Meet Weston Manders

Today we’d like to introduce you to Weston Manders.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I was raised on tall tales and folklore and surrounded by family. From an early age, these folks taught me the importance of story. They showed me how to love the dirt roads where I learned to drive, but they also encouraged me to dream of streets paved with gold. I wanted to spin yarns like my grandfathers could. I wanted to create myths – to be the stuff of legends.

Acting was the first way I found to express this need to holler and wave my hands like the ancient bards that came before me. Blackshear Presbyterian Church put a coat-hanger halo atop my head, gave me line, and that was it. I wanted to be an actor. And then one day a couple of Elementary school years later, I saw my neighbor Mandy Lesseig reading the “To Kill a Mockingbird” script. My world opened up. I realized I could be a part of bringing any character to life on the stage. So, I was Jem Finch. And truth be told, Mandy will always be Scout. Throughout this entire long walk, my parents have been there. From the Waycross Area Community Theatre, to the Conant Performing Arts Center at Oglethorpe University, and they were there recently when my short film showed at Milledgeville-Eatonton Film Festival. Whistling the loudest during the curtain call and then quick with a constructive critique over cold beers afterwards. You need both.

These days, acting has given way to filmmaking. I believe this is the medium meant for me. On every set, no matter how small the crew or the budget, I consider myself lucky that I get to collaborate with beautiful artists and capable technicians on every detail of a picture. I have vision, yes, but it is the team I have found through my Master’s Program at Georgia State and the Atlanta arts community that has allowed me to explore what it is I have to say. Specifically, there are two talented DPs – Dylan Jones and Caleb Courson – who are a big part of helping me achieve my vision. If you haven’t worked with them, you will.

My body of work is growing. I am just beginning to realize my own short pieces, but I find inspiration in the artists around me. Artists like the writer, Meira Merlis, and musicians, Ben Williams and Matt Henderson. I am on the winding path to something great, and I am only one small piece of it.

Doing this with Atlanta as our backdrop is significant. Atlanta has given me so much. The days I’ve spent at the Goat Farm rehearsing for “Terminus,” or sipping coffee trying to perfect the shot-list for “My Mother When She Was Younger,” or on Merry Lane as a part of the art group, Stank Jankins, these days have been important for who I am now and what I am working toward. These are the days full of conversation and deep, meaningful eye contact that lead to productivity and progress.

The future is bright because I am fortunate enough to have a strong support system in Blackshear, GA – the town that made me. I welcome what’s next because of the people who push me to grow and to challenge my thinking. The future excites me because I know I am not doing it alone.

Please tell us about your art.
At this stage in my career, I am hitting the scene on two fronts. Currently, I am coming into the corporate video world with the creation of my production company, Loud South. We work with businesses and non-profits to showcase the stories that make these places great. We offer the personal touch and care of a storyteller, while wrapping it in the technically proficient and sleek packaging needed to compete in today’s media-driven society. Recently, we completed work with the Atlanta History Center for their Swan House Ball where we interviewed former Mayors, Sam Massell and Ambassador Andrew Young along with our current Mayor, Keisha Bottoms. Our goal at Loud South is to assist the clients in realizing their vision through a unique and professional video.

Secondly, I am growing as a writer and director of my own narrative pieces. As a kid, it was always the Coen Brothers that I envied. In more recent years, I’ve added David Lynch as an inspiration for the wild, surreal vision I wish to bring to life on the screen. But if I really think about it, I do not want my work to be considered exclusively in the realm of filmmakers. My goal is to end up somewhere between Outkast and outsider artists like Howard Finster. I watched my Grandpa create works of art my entire life. He never met a shard of discarded glass that had come to the end of its journey, but instead saw it resurrected in some new magical walking stick or headdress. He taught me that a yard sale was a treasure hunt.

This is how I want my on-screen work to land with audiences. I want to breathe new life into stories and characters and places that may have a bit of rust on the hinges. I have no interest in fitting into some genre. The story is what I serve. The stories have been building within me, and through the help of all the amazing folks I have in my community, they will manifest themselves through a loud, on-screen holler.

It is about the doing of the thing. It is about making a mess with a paintbrush or a camera or a microphone and seeing what is still standing when the dust settles. This is the message I am sending – that anyone can and everyone should. I am not worried about a saturated market. Those with something to say will cut through the noise. I welcome any and all creators to “DO” and do for themselves. Creating for distribution or likes or views alone can be a hollow pursuit that can leave you drained of energy and questioning why you do it in the first place. You must serve the multitudes within yourself first and foremost. If you pay respect to those and that which came before you, all other pursuits will be fruitful and true.

Choosing a creative or artistic path comes with many financial challenges. Any advice for those struggling to focus on their artwork due to financial
Concerns? For those artists out there struggling, I will say this – take the job. Do not starve. Sure, there is a poetic nobility in doing without in order to serve your work, but I think getting your hands dirty leads to inspiration. Take the day job, and be creative about where you look for that day job. I am currently teaching a couple of production classes at GSU, not because I feel as though I have reached the pinnacle of my career and now it is time to impart this tried and true wisdom upon a budding generation of filmmakers, but because it’s a gig. I get to hone my personal craft while also testing my knowledge as I relay it to eager 20 somethings. Over the years, to fund my artistic habits, I have done a number of jobs within and out of my field. I have worked at a catering company where I was lucky enough to spill red wine on Laura Turner Seydel’s tablecloth. I have worked as a gallery assistant at Kai Lin Art where I learned the importance of finding inspiration in all mediums. More recently, I have had the opportunity to shoot music videos and live comedy performances for talented folks who really have something to say.

So, I have learned this is a long road. Do the work. It is a job, so treat it like one. If you want to get to the top, you’ve got to log the hours. Look around at the community you are building and at the work you are creating, and be proud. And then see what you can do better. Identify where you are lacking, and fill that void by learning a new skill or trying a new technique. This is a lifelong pursuit. Keep on trucking.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My Georgia State Master’s thesis short film, “My Mother When She Was Younger,” just finished its run through the local festival circuit. Milledgeville-Eatonton Film Festival, Georgia Film Festival, and Atlanta Shorts Fest all gave me the wonderful opportunity of showcasing my first narrative short close to the home I love so dearly. So, stay tuned for the next narrative piece coming down the pike. It is sure to be twangy and set somewhere off a dirt road!

For my corporate work through Loud South, we are still growing, and our website is launching soon! We are looking for clients who have human stories to tell and want to stand out in the landscape of modern media.

For my updated directing reel, you can visit: www.westonmanders.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.westonmanders.com
• Email: weston@westonmanders.com
• Instagram: @westonmanders

Image Credit:
Greg Noblin, Matt Conrod, Caleb Courson, Dylan Jones – Director of Photography from short film My Mother When She Was Younger

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