We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Damian Overton. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Damian below.
Damian, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started sooner?
As an independent artist I have always loved creating, whether the project was big or small. I was at a milestone age in my life and asked myself what I was going to regret at the end of my life, it was becoming a film maker. I purchased Final Draft the next day and spent every day working out how I could immerse myself in the format of film as a way to tell stories. Before that I had worked mainly in theater, creating original works. I cut my teeth in short film and worked my way up to now having a feature film in the works in Los Angeles. I did enter the indie film scene later on in life but have loved it and all the challenges it brings. There is nothing more exciting than sharing your stories with an audience on a big screen.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a proud queer artist and do have a strong emphasis on inclusion of queer characters in my work. I started my work in indie theatre and have most recently transitioned over to indie film. I really enjoy writing specifically for actors, it gets me excited bringing a particular story to life for someone.
More recently I have been pushing the genre barriers, writing ATTICUS a short horror film, directed by Kieton Beilby and starring Nicholas Sampson, it premiered at A Night of Horror Film Festival in Sydney 2023. I just finished writing a short form horror for the extremely talented, L.A based actor Scott Mun
I have been collaborating with Evan Evagora (Star Trek Picard, The Quarry), he is currently producing and starring in the short film ANOMALY. that I wrote the screenplay for. Filming takes place in New York in the coming months. We have also been writing together on some new film projects.
My queer feature film script “Chaos and the Spark” is currently in development in Los Angeles with Nancy boy Productions. This has been years in the making and is a project that I am extremely proud of and can’t wait to get it up on the big screen. This is my first feature film screenplay.
My latest queer short film “Arlo and the Sea” was a collaboration with Ruben Russo and screened as a gala finalist at the SF3 Film Festival in Sydney. Taking home two awards at the festival. It will have its international premiere in January 2024 at the Rainbow Umbrella Film Festival in the U.K. My short film Papercut was selected at the over thirty festivals including the Academy Award qualifying Flickerfest and CineFestOz film festivals in Australia. I created the isolation short film “Luca and Iso” with L.A actor Ed Cali during the pandemic. It won Best Lockdown Film at The Lonely Wolf London International Film Festival.
Our queer short film PAPERCUT has over 1,900,000 views on YouTube and was the winner of The Audience Award and Jury Award for Best Short Film at The Perth Queer International Film Festival.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding part of being an artist or creative is how a project can draw likeminded creatives together. When a group of creatives are excited about a project, there is this common thread that bonds people together, it’s such a wonderful human experience. Not every creative experience is like that, but when it’s right and firing on all cylinders, it can be exhilarating.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Support artists at a grass roots level. Go to your friends plays and art shows, buy their art. Go to the cinema and support the smaller indie films that are playing.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/omad_damian/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3InsBd0WMU8mwZ-ZZq7sFA
Image Credits
Arlo and the Sea posters by Ruben Russo Atticus Poster by Nicholas Sampson