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

Anthony, appreciate you joining us today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

This is a great topic, I think as humans all of us strive for a legacy of some sort, something that marks our time in the world and gives some sort of individual meaning to our lives after we’re gone.

As a kid, I didn’t have many friends growing up, I was different so I was treated as such. Amongst those times, films were my friends, characters were my socialization, I could relate more to the people I watched in movies and they never judged me or made fun of me for being who I was.

There’s always been something really special in my heart relating to film, memories, laughs, fun, and just like a photograph – you can relive those moments over and over, relive those feelings over and over, via rewatching the films that especially touched your heart.

As a filmmaker, I want to give that feeling back to the world, my biggest want is to do for someone else in this world, what my favorite films did for me. To create art that is meaningful, profound, touching, entertaining, engaging, filled with love and perseverance, the things that bind us all together as humans experiencing this world.

I guess I’m some way I hope I can achieve that, it would mean the world to me if I could.

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?

I see myself as a creator, since I was a child I loved to write stories and shoot videos, dreamt of making movies with my friends.

As I’ve gotten older, putting into practice the things that I’ve dreamt of my entire life has been not only fulfilling, but addicting. Creating images, putting together movies and reels to entertain my friends and family. I’ve had a camera in my hand since I was 11 and since then I’ve edited and created hundreds of videos for people to see.

Even back then, around the age of 13, I would play my camera to the TV through a VCR and hit record, pause, record- onto a blank tape to make movies. Figuring out if I used a portable CD player and a special cord from my parents stereo system, plugging in the left audio halfway I could get sound from the camera and a song playing on disc! That was a revelation!

learning the tools of the greats that I’ve looked up to my entire life, so I can hopefully follow in their footsteps in some meaningful way. To tell stories that capture the imagination and enrich the soul, but do so in a way that’s fun and interesting.

I want to fulfill my heart as an artist and one day find my way to making films that make people really feel something deep down. To invoke emotion – is the true artists dream.

To take nothing, raw materials, and use them to create something that makes people FEEL anything – has always been my definition of art.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

You have to care deeply about the people on your team, address needs and follow through to help everyone get what they want out the experience.

A true leader doesn’t tell everyone what to do, rather guide them towards fulfilling a goal as a collaborative effort, and guide them using your own experience as a tool, not a pedestal to look down from, but one to help lift others up with.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

During Covid, in 2020 my team and I shot the second half of our first feature film in Occotillo Wells – the desert – during the summer. We put up with temperatures bare minimum of 112 and on some days up to 118-120 – with almost no tools or comforts available., some while wearing wardrobe, heaving heavy equipment through the hardest parts of the days. We got through it by taking care of each other and working hard to make sure everyone had what they needed to stay positive and stay productive during the hardest and hottest times of the day. Facing countless issues, working through the hardest days, as a team. I couldn’t have gotten luckier with the people around me through that endeavor

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @separateperspectivefilms @cagedandwildmovie