We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Billy Ray Brewton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Billy Ray , appreciate you joining us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

The best thing my parents ever did for me was to let me succeed and fail on my own. I didn’t have a very strict childhood. My parents trusted me to act responsibly, and when I didn’t, they didn’t necessarily punish me as much as they let me stew on what I had done myself, which was always going to end with regret and correction. I watched whatever I wanted to watch, listened to whatever I wanted to listen to, and never really had a curfew. Sure, I got into trouble as a kid, but I always knew my parents had my back. And that kept me from getting into MORE trouble.

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?

My name is Billy Ray Brewton and I’ve been working in film and theatre for over 15-years. While I currently serve in multiple capacities – as Managing Director of Three Dollar Bill Cinema in Seattle, Creative Director of Make Believe Seattle, Artistic Director of Scripts Gone Wild in Los Angeles, as host/producer of The Incinerator and Center Clueless podcasts – I have also worked with Slamdance, L.A. Film Fest, Rooftop Cinema Club, and others. In 2016, I wrote and directed my debut feature film, “Show Yourself”, currently available on Amazon; and I am one of the subjects of the 2014 documentary, “Skanks”, which premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival. As a producer, I’ve worked on the award-winning (Tribeca Film Festival) documentary, “Socks on Fire”, and the upcoming documentary, “Coroner to the Stars”. When I’m not celebrating film in all its forms, I pound the boards from time to time, serving as Founder and Artistic Director of Theatre Downtown (Birmingham, AL) from 2006-2013, and winning multiple awards at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in 2018 and 2019 for the shows, “A Beast/A Burden” and “Son-of-a-Bitch”.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Back in 2016, my life was in a bit of a shambles. I had been in Los Angeles for barely two-years, I was flat broke, had alienated a good number of people in my life, and was beating myself down because I was going to become one of those folks who just could not hack it in Los Angeles. And I did leave. Packed up and moved back to Alabama for ten whole months, with the idea I would relocate to Chicago and start afresh. But Chicago never came. I decided there was no way I was going to let Los Angeles defeat me. So, after ten months, some much needed therapy, and a complete refresh of my mental state, I went back to L.A. And it’s still shocking to me just how a simple attitude change can alter your entire trajectory. I ended up staying and thriving in L.A. until 2021 – made my first feature film, produced two successful Hollywood Fringe shows, started my first podcast, cemented myself even deeper in the film festival world, and made it through the pandemic in tact. All of this to say – sometimes when life isn’t giving you the answers you want, it’s because you’re asking the wrong questions. If your mind is right, your purpose is clear, and you treat folks decently along the way, things have a habit of working out in your favor more often than not.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

In short, it’s a Ponzi scheme, the entire thing. I’ve been loosely following crypto since the very beginning, having even invested from time to time. Won a little. Lost a lot. All the while, I knew I was gambling with air. There’s just no ‘there’ there, and anyone who tells you different has been brainwashed by the thrill of ‘what if’. There is no difference between NFT’s and what Bernie Madoff was trying to do, except I’d argue Madoff had more integrity. How many people have to lose their livelihoods to this nonsense before we wake up? Nothing has given me more perverse pleasure than watching all these NFT’s folks have been purchasing completely lose value that never existed in the first place. I am sure there are ways to digitize currency, and I imagine that will, indeed, be the wave of the future, but crypto and NFT’s are not the solution. In fact, they’re currently a stumbling block to a real digital monetization.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/billyraybrewton
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