We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Walker Whited a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Walker, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

In the film industry, often times you come across people in various roles that seem to be doing their job simply for the money. Don’t get me wrong, of course it’s all a job and money is important, but story is also important. As an editor, co-owner of W Squared Media post production and a director, I’m always putting story first. How is the story being served, is it being served justifiably and is the story “working.” If money is the the only concern, story is often going to be let down and put on the back burner.

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

I am an editor and a writer/director. I co-own W Squared Media in Atlanta Ga where we do all things post production including, edit, color, mix, and even score. We just finished up the entire audio work up for a movie for Marvista Entertainment (foley, re-recording mix, ADR etc). I also just wrapped cutting a film for them being released on Tubi and am about to go into cutting another one for them. In 2019 I wrote and directed my first feature film “By Night’s End” and it came out the following year in 2020 domestically. It’s a one location, one night, home invasion flick that really centers on the characters and their inner turmoil.
I started out in college at Georgia Tech and after a year and a half took the leap and transitioned to Ga State to pursue film and see what was what. After a year or two I quit my “normal” job and went full time trying to make W Squared Media thrive and here we are 5 or 6 years later and still kicking.

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.

Working in the post production field is an interesting challenge, especially in terms of our small business. You’re locked up in a dark room cutting, mixing, coloring, whatever it may be, for long periods of time and when it’s done, you hope you’ve got something else lined up. The film industry is all about networking but how can you network when you’re not around people on set or at events? I’ve really had to learn how to connect through emails, through zoom calls and through remote edit sessions. I’ve had to find those little moments where I can inject some personality and connection, which is especially tough when trying to do it via text in an email.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My business partner/co-owner Sean McCane and I met when I was in college and trying to get into the industry. I got on an indie set as a PA and through a series of events ended up cutting the film. The re-recording mixer dropped out and he came on so we ended up connecting of course. We grew up in the same area so we had that in common. We had similar views on quality of projects and how to get work done so we kept working together. I made my first short film and he came on to mix and color it, from there we kept making shorts. We decided to tackle the business together and go after features and since then we’ve done multiple features and countless shorts.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wsquaredmedia.com
• Instagram: @walkerwhited
• Twitter: @WalkerWhited
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Wsquaredfilms