Instagram or tracked down their email. I took a gamble and pitched complete strangers my ideas, which I see as extensions of myself. Pitching to strangers is something I haven’t done many times before and now, some of have become collaborators and really close friends. For the first time in a long time, I feel like things are moving in the right direction.

So, really, I guess the point of all this is to say you never know what’s going to happen. Where would I be if I moved to LA or NY? What would’ve happened if I didn’t step up to the plate? I don’t know. All I can say is it’s been a whirlwind getting to this point and it’s a chapter I won’t ever forget. I took a risk, and despite all the downs of being broke, jobless, friendless, and in a new environment, I’d say things have turned out all right.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I never knew what I really wanted to do. At different points in life, I wanted to be in the FBI, an architect, and an astronomer. Eventually, I landed on film when it came time to fill out college applications. There was something that just felt right when I made that choice. Maybe I never thought of it as a career path, but all of a sudden, it just made sense.

Over the years, I’ve come to love filmmaking as a collaborative medium that both entertains and pursues the essence of being human. I grew up in Tucson, AZ and films opened up a whole new world for me. It wasn’t always the space battles. Sometimes the windows were to New York in 1970s, an action move in Indonesia, or even a horror movie set in Antarctica. I fell in love with the idea that films could serve as a bridge across space and time, and invoke empathy and understanding in the viewer.

After my first job in production, I really started to think about what I wanted to do in film. I landed on writing. My writing has changed a lot over the years. It’s reflective of where I am and who I’ve become. As I’ve become more comfortable and confident, learned more about myself, and seen parts of the world, I’ve seen my writing really take shape. It’s often how I explore something going on with myself or around me, and sometimes I don’t realize that until I’m halfway through. Once I find that catharsis with a script, I know I’ve hit a sweet spot. Does it mean it’s perfect? Not at all. It means that I’ve pinpointed that right intersection of fiction and truth and I know where the script needs to go to be a fulfilling story. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that many of my scripts deal with the unanswerable questions and feelings that linger inside of me: How do we move on? What connects us? What do we know to be real? How do we change? How do we hold onto those fleeting moments? I don’t have the answers. I don’t think film is always supposed to answer the big questions. I think a good film asks the hard questions, proposes some theories, and then hands it off to you to find the answer that fits your life. Or, it’s a film that is just downright mad and fun and those can be a blast to write, too.

Working at Austin Film Festival is a great place for me to be right now. Next year is the big 30th Anniversary. Over the next 10 months, the team and I will be screening and discussing thousands of film submissions, building connections around Texas filmmaking, and pursuing every opportunity to support up-and-coming filmmakers. I’m excited to jump back into it and see what filmmakers from all over the world have to say. Between that and a couple films in development, it’s going to a be a wild year!

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

Asking for help! Oh boy have I seen this in myself and others, especially independent artists and creatives. It’s so easy to feel like you’ve got to do things on your own. I still have to remind myself it’s okay to ask for help, and it gets easier every time I do. Whether that’s feedback on a project or asking a friend to talk when I’m depressed, reaching out for help is totally okay.

I made a short film, Coffee & Sugar, and was nearing some festival deadlines. I suddenly had a moment of self-awareness and fear – “what if it’s not good?” I sent it to a friend who I trusted to be honest with me. He told me he loved it… except the beginning. It hurt to hear that, but it’s what I needed to hear. Instead of panicking or jumping to defend, I heard him out. I absorbed what he said, and over the next three days we crafted an intro that solved everything. He honestly saved the film I think. I submitted it that week, and a few weeks later, the film was accepted into the festival I dreamed of!

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot.” This harkens back to my earlier pursuit of astronomy (until I learned I suck at calculus). I read or listen to this excerpt probably once a month. It helps me feel grounded and centered when I feel lost in existential dread or fear of not “making it.” I recommend listening to it if you haven’t. You’ll hear the humility, wonder, and peace in Sagan’s narration as he considers the smallness of humanity and the Earth against the backdrop of the cosmos. It reminds me of two things: 1) isn’t it just crazy that we are on a floating rock in a big black void that is so infinitely big we can barely comprehend it?
2) My life is but an infinitely tiny moment in the history of time, so enjoy it while I can. Pursue my passion, yes, but make sure my life is what I want to make of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.andyvolk.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andyvolk31/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-volk/

Image Credits
Image 1 (blue back drop) credit to Chelsea Berchon Image 2 (myself, Darren Aronofsky, Samuel D. Hunter) credit to Jack Plunkett Image 4 (paint splatters, band Happy Times Sad Times) credit to Sacha Rolland-Benis