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

Dennis, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I knew I wanted to make films at a very young age. It was an early morning that I turned on the television and Stanely Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey was playing on PBS and I was transfixed. From that moment on, film always captivated me. I wanted to know everything about it from the sound design, art direction, cinematography, crafting the story, and of course direction.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My journey through this wild industry is very varied and diverse. I was planning on going to film school when I was younger and pursue my dream of becoming a director but in the early 90’s the music bug caught me and I diverted to that for well over 20 years. My most noteable bands are Baby Gopal (I played guitar in this band), then The Realistics (guitar/lead vocals), and finally Saints And Lovers (vocals, guitar, bass). I pursued a very short solo career up until my mid 30’s until everything shifted to photography for me. I started working as a semi professional photographer in 2013 and by 2015 it was my full time job. I absolutely loved it and still do it to this day. I’ve always stated that my two Nikon d750’s have brought in more income than anything I have ever done creatively. After 2 years of almost non stop freelance photography, I was finally ready to make a statement with my first short film “The Weekend”, a semi-autobiographical dramatic film about addiction. I filmed it with my then partner Danielle Guldin and her friend Taso Mikroulis in the leads over the course of a weekend in my apartment with a barebones crew and nothing but improvised dialogue. It’s weird to say it but I still absolutely love that film. I’m so proud of it. It represents a sense of freedom that I’ve never felt since. I had no goals for the film and no intentions of putting it on the festival circuit. I just wanted to prove to myself that I was able to make something. After picture lock I knew we had something special. With encouragement from Danielle I entered it into almost every festival I could and it ended up getting into about 40 festivals worldwide. That was the vote of confidence I needed to finally pursue my dream of filmmaking. From that film onward I made the shorts “Death (and Disco Fries)” a romantic comedy about death and regret, “Lonely Hearts” a giallo based comedy horror, and “Doors” a 4 minute decent into madness. I also made a full length documentary “In Flowers Through Space” a documentary of the making of the album of the same name by E Scott Lindner. I eventually gravitated toward the horror space of filmmaking as I just love it. There’s a level of fun, freedom, and emotion that comes through horror like nothing I’ve ever experienced. And horror audiences are hands down the BEST in the world! There is an upcoming project in the works for one of horror’s major names but unfortunately I cannot divulge too much as we are still in negotiations. But I will say this, what the team and I have come up with is absolutely insane and I cannot wait to showcase it once it’s greenlit!!!

I’ve also formed my own production company CARY ALLEN PRODUCTIONS which consists of myself and my partner in life and work Bethany Watson. She is an absolute dream to work with creatively. We click so well! My one piece of advice to everyone is never go at filmmaking alone. Always have someone to bounce ideas off of and challenge you. I was sort of forced to do everything by myself because I never had any money to pay people to do things for me. So I learned about every aspect of production and got good enough at all of them to never have the need for a crew. But, trust me, that can only take you so far. You absolutely MUST learn how to delegate or you will burn out fast. I’m lucky that on this new project in the works there are 4 of us working on it together, Will Rogers, Tony Wash, Bethany Watson, and myself, and it’s way easier to get things done. But if all you have is a camera, an idea, and some friends, GO SHOOT YOUR MOVIE!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I used to think that the only way to have a career was to get into one of the major film festivals (Sundance, SXSW, etc) but I have realized that that’s not the case anymore. All of my short films were rejected from every major festival and at some point I was letting it get to me. But then I realized that they weren’t the only doors to knock on. I began sending out “Lonely Hearts” to more genre based festivals and we got into nearly every single one we entered. Finally I submitted it to Bloody Disgusting’s BLOODY BITES short film programming and it was accepted. From there I met my now incredibly talented producer Tony Wash who has basically taken us under his wings and helped us successfully pitch a career defining project.

And this was all because I never let anyone tell me that I wasn’t good enough. Especially the festivals.

If you truly believe in yourself and what you do you absolutely MUST keep going and take every opportunity that’s handed to you even if it’s not what you originally intended. Life has a funny way of steering you on your journey so long as you are willing to captain the ship.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

If you are someone out there who knows of someone working in the arts and has asked them “why don’t you get a real job” I think it’s important to understand just how much work goes into creative projects often for little or no money in return. Yes, that sounds like the worst business plan ever but we all have this drive in us that can’t really be satiated.

I remember the darkest period of my life was when I decided I was just going to be “normal” and I got a real job in a real office with a real paycheck and a real 401k and it was real boring. Everyday I was depressed because I wanted to be doing something that fed my bank account as well as my soul. I worked at this job for almost 3 years and eventually I was laid off because the company tanked. It forced me into a corner and I had to figure out what the hell I was going to do. It took a while but I eventually landed on photography.

I think the best thing you can offer to anyone in your life who is creative is support. Whether that be financial or emotional just encourage them if you see they have promise. Maybe you can also offer them some practical advice like how to manage their money or how to find investors.

Either way, encouragement is key. They will love you for that.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.denniscahlo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denniscahlo/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennis-cahlo-83681814a
• Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/denniscahlo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@denniscahlo

Image Credits
All photos by Dennis Cahlo