We were lucky to catch up with Thomas Fowler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Thomas, appreciate you joining us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

The pandemic really turned my regular job situation upside down. My bosses tried everything they could to keep me on but so much advertising shut down. As a result, I was laid off in 2020. I found a couple other ad agency jobs but wasn’t overly happy. History repeated itself and I lost another job in 2023. Two jobs were lost in less than 3 years.

The second time around, I knew I couldn’t keep going as things were. I decided to take a risk. That was when I decided to make my own short film. I had the feature script written but knew from festival networking shorts were the best way to get a feature film greenlit.

I took a job working at my kids’ elementary school to keep revenue coming in, but it gave me the time to network with filmmakers and find my cast and crew. Now, I’m working freelance doing video production and keeping busier than ever. It’s proof that when you take a risk and send out the energy you need, it gives you the space to focus and grow.

We’re pitching the feature now, looking for the right production and distribution deal, while I’m finalizing another script and starting a draft on a third. Losing my agency jobs was the kick in the pants I needed and it got me moving in the right direction toward my true dream.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Thomas A. Fowler, I’m a writer, filmmaker, producer, and creative director. I’ve been in video production for twenty years at this point, over a decade of that in advertising and marketing. My specialty is storytelling. Whether it’s writing short stories, making brand videos, or feature films, I love to find the theme of any story and convey it in an entertaining way.

Currently, I’m helping organizations that are bettering their communities tell their stories through a company called Switchboard Strategy. It’s a collection of advertising and brand experts who can do anything from strategy to video to digital ad placements.

Simultaneously, my short film, “Slasher Sessions” is on the festival circuit. We just premiered at the Colorado Festival of Horror where we won first place for the Audience Dark Selection Award for Outstanding Short Film. We’ve also won Best Horror at the Los Angeles Film and Documentary Awards, and those were our first two festivals we heard back from! It’s a horror comedy where a group of slashers have to go to group therapy. It was a fun production.

All of this created an eclectic experience in video production from narrative filmmaking to insane production requests like finding a mule who could wear a hat to an acapella band who could dress in pioneer outfits and sing about heart health. I’ve had to do goose safety trainings, and even help a Chinese app developer translate their user experience for American audiences as they prepared to launch.

There’s little that intimidates me in terms of requests at this point.

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

I struggle with mental health. I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD, General Anxiety Disorder, and Massive Depressive Disorder. As a result, I wish I’d found more resources and received those diagnoses earlier in life. Had I done that, I could have gotten out of my way a bit easier. Those issues left me crippled, insistent on everything being perfect before moving forward. As I’ve learned coping mechanisms, built my mental health team with a psychiatrist, therapist, and great primary doctor, it’s helped me deal with them. They haven’t left me, but I’ve learned to work with them and around them.

In fact, with my ADHD I’ve learned to channel my hyperfocus in a beneficial way. When I had to learn some tricky new editing techniques for post-production on Slasher Sessions, I had to learn how to tackle these complex issues in a matter of days. By organizing the various needs in my life, I could get the small stuff done and harness the larger issues that had to get tackled as we were fast approaching a preview screening and entering festivals.

Regardless of whether you’re in a creative field or not, seek out resources for yourself no matter how small or trivial your mental health may seem. It’s astonishing what happens when you find the support you need what happens to your focus and creative energy.

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

Step outside of your comfort zone and embrace positive social media interactions. When I say “step outside your comfort zone,” I mean seek out original films, festivals, and storytellers. All the time, I see folks saying they’re tired of remakes and sequels. But if you look at the box office, it tells a different story. Those are the movies that are in the top ten for the year.

In fact, the worldwide box office for 2024 as of when we’re talking doesn’t have a single original film in the top 10. You have to go to spot 11 to find a new movie. Even that, “It Ends With Us,” is based on a book. Of the top 25 films worldwide right now, only 5 of them have any originality to them in terms of not being a sequel, remake, or part of a bigger cinematic universe.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy them as much as anyone else, I have Captain America’s shield tattooed on my left shoulder. But I try to balance that by seeing an original or indie film for every big studio film I take in. Look for something unusual on your streaming services because those views help elevate indie and original films. Stepping out of your comfort zone can mean watching that movie you always wanted to, but for whatever reason it’s eluded you. It’s finding local film festivals you can attend because you’ll find the most passionate creatives ever who love movies more than anything.

If you can’t buy the movie, book, or album, or don’t have the streaming service needed, then share it. Like their social media pages. Indie filmmakers and creatives can talk about their brand, their products, and services all day and night. But the best marketing is word of mouth. We all watch shows because a friend says, “holy cow, did you see this yet?” or texts “Hey, going to see this movie. Want to come?” Those are invitations to join a new fandom or discover a new indie studio or storyteller.

And that’s where the second half comes in. I encourage people to embrace positive social media interactions. Right now, the algorithms love to get people riled up and angry. It’s why so many article headlines are skewed toward baiting users into a “this or that” debate or telling you why liking a certain thing means your taste is garbage. By celebrating artists, creatives, and the things you love, it will help the conversation celebrate the struggling creative companies and people.

A perfect recent example was the announcement of Linkin Park’s new lead singer. I was ecstatic. Chester Bennington’s death resonated with me in a really impactful way. His struggle with mental health combined with their music hits me hard. So I’m happy the band has found something different, yet familiar, with Emily Armstrong. Their new single is amazing.

Yet, when I logged onto social all I saw were discussions about how they should’ve come up with a new band name, it disrespected Chester, all this vitriol. Some of which was also sexist because they chose a female lead singer. It’s disgusting and childish, but it also gets people riled up and there were far more comments on that than celebrations. Believe me, sexists need to be called out. But the other way we can win is by drowning them out by celebrating women and their achievements.

Of course, the internet took no time to go after Emily Armstrong. They found a few things to cling to and assumed these small facets of her life encompass everything we need to know about her. When in reality that’s so far from the truth. Social media users and fans speak as if they’ve been in every band meeting, the countless discussions determining if they should continue as Linkin Park or not, and what else is great about Emily’s life that should be celebrated. It caused me to take a break from social media.

So before you go and engage more “rage bait,” I would encourage people to stop, and find something that makes them happy: a new movie or an author they discovered, and share that instead.

That momentum will help creatives and artists more than any angry crowd thinking will ever get us.

Seek out new art, new movies, new books, new comics, and new musicians. Then champion them. Even if you can’t financially support, become a fan, share their social pages, share your favorite piece they created, tell everyone you know why they connected with you. That builds a thriving creative ecosystem!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.graciousmonsters.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thomasafowler
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thomasafowler82
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomasafowler/
• Twitter: Nope.
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@GraciousMonsters
• Other: https://www.switchboardstrategy.com/

Image Credits

Slasher Sessions behind-the-scenes images taken by Victoria Heinsohn. Slasher Sessions images copyright owned by Gracious Monsters.