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

Duncan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I often think it wasn’t up to me. I discovered that I was a creative, and so I had no choice but to follow an artistic life. I think that’s true of all vocations. You have to follow what’s been inside you all along in order to find fulfillment.

In practice, though, it was going to movies as a kid that most likely set me on my path. I’d go to the movies every weekend, and with divorced parents I’d often get to see them at least twice. It was a ritual for me – a call to something greater. I wanted so badly to be IN that world. My mom would say “you can do anything”, so I’d walk out of The Incredibles and for a week or two I was determined to train myself to run as fast as Dash. I’m a long way away from Usain Bolt, but I think that determination persisted, it just changed form.

Back then it was a mission to step into a different world. That turned into acting. Acting brought me closer to the craft of storytelling. That inspired me to want to make my own mark, weave together an experience that gave other people the kind of chills that I felt when I went to movies. Along the way I discovered how to stitch in some philosophy to chew on during the ride home. I learned to support others’ projects as much as my own, and help them bring their own visions to their best form as a producer. I’ve held cameras, consulted on scripts, edited, colored, organized locations, stood in the background… anything that helps bring that magic to audiences.

So I’ve evolved and changed over the years, but the prospect of being anything other than a storyteller feels as unnatural to me as shedding my skin. It isn’t a want, it’s a need. I have to do this.

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

My company Studio Schmudio is really the culmination of everything I’m about. We brand ourselves as a community-oriented entertainment company that is equal parts Education and Production, with a goal of making the film industry more accessible to passionate filmmakers. The idea is to develop a network of classes at every tier and specialization that is partnered with a fully fledged studio, so that Joe Schmo off the street has a clear, identifiable path from mere dreams of, say, costuming a big movie all the way to their first big break. We want to build a brick-and-mortar community hub to centralize all of the amorphous collaboration that LA is absolutely crackling with, and offer a sedimented avenue for newcomers. I know I’ve struggled with getting a grasp on the industry, and others do too. If it has to be tough for me, I might as well help make it easier for others while I’m at it.

It’s everything I dreamed of doing at some point in my career, but it’s funny how suddenly you connect the dots and go “what if all of that happened right now”. Developing original stories, working on productions, producing others’ works, community outreach – I get to be a part of all of that with Schmudio. For the past year I’ve been helping Kelci Loring, our Head of Education, establish and grow our classes, and then this summer I’ve been working to produce an exciting new project in the Production Department! I bounce back and forth between administration, teaching, writing, producing, and even acting sometimes – it’s a dream come true.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Funny, I often consider this relationship in the reverse. I see art as more than just entertainment, but as an integral service to society’s continued growth. I think of art as a kind of sister to politics, in that legislation approaches culture with a “top-down” approach by creating hard limits to actions, and art goes “bottom-up” by planting seeds for organic change. Sure, maybe Sharknado isn’t the explicit reason you donated to The Salvation Army, but who among us hasn’t felt something stir inside us from a movie, song, painting, or play? Art gets us to think differently, try on different perspectives.

There’s the old debate on whether “art imitates life” or “life imitates art”, and I think It’s both. It’s a wheel, and the culture that ensues is constantly turning. We need to let it turn. I mean, it’s a force of nature, whenever you get a group of people under the same banner, that sucker’s gonna turn. Maybe, though, we can let it, and not hold so tightly to “sure bets”. I’m talking about the nostalgia of it all – the remakes, the sequels, the adaptations. The best stuff (in any artistic field) are the ones that broke barriers, pushed the needle, introduced something. Risk is part of the game, and if anything it’s the only sure thing to go on.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

There’s a lot of things that can instill pressure on a person. As an artist there’s a whole arsenal of feedback, gatekeeping, doubt, validation, etc. that can lead to this kind of pent up desperation. Just as a person there’s a whole other list of societal expectations and norms to play by. It’s overwhelming, and nauseating, and most of what you hear is some form of caving to an easily navigated path through the muck or “let the expectations go” which is sort of a paradox to attempt directly.

If I could go back 10 years, I’d tell my younger self that it’s okay to be quiet. I know that might not be universal advice, but the way I dealt with all that pressure and angst was in pushing myself. I was scared to be the quiet guy in the room when everyone else seemed so energetic, so I’d push myself to try and be all that and a bag of chips. It took me a lot of embarrassment to find more of my true self in the quiet moments – present, listening intently to others and contributing when I felt called to do so. I think I feared those moments would never come if I didn’t make them, but I learned that they will and that it’s great to have somewhere there when they do.

So I guess I unlearned the idea that you should give into pressure. Seems obvious, but between all the things that you want and all the ways society says you can get them, it’s easy to cave sometimes. I hate landing on platitudes, but I guess it really is to “just be yourself”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://DuncanKinzie.com
• Instagram: @dunkincanzie
• Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/duncan-kinzie
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@studioschmudio8336
• Other: https://Schmudio.com

Image Credits

Studio Photos by Don Q. Hannah