We were lucky to catch up with Anthony Cally recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Anthony, thanks for joining us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

I’ve tackled this question in my head quite a bit. Possibly from a lack of imagination ( or a fear of the constant variables that would make up an alternative future), but i do feel like i picked this up at the right time. I moved to Los Angeles right after college graduation without any job prospects or any idea what I would do once I got out here. I’ve always been a person who likes to be entrenched in my day to day rituals along with family and friends, so i don’t know if I would have been able to come out any sooner ( and still navigate building a career).

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

When I first moved out here I would take any job I could find. I found PA jobs for commercials, music videos, and indie movies. My first semi-steady gig was a post PA, but that only lasted about 3 months. Eager to keep a steady paycheck going, I found a PA position at a vfx facility and stayed there until I became a coordinator. A producer from that facility liked me and took me with her to go client side and work for the studios. I’ve been freelance ever since. Hopping from one gig to the next while at first was stressful, I’ve gotten used to the leap-frogging. These gigs are becoming longer and longer so it ends up being a nice change of pace when one show ends and you move on to the next. I’m now a vfx production manager.

All the while, i’ve kept pursuing my own creative endeavors. While working in VFX, I’ve worked on my own stories and projects as much as possible. That has all come to a head with my first feature, Love and Love Not, being released December of 2022.

The whole goal has been to maintain a balance of the professional and the personal. Working in VFX and being with other departments has taught me more about the entertainment ecosystem than if I just stuck with making my own work. I’ll forever be grateful for that.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

It would be hard to pin down to one. But the movie business is what I feel most comfortable in. As the late, great, Joseph Campbell said, “follow your bliss.” I do believe I am doing that. The older I got and as my teens turned into my early twenties, I couldn’t fathom being in any other discipline. I respect any beliefs one may have, but speaking for myself, I’m a staunch believer that this is the only life I will ever have. I wont get a take two. So while I’m here, my agony and ecstasy should be in the world and forum i create for myself.

While my VFX work is there to entertain and create a great product, my personal work I hope gives people a moment to reflect. While again, the primary use of the medium is to entertain, I do hope that my feature or any shorts that I make will help someone view something a little differently, or give greater perspective to a human issue.

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

When i get to write and direct one of my own stories, i do feel like a form of exorcism has taken place. Or a really good workout! Where something that’s given me preoccupation I get to flesh out and give a voice to. Makes you feel much lighter afterwards. Enough for you to start hyper fixating on the next issue you have!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wanderingwindsproductions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wanderingwindsproductions/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonycally
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@wanderingwindsproductions

Image Credits
Screenshot 2024-01-15 at 1.46.37 AM Screenshot 2024-01-15 at 1.46.19 AM – photo credit Minica Casbara DSC00340 copy DSC00285 copy – photo Credit Tim Russell BTS-Love and Love Not-Anthony Cally, Taylor Tomlinson photo credit Vincent Fiorenza