Today we’d like to introduce you to Kilian Fischer.
Kilian, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I re-discovered my childhood passion for drawing and painting in High School at a time where I did not only enjoy it but needed it. I was an extremely emotional teenager who needed an outlet aside from sports – something that would let my mind tangibly work through my thoughts and see them. I’ve always been a visual learner, so it was something I needed to do to better understand myself.
Originally, I had intended to study in Germany, the home of my family, at an Art trait school. However, one morning before sending out the first college applications, I scratched the fine arts idea and decided to pursue film. There was no rational reason for this, as I had zero experience working with cameras, let alone zero knowledge about cinema in general. I had barely watched movies either, aside from the old German films my mother played on repeat to keep the language native among me and my siblings. Some would argue this was some sort of revelation. Others may say just a random choice by a sporadic boy.
I got into Emerson College and spent three years studying screenplay writing before graduating and working on some professional film sets in both Boston and Atlanta. After a year of this, I started to crave the personal, creative freedoms that came with smaller sets and projects, like the ones I had sometimes worked on throughout college. I began freelancing as a videographer, in the hopes of meeting more young, film-oriented individuals who would be willing to work on short festival films with me. Throughout the process, I received a lot of unexpected help that ultimately lead me to found a video production company where I could practice my concepting and directing skills while hiring people much more talented than myself in the fields of lighting, sound and cinematography. Now in its third year, the company, Fischbowl Productions, is my full-time job.
I am a firm believer in self-sustainability as an artist, so my goal is to continue building the company brand to a point where I can hire & collaborate with other talented artists on both my personal films & photography on a regular basis. Because one thing hasn’t changed since High School – I still need to see my thoughts.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I always wonder what to call myself, because I don’t think I’m necessarily the best at writing or filmmaking, let alone photography. So I guess a cliche way to see myself is as a dreamer – because little movies play in my head all day long, whether I want them to or not. And I constantly need time to myself to really understand them.
I don’t think there’s a rational reason for me to make my art. Other than an inherent need to do so. It’s something I obsess over. When I’m not working on a job, I’ll be doing the same work for myself. And sure, it’s wonderful to believe in a cause and fight for it using art as a voice, but I’m still very caught up in trying to understand both myself and world. I guess a way you could put it is that I’m listening to all the stories being told around me before I really start writing my own. Maybe that’s a waste of time, but I’ve always been very active in my own head, so it just takes a while for certain things to cement themselves as messages or beliefs. That’s why I’m just enjoying making stories & taking photos of things without them needing to capture a specific cause.
I’m not really sure what I’d like people to take away from my art, because I think it’s one of those things that is extremely personal. The artist has his selfish reason for making a piece of art and the viewer has her/his own way of interpreting that, in their own selfish way. And I don’t mean selfish as something negative here, Just extremely personal and individualized. Because I think in large we are all the main characters of our own lives and one of the beauties of life is having the opportunity to form our own opinions.
Artists rarely, if ever pursue art for the money. Nonetheless, we all have bills and responsibilities and many aspiring artists are discouraged from pursuing art due to financial reasons. Any advice or thoughts you’d like to share with prospective artists?
I’m probably not the best example of someone who consistently makes their personal art profitable, but I use my artistic skills to create creative content for others. So if I had any sort of advice for any artist out there trying to make it – just keep trying. I don’t think we really ever reach a point of having “made it” because an art piece can be timeless while the artist becomes yesterday’s news – just think of any one-hit-wonder. What I mean is, the idea of arriving at an end destination in the hopes of being able to stop grinding isn’t something I believe to be real. Anyone who loves art will have to make art, have to work hard, and have to slave over every step of it. At any point in their careers. No one should get into art with the idea that it can offer an easy way out of the “traditional” 9-5.
So, I guess my advice is: try to make your art your main stream of income, however you can, I kind of equate it to sports: you don’t always get to play in the games, but if you can make a living for some time being a practice player, you’ll constantly get better while gaining some financial stability from it. You don’t feel the glory of being the star, but I don’t think that comes overnight. Sometimes it doesn’t come at all. But the first step is the most important – creating some sort of self-sustainable structure that necessitates your artistic qualities as the key component to creating income.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
On a business level, people can always tune into my video production website at www.fischbowlproductions.com. At this point in time, this company has been crucial for me in meeting the creative individuals I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with up until this point. It’s just the beginning of the journey, but thanks to them I’ve already made it over the first of many hills.
On an artistic level, people can tune in at https://www.instagram.com/fischonland/ – here is where I post my personal photography, films and overall creative projects. There will most likely be a website soon, but for now, good ol’ instagram will have to do!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fischbowlproductions.com
- Phone: 4045020752
- Email: fischbowlproductionsllc@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fischbowlproductionsllc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fischbowlproductionsllc/?ref=bookmarks
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/fischonland/
Image Credit:
Kyung Sik Kim
Ntchwaidumela Thomas
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