We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Colten Griffin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Colten, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

I think getting an idea is the easy part, I mean, everyone has ideas. We all throughout our lives are constantly creating in our minds because as humans, I believe it’s inherent to us. Actually executing is daunting, and after speaking with so many other creatives, especially upcoming filmmakers, I understand the fear.

Look to be blunt, every single idea that you plan to execute (with some exceptions) is going to be challenging to pursue. I started my filmmaking and storytelling journey back in middle school, and even now in college after 20 films, each project comes with a different set of challenges. For example, my latest film “JANE” was probably the most stressful to make with unseen obstacles. For me, going through these projects I do find a bit of an adrenaline rush with the complications, I’m a bit weird like that. But one consistent thing during execution that continues to grow is my ability to deal with the problems that occur. You won’t be able to predict every problem that is going to happen, and part of being an artist/creative individual is uncertainty in what you do. I definitely don’t pursue filmmaking because of consistency., I’ll tell you that.

To give one more example I’ll just give an anecdote. My first film back in middle school was a pipe dream of a script I wrote for about a year. I had asked dozens of people at my school to come to help me with this film after school, with each saying “Absolutely!”. I ran home and sat on my front porch waiting for everyone to arrive for my film debut. An hour passed, then two, then three. Finally, one person arrived with a camera in hand to help me and we completed that film together. To this day he’s been my partner, collaborator, and dearest friend. Don’t be afraid to execute something even when it isn’t going according to plan.

So getting the ball rolling on an idea is already such an amazing step, next you just have to continue it to the end. Even if I know at some point it may fail, I find it more useful to finish an idea to the end rather than to let it fall to the side.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m a filmmaker at heart but also work as a freelance video editor, primarily working for TBNR Productions. If you aren’t aware of who that is, you might recognize the content they produce on youtube for channels such as Prestonplayz, Prestongamez, and Preston. If you’ve watched some Minecraft videos, chances are you’ve seen one I’ve edited.

It’s a fun job, and I love editing (and loved Minecraft when I was a kid). It’s always funny where the road will take you even if video editing isn’t my main passion.

My craft is filmmaking and storytelling; writing and directing films that mean so much to me. So as for what I offer; I have extensive knowledge in video editing on Adobe products, as well as being a proficient Writer/Director. As for what I’m most proud of, that would be my most recent short film “JANE, a revenge film that I just completed and hoping to get into festivals.

Any advice for managing a team?

Every film I do is managing a new team, and here is a key thing I’d tell upcoming directors. No one cares about your film as much as you do. Not the gaffers, the make-up artists, no one. They have other passions and want to go home on time, so your expectations should meet that. If you want to be a director your goal should be to hire people better than you in those specific fields, don’t act like the best because you aren’t. You steer the ship not manning the sails.

As for morale, feed them well. Make sure they get sleep.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

What makes life so interesting is learning and discovering, and being an artist is all about that discovery. If there is anything I learned this year, is that often times the adventurer who found gold decided to look where no one else was looking. Just because someone else found gold, doesn’t mean you’ll find it the same exact way so try something different. That’s what is rewarding to me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.coltengriffin.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colten_griffin13/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colten-griffin-b45163165/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCywRAMpE2V82dCWG4yNCSZA

Image Credits
Emily Grace Jahr https://www.instagram.com/emily_jahr_photography/