We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Evan & Alix Runkle & Moad a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Evan & Alix, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk we’ve taken was moving from Iowa to Colorado. Both of us grew up in Iowa and had deep roots there. While moving to Colorado was something we’d both wanted for a long time, we realized we’d be leaving behind our friends, family, and creative network. When we first moved to Colorado, we didn’t know anyone or have any creative connections. Luckily, the risk paid off and we’ve gotten to know so many talented people and have a strong creative network that’s helping us make our first feature film – the second biggest risk we’ve taken.

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

Alix – I have always been a storyteller. I can remember being about five-years-old and typing gibberish on the family computer; when my mom asked what I was doing, I told her a story that was suspiciously similar to the story If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. I’ve been in love with writing my whole life, and while that love has taken many forms over the years and led to several creations, my most treasured creation thus far is Field of Screams. Field of Screams is horror movie that my co-writer/co-director and I have been working on for years, and it’s something I know we both take pride in. While this won’t be the first time we’ve worked on a film, it will be the first opportunity we have to direct our own feature film – an opportunity I’m coming into with hunger and excitement.

Evan – Growing up, I always loved movies. Strangely enough, one of my earliest movie memory is going to see Star Wars Episode I in theatres and seeing how excited everyone was for a movie. In my early teens a family friend introduced me to a local Iowa filmmaking group Prescribed Films. From them, I learned a love for horror and the DIY spirit of independent filmmaking while working on film and video projects of all shapes and sizes. I met my collaborator in life and in film while attending film school at the University of Iowa and we have been working on movies together ever since. Together we have worked as crew on various film sets and have created short films together. The next step in our journey is working on our feature film directorial debut: Field of Screams.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

For both of us, a large factor in creating is chasing the zen-like high that it provides. We’re never more at home than when juggling handfuls of jobs on a film set. After our move to Colorado, another important mission revealed itself to us: spreading the word of the amazing talent that can be found here. Our entrance into the Colorado film scene has almost exclusively been in the hands of our producer Calvin Shepherd. Through him, we have met some incredibly talented creatives. The actor/dancer/model Randy Rochford has brought more life to our silent antagonist Billy than we thought possible. Comedian Jared Chandler is bringing a spark of joy to a character that we worried could be unlikeable. Actor Justin Heinz is bringing a depth to a character that we feared could end up being too one dimensional. Audio engineer Luke Williams and Cinematographer Garrett Brady are solving the two biggest problems in independent film: audio and video quality. Regardless of anything for us, we hope that this project can help the word get out on these amazing individuals. Calvin has put this Colorado film movement in one word: Hollyrado and with the amount of people in this state doing amazing work, we’re betting that soon the world will know this charming moniker.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

We’re both really inspired by other independent creators. Two that have been really impactful are Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, who wrote A Quiet Place and wrote and directed Haunt and 65. They both grew up in Iowa – just like we did – and got their start in the independent film scene – just like we have. Listening to them talk about how they’ve been able to take on bigger projects over the years has been really impactful to us and has kept us grounded when it comes to understanding the long-game of filmmaking and creativity as a business. We’ve also been inspired by independent creators that we followed for years before they separated from their companies to become independent. While there’s no exact roadmap to success as an independent creative, watching these people strike out on their own and find success has been helpful to us, especially when those moments of doubt creep in.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @fieldofscreamsfilm
• Facebook: Field of Screams
• Other: @fieldofscreamsfilm on TikTok

Image Credits
File titled “Calvin Shepherd” – Credit, Garrett Brady All other pictures – Credit, Evan Runkle