We recently connected with David Bradburn and have shared our conversation below.

David, appreciate you joining us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I didn’t start working professionally until I was 40. I started making films when I was in high school, but I had no idea how to or that it was a possibility to for me to professional. In 2005 I shot a documentary about my brother’s search for his birthmother and by 2011 I had finally finished editing it. To say I really didn’t know what I”m doing is an understatement. I wanted to start submitting it to festivals and had a friend help. me set up an LLC to give me some protection in case it did do well on the festival circuit and became something; it did not. But he asked “What else do you want to do with film?” That was actually the first time I had ever considered that question. What I wanted to do was more. I begin to freelance and work on indie projects whenever I could around my full time. It took my 8 years to be able to leave my job, which at the point I had been working for 20 years, in order to work full time in production. I was older and didn’t have time to work my way up from the absolute bottom and had decided note to go to film school for an MFA, so I had given myself some limitations on what I was willing to do. But, I do often wonder if I had started in production when I was much younger, or if I had gone to film school for under grad where I’d be today and how much different or further along my art would be.

David, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

When I started to get serious about getting into video production professionally, I started working on friends’ projects to learn what I could. Then I did some background work on The Dark Knight and there I was able to watch and see how sets were run. I started making my films at this point and through that I met some people, and then some more people, and over the course of a few years had a network big enough and I knew enough that I was able to start getting paid work. After eight or so years I was able to leave my day job and work in production fulltime. I mostly work as a director, but also produce, write and fly a drone. As a former public school teacher, I learned to very resourceful and use this ability to be creative under most circumstances and to make things better than what the resources should allow.

I focus on story telling and like the challenge of telling a story in the shortest length possible. This is why I like most to work on commercials. Being to tell a brands story as concisely and creatively as possible is where I like to focus my energy and where I can be the greatest asset to brands and organizations.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the things I find the most rewarding about being an artist is creating. When I have an idea or an assignment that leads to a concept the challenge to get that from my head to realization is what I find most energizing. It is almost like a proof of life. My contribution to a creative piece means that it exists or that it is better because I exist.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

When I was in high school and was taking my parents VHS camera everywhere I went and I was making movies on weekends with friends, I didn’t know film school existed. Not a single adult that saw me or knew that I was filming all the time ever mentioned that film school existed or that I could have gotten into the industry. I knew that the industry existed in that I watched TV and went to the movies, but it never crossed my mind that I could be a part of it until I was 40. Even when I was making movies with friends that just my friends saw. If I knew there were schools I could go to for this or that I could somehow make a living at it (again I knew others were but I didn’t know any of those people and couldn’t wrap my head around me doing it as well). That is something that I wish I knew much earlier.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.forktheman.com
• Instagram: @fork_the_man
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forktheman
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dlbradburn
• Youtube: @forktheman
• Other: https://www.dlbradburn.com

Image Credits
personal photo credit Dev Enarson The photos on set with masks. Kyle Bice