Meet Isaac Deitz, Freelance Filmmaker in South Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Isaac Deitz.

Isaac, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started filming when I was ten years old, making skits with my friends. I feel in love with film ever since. Over the years, I’ve seen the YouTube generation and so many other people get into film in similar ways that I started which has been super inspiring for me.

Over seven years ago, I started an artist residency in South Atlanta for young filmmakers to help them get started in the world of freelance filmmaking. We called it “The Thunderdome”.

The idea came from watching musicians living in the same house and creating art together from a mutually beneficial environment. If the drummer wanted to practice the guitarist who lived with them could practice alongside them. A lot of them shared a house where all agreed to have the extra bedroom dedicate to leaving their instruments set up in a room so practice didn’t require so much effort.

I thought to myself “why don’t filmmakers do that?”. So, I started a house with that in mind, leaving the extra room as an editing space and eventually it grew into two houses where we can host events and have a room dedicated to editing or filming in.

Another thing that I stole from music culture is the ‘open mic night’ idea that musicians had the ability to share their work with others. So, I started “The Fourth Wall” which was the same idea. A filmmaker could share 5 minutes or less of anything they’ve worked on and get feedback and encouragement from showing it to a live audience.

Currently, the Thunderdome is officially on pause as I’m pursuing my own feature films but The Fourth Wall has been handed over by an actors audition space called, “The Nova House”. They’ve been hosting The Fourth Wall until I can possibly get land and expand The Thunderdome into an artist residency that is more equipped to help filmmakers trying to find a network of collaborators.

Now, after the years of helping other filmmakers get started in the world of film, I had a community of super talented creators that love the idea of collaboration and helping each other make films.

Has it been a smooth road?
I think the challenge for a lot of creatives and entrepreneurs, is jumping in the waters of full-time freelance. It’s a scary thing for a lot of people, because of the initial instability. That’s an obstacle in and of itself, but it’s also an adventure.

When it came to making my first feature film last fall, the struggles have actually been having so many people in my life that have done a film, speak into the film, which has been helpful and in a lot of ways unhelpful.

Another was that I chose not to go to film school or college at all. Which especially 12 years ago, wasn’t nearly as accepted as it is now. So, I had a lot of pushback from people saying that I would never make it professionally or that I would live to regret it.

I think one thing a creative has to realize is that people will project their fears onto your dreams. They do it with good intentions because they don’t want you to feel the pain of failure, but it’s through failure that we all learn. The people in my life that know that truth are the ones that allowed me to make mistakes along the way and learn from my failures, but be there with me when I fall.

I think we all have a fear of failure that is healthy but if it’s unchecked it can disable us into not doing anything. So, there’s a balance you have to find.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
So, for the longest time, I operated under the production company “Tub-O-Popcorn Productions”, which I started when I was 14. But over the years, I’ve grown out of that name and in the process of rebranding.

But I’m mainly a writer/director. I used to direct a lot of music videos, which appears to be what I’m most known for at the moment, but my goal as a filmmaker is always to make feature films.

As a company, I’m very proud of the track record we have to not approach the arts as a competitive field. If I had the same script as another director it’d be two different films. So, to realize that means that we all have our own stories to tell and styles to tell them. So, when I stopped seeing other filmmakers as a threat but as people who can teach, challenge, encourage and grow me as a person and as a filmmaker. It’s made this journey more of an adventure and overall very fulfilling to get to make films and even celebrate with my friends.

I think what may separate me from others that I don’t believe is entirely exclusive is that I’ve always been pretty open-handed with my gear and knowledge. I love helping filmmakers make films and I usually will do whatever I can to help them on their journey as well.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is incredible for filmmaking. I moved here over nine years ago before the big film boom and it’s only gotten more exciting to watch this city grow into a film state, which is currently the number one place for film production in the world.

I think Atlanta should be really proud of what they’ve created here, from the lawmakers that created a friendly environment to film all the way to the business owners down the individuals that have seemed to be most welcoming of filmmakers.

Atlanta is an inspiring city to be in. You can’t drive too far without seeing art sprinkled throughout the city. And as far as creatives go, it’s not too hard to meet someone randomly at a coffee shop that wouldn’t want to collaborate or share their work.

I’d most certainly recommend people to start out here, at least in my experience, people are so welcoming to new creatives and filmmakers. Even if you just bought a camera so many people are willing to lend a hand and help you grow.

I believe this in practice as well. When I ran The Thunderdome, the majority of the residents moved in from other states and are doing a full-time film for a living now and decided to stick around even after graduating the program.

However, this city can improve, I feel like they’ve been working on and even in the time I’ve been here, I’ve seen some incredible growth and changes.

I’m sure though, we can’t talk about improvement to the city without mentioning the traffic. But I think, we just need to do a PSA on teaching people how to use their turn signals and merge properly.

Contact Info:

• Website: isaacdeitz.com
• Email: isaacdeitz@gmail.com
• Instagram: @IsaacDeitz
• Twitter: @IsaacDeitz

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