We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alessio Summerfield. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alessio below.

Alright, Alessio thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

A chance encounter with a group of brothers who were developing a video game ended up growing beyond my wildest dreams and mutated into a film project that I will never forget.

While scouting for possible game developers in the St. Louis area, word-of-mouth pointed my co-producers and I to Sam Coster and his brothers, Seth and Adam. Squeezing into a modestly-sized two-bedroom apartment in University City, we quickly found out that the video game these brothers were racing to complete was Sam’s last big project before he inevitably succumbed to cancer. It would be his farewell project, as it were.

One thing led to another and over a year later we had a documentary feature for festivals, a six-part docu-series for distributors, and one very alive Sam Coster, who had beaten the odds, to show for it. Oh, and the video game that the Costers made ended up making Time Magazine’s Top 10 Video Games of 2016 list.

The feature is not publicly available, but the series is called Dev Diary: Brace for Impact.

Alessio, 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 Alessio Summerfield and I’m an independent filmmaker.

I use that catch-all term, because it’s really difficult (especially in my industry) to get away with telling people you do more than one thing and have them take you seriously. If that weren’t an issue I’d tell people:

“My name is Alessio Summerfield and I am a writer, director, producer, post manager, DJ, podcast host, editor, camera operator, and composer.”

I first started my professional filmmaking journey in 2009 and have been at it ever since, though my hats and support may change from project-to-project. In 2014, I formally started my own production company, Forever an Astronaut, in St. Louis, Missouri. Shortly after, I’d start a podcast, Metal Gear Mondays, that would run for six years and provide many opportunities for me to interface with world-famous voice actors, voice directors, and video game developers.

Then, in 2017, I released my first major public work, Dev Diary: Brace for Impact, to streaming platforms and video-on-demand services as a series, while also touring the project across the country as a festival-specific feature-length documentary film.

After some award-winning festival projects in 2018 and 2019, I moved to New York City and have been working in post production for major network television series ever since.

I’m actively writing a novel and will be raising funds for my first scripted feature film in the very near future.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I believe that both non-creatives and those who are just starting their creative careers struggle with one very important factor: everyone’s journey is different. This seems like a no-brainer, but the reality can just be so radically different from what you might think.

As someone who has held very many jobs, especially early on, to supplement my income while working creatively and building up a portfolio, I’ve been surprised myself with the types of situations that have spun off into very lucrative scenarios. The CEO of that day-job you begrudgingly worked might be the one who introduces you to a wealthy friend who ultimately will fund your next project (this actually happened to me). Or, that side gig that you took might spiral off into an opportunity to move to New York City (also a thing that happened to me).

From interviewing (formally and casually) famous voice actors to other independent filmmakers it has become crystal clear that there is no path, there are no predetermined trajectories, and there is absolutely no point A to point B roadmap that you can buy in PDF form online to solve all of your problems. It’s all about showing up, being present, and doing the work, even if it means you stop working on something partway and get led down an entirely different path.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

There was a time in my past (I’ll refrain from drawing any direct lines) when a business partner ended up running off with a major client, which, ultimately, tanked the business temporarily.

It was incredibly appealing to sit and wallow in the problem that had arisen. It was equally appealing to give up and walk away. But, the reality was that my other business partner and I picked up our tools and took to creating during a very dark time in our lives. The work that we created during that period would end up revitalizing my entire professional life, and would ingratiate me with far more members of my community than I ever imagined.

It just goes to show how even the most bleak of situations can turn into a defining moment if handled with grace and presence.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.alessiosummerfield.com
• Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/alessiomadethat
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessiosummerfield/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AlessioSummerfield

Image Credits
‘Mother of Calamity’ poster art by Jeffrey Brown ‘Father of Curiosity’ poster art by Hilary Rochow ‘Dev Diary’ poster art by Eric Hibbeler ‘Are You Alright?’ poster art by Ellis Ray III