We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Trey Rogan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Trey below.
Trey, appreciate you joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
So far, it’s been my feature film I have been writing for two years, and now am in the process of getting it off the ground. It’s quite an experience to cast actors, previsualize, and collaborate with others in my field. It is going to be an uphill battle for sure, with monetary cost falling squarely on my shoulders– at least initially. But strangely enough, I’m excited about this. Making progress on something I have thought about near constantly for years warms my heart. The story is also near and dear to my heart — with themes grounded in family, death, and regret. Universal ideas that we can all relate to, in one way or another.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Trey, and I come from Coral Springs — a suburban town outside of Miami. I guess I fell in love with movies as a sort of natural result of me being shown a lot of movies by my late Uncle Brian, and my brother. At the young ages of 6 or 7, I was being exposed to Mel Brooks, Sergio Leone, and films like Predator, Jaws, and a lot of others I was not supposed to be watching. But that sense of wonder was a kind of fixture in my life. Something as common as eating food and drinking water. Maybe more like that feeling of home we all have. Movies felt like home. Something I could always fall back on even in the worst of times. A genuine sense of wonder and the elusive search for a deeper meaning in such a wild and confusing world. I am a filmmaker, I write and direct my own short films, and as I mentioned — trying to get a feature off the ground. I guess my goal is to entertain, and to help people maybe understand more of what they experience. To craft stories that people can connect to in their heart. I don’t mean that in a cheesy way, either. I mean it in a survival way. We have an intense need to find out why we are here, why the things that happen to us happen, and why do we feel a certain way. It is all about perception, and the way our brains are wired. I guess I am just trying to tune in and connect with people who perceive things like me, or share the same interest and confusions about life that I have. Perhaps that is the goal of any artist.
The things I’m most proud of are my ability to keep going, and my willingness to collaborate. I always rewrite, I also look forward to doing the best possible job — and in order to do that, we must be open to collaborate. For some people, that is quite difficult. But I firmly believe the best art comes from human beings combining their personal experience and values into a greater purpose.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I want to learn about our collective existence. Human beings are so complicated, with so many emotions. From sibling petulance, to a small interaction on the streets of New York. It all fascinates me. I find people so interesting — each individual consciousness with its own ideas, its own wants. Perhaps that is why I am currently a filmmaker. I want to make stories that examine people, their mindsets, and their interactions with other people. To explore these emotions so that I can engage with the audience and go on a journey with them, to hopefully learn more about ourselves.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding things I could think of are as follows: 1. The ability to make another artist feel fulfilled through collaboration. One of my favorite things about filmmaking and directing is supporting every member of the cast and crew — to film them with confidence and therefore inspiration, because I try to show them I genuinely care about their artistic fulfillment. Making a movie is for me, of course. Making art can be a very selfish endeavor most of the time — but when we all work together collectively, we can learn, we can make great things, and we can grow spiritually and creatively together.
2. The second most rewarding aspect to me, is seeing my ideas come to life. There is such a strange feeling writing a character and spending years with them on the page, only to see an actor bring them to life and give a face and voice to this once imaginary individual. There is nothing quite like it. Building off that — it becomes even more rewarding when the actor develops the character further alongside you, and makes it their own. The character has new needs, new wants, and new ticks. It can only help.
Contact Info: