Kyle B. Thompson
“One school year, I remember signing up for a school play. To this day, I don’t exactly know why but I ended up getting a small part. No lines or anything, I basically just walked from one side of the stage to the other but it was in that moment that I found a joy in acting and the performing arts. In the summer months it was great to be a kid. I think the summer is great for all kids but it was especially so for us living on an island town. It was a pretty big tourist destination so there was always something to do and people to hang out with. We had two friends who lived across the street during the summer and we spent most of our time together at the beach. We also used to make home movies with my Mom's video camera back in the day. I think that's where my passion for filmmaking comes from.”
“I like to think my Mom was a part-time special education teacher and a full-time Mom raising my brother and I, even though she held a full-time teaching job to raise us. It was pretty incredible to see her work so hard for us. Thankfully our parents were super close even though they were divorced. My Dad worked as a painter in Florida. He was really amazing at his line of work. It was an art form in and of itself. Sadly, he passed away a few years back.”
“I went to school in the town right next to where I lived, my Mom enrolled me into a performing arts high school. It was quite the experience due to the fact that my graduating class was maybe about 50 people. In comparison to the other schools in the area, this was a small class. I think we had two hallways total in the entire school. We didn’t have any sports teams but we were allowed to pick a performing arts elective. Because of my middle school experience, I enrolled in the acting class. However, I quickly discovered I wasn't really good at it! So last minute I switched majors and went into TV & film program instead. It was pretty incredible to have access to that type of education in high school and it really grew my love for filmmaking and storytelling. We had access to tools that are often used on big budget productions. So to have those tools at our fingertips, the possibilities felt endless.”
“I ended up choosing not to go to a university. I looked around during my senior year. I think I actually visited Hofstra University and NYU but ended up never applying. I don’t regret it one bit though. All through high school, there was always this push to apply to college and go to a good school. It felt more like a push towards a social norm than thinking and doing what was right for myself.”
“As an indie filmmaker, it's hard to define “industry”. Some people may define it as fame in Hollywood and some define it as a full-time job making films. But for me, I just fell into storytelling and the art of filmmaking. When my Mom got a home video camera for Christmas one year, we started using it because my Mom really had no idea how to use it. There's actually really funny home movies of me telling her how to use the camera. I think I was about 7 or 8. From there it kind of just grew and as I went into high school it grew even further. I reflect back all the time on this and ask myself how on earth did I get here. I think it was really just about timing, to be honest. During high school, I decided to make this my life and build partnerships and connections from there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still learning. There's so much to learn in this industry which is why it is so great. The knowledge is never enough and there's always a higher standard to aim for.”
“I was really lucky to have parents who were extremely supportive of this decision. My Mom is actually too supportive if you can believe that. She jokingly reminds my wife that if I’m ever nominated for a major award that she’ll be going and not her. It's pretty comical.”
“I’ve been inspired by many short filmmakers over the last several years. More recently, I’ve been influenced by the work of Shawn Christensen (Curfew, Brink). His level of storytelling in some of his short films can only be described by me as moving monuments. Another one that comes to mind is Walter Murch. I actually remember seeing him in an Apple ad for Final Cut Studio on the Apple website. I was pretty amazed that he was cutting picture and designing sound. I think to see that gave me the confidence to challenge myself to learn as much as I can and that there is no limit to what anyone can do.”
“That saying of “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” couldn't be truer with me. I started work as a wedding videographer. I couldn't stand it but it was the closest thing I could find to filmmaking. I lasted about 5 months before I called it quits. Shortly after it was a ton of freelance work. Mainly editing films for student films.”
“Right now I’m finishing up on our short film The Boy Hero. It's taken me just over a year to complete so it's really exciting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But even more exciting, my wife and I are expecting our first child in July. We’ve been really excited about it so at the moment our lives have been about baby planning.”
“I’ve got a lot to learn about being a father so that's something I’m looking forward too. But of course, I want to keep telling stories about human connection. Short films are something I really enjoy as a medium and find that some of the best stories are told in just moments of time. So my hope is to continue to create short films.”