We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Courtney Sell a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Courtney, thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
In being a Documentary Filmmaker, it’s certainly hard to pin point one specific meaningful project, as it’s so common to feel completely touched by each subject every film is about. Making films from an early age, I’ve been running a camera for most of my life and documenting years and years of experiences. Between witnessing the intense aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as well as my Fathers passing from an aggressive form of cancer, the moments were not only significant in my personal life, but as a Documentarian as well. For me, any project I work on that has a positive and inspirational benefit to others is meaningful.
Courtney, 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?
I’ve been so blessed in my life to have been born with such an intense creative drive and ambitious spirit. I grew up absolutely passionate about films and the art of filmmaking and that passion has led me to where I am now today – as a Documentary Filmmaker. In my earlier years, much of my documentaries concentrated on specific locations, paths less traveled and individuals who I would meet on my travels who I was inspired by. Being obsessed with music as well, a lot of my early work concentrated on musicians and were portrait pieces of these incredible Artists at work. I’ve lived my entire adult life behind the lens of a camera capturing everything and anything that inspires me and now my personal film archive is extremely vast. Now a days, I find most of my interests in the metaphysical, esoteric and mystical and have worked tirelessly to attempt to bring some of these ideas to the screen. For example, my documentary “Holywood” is about the spiritual history of Hollywood, while its sequel “The Color of Music” is centered around the healing qualities of sound. All of my films are passion projects, usually made on very low budgets and as a one man film crew. When I get an idea or a hit if creative inspiration, it’s nearly impossible to stop me from executing it as a film.
Growing up, I’ve learned that this process, both personal and professional of making films is a sort of therapy for me in a way. I’m able to discover new things in life I’d otherwise not be familiar with and the world of Documentary filmmaking has allowed me to travel the world, meet amazing people and hopefully create work that will bring some inspiration to others. I’m beyond thankful to my friends and family for their continuous support as I continue to embark on this cinematic journey. I am also so proud to have a large majority of my films archived at the historic New York Film-Makers Coop, which is one of the biggest honors for me. I’ve also had the privilege to work and collaborate with some incredible Artists, Authors and Musicians such as the brilliant Zeena Schreck, Maja D’Aoust, Mitch Horowitz and so many others. I am a serial collaborator and love working with others on great and unique projects more than anything else.
I love to create work that brings a unique perspective to each subject no matter how “ordinary” it may seem to be, all the while working to harness a positive & inspirational tone. After all these years, with nearly 81 films under my belt, the life lessons I’ve learned along this cinematic journey are priceless.
That being said, if you’re ever seeking someone to document your journey, feel free to reach out! Always thrilled to meet and work with great people.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I’ve thought a lot about this idea in the recent years, especially during the pandemic. One of the most rewarding things about being an Artist is the absolute freedom to not only create whenever or wherever, but also the ability to go within no matter what, and discover a source of creative inspiration. I knew many people during lockdown who were struggling a lot, with good reason. However, I was able to continue in a calm and productive manner in my career simply because of my creative spirit. If I couldn’t go outside to make a film, I would discover something inside the would give me an inspirational spark and was able to continue creating and making films no matter what. I think that is one of the biggest blessings in my life – the ability, ambition and passion to continue to create even in the most dire of circumstances. Filmmaking has quite literally saved my life many times. Even in the darkest moments, being able to make work always brings me a sense of joy and comfort.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
As an Artist, and I’ve spoken on this a lot, life is never easy. And that’s a massive understatement. Aside from dealing with financial hardship, the creative mindset is one that sometimes seem unfamiliar with this everyday world. Creatives are prone to heightened sensitivity as I certainly am. A long stretch of creative block can genuinely be devastating and lead to severe depression and anxiety – and of course, it is hard to explain these feelings to someone who does not hold the same mindset. For me personally, I hit a wall around 2014. I allowed myself to become extremely burnt out, frustrated with lack of finances and constant rejection letters and everything in between. I was allowing the ego to get in the way honestly. I felt like I was losing my creative spirit, which is impossible, but it certainly felt that way. I vowed that I would stop making films and just give up entirely – and heartbreakingly enough, I did for quite some time. I lost sight of the things which inspire me and sincerely hit a creative block harder than I had ever before. For someone who can find inspiration through the smallest things like the way the afternoon sunlight hits a brick building, I didn’t see it at all anymore. It was terrifying. I had to take a step back and gain a new perspective as to why I made films in the first place, what it brought to my life and why it was my passion. Most importantly, why my passion was escaping me after all these years. After a while, I realized that my passion for making films stems from my curiosity of the world, which I’ve had since I was a child. I also realized that the creation of the work and the positive attributes the process gives back is far more important than any fame or money, not that I had either, but it was still a solid artistic realization. I was aiming for something that didn’t have any legs, no platform, no grounding. When I began to slowly understand that the creative process is a gift and in the act of creating, that gift is being received over and over again to the Artist. Sure it’s nice to be able to present and show work, and any form of acclaim is always a wonderful addition, but what really hit me hard was that to live the life of an Artist, passion should always be first and foremost. The inspiration that struck to allow an Artist to follow down their creative path is far more important than anything else. Everything else is just icing on the cake.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.courtneysellfilms.com
- Instagram: @courtney_sell_films
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneysellfilms100