We were lucky to catch up with Teddy Van Gough recently and have shared our conversation below.
Teddy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
My journey has been an amazing one. I aspire to the one of the souls that help to inspire people to follow their dreams. I’ve been a barber for 13 long years. I made countless sacrifices to achieve all that Ive accomplished so far in life. I reached a place in life where I found myself searching for more. I am a constant student, always looking for growth opportunities. I am actually, in the words of rapper, Joey Bada$$, I am addicted to growth and development.
In 2021 I was offered a small role by a local film producer names Reneka McQueen. She offered me 2 lines in heer film A Family Divided.” From that moment the director yelled, CUT! I was hooked. the next day I enrolled in Kamal Smith’s film class and began to take on the idea of this possibly becoming something I take serious.
Im the very inquisitive type of man. I ask everybody, everything. I want to know what makes successful people, successful. So I began to invest in myself. I took all the courses from the best local production companies to see what made them tick. I played the background like a fly on the wall to hear those conversations. I learned a lot and developed relationships.
It was August 2022 working as Line Producer on a film titled “Wake” with starring Fivel Stewart that I made the 110% commitment to step out on faith and fully commit to a career as a filmmaker. I didn’t want to just act. I wanted to be the one who helped give people a voice. One who helped give other actors a choice and an opportunity. So in 2022 I took the biggest risk of my life, at age 35 and I enrolling in film school full-time at Motion Picture Institute in Troy, MI. Also, birthing Middlepointe Productions. A brand founded on the belief in and dedication to, along with the respect for the art of filmmaking.
Teddy, 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?
My name is Teddy Van Gough. I was born Christen Morton to Deborah and Marshall. I was a troubled child growing up but I found passion in creativity. That was my outlet. Whether it was drawing all over my mom’s furniture or cutting up pillows and used the feathers or cotton to make shapes. I’ve always seen pictures in my head. The butt whoopings I used to take forced me to find other outlets of release though, I must say.
My cousin was a pure artist and I would trace his drawings often. He was my inspiration growing up. I was never much of a talker I was raised old school. Boys dont speak about their emotions type of ordeal so I bottled up so much until one day it overflowed and I couldn’t hold it anymore. My mother would begin searching for a therapist to help her tame her overly creative and rebellious child.
As I grew older I would accept the fact that I view the world a little differently and learn to harness that power. I learned that fish fly and birds swim and your freewill to dream and create is meant to be held in. My goal and my mission is to inspire the world to be creative. Inspire children to dream big. I love my life daily pushing the limitations that society sets for us to prove that the only limitations are those we chose to accept and place upon ourselves.
People work with me because I have an ability to see beauty in the ugliest places and things. I used to use my clippers to make people look and feel more beautiful now my camera is my chisel.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being a film director is having the opportunity to watch a young man perform a set about insecurity and american teenager; Experience the emotion of the message with him while watching the camera capture every tear that ran down his face; Say, cut. Walk over to the young man and say to him, “That performance just saved someone’s life and I got it all on camera.” Those moments are what I do it for.
Have you ever had to pivot?
I spent 13 years as a barber in the beauty industry and i got to a place where i’m looking close and closer to age 40 and I don’t want to be the 40 year old barber. Filmmaking allowed me the opportunity to pivot and change gears and careers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.middlepointecinema.com
- Instagram: LegendOf_Teddy
- Facebook: Teddy Van Gough
- Linkedin: Teddy Van Gough
- Twitter: LegendOf_Teddy
- Youtube: Teddy Van Gough