Today we’d like to introduce you to Hailey Moore.
Hi Hailey, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
The moment it all started can be traced back to a bunch of bored kids sitting on a couch downstairs in the basement while the parents talked upstairs. Casually, my friend suggested, “Let’s make a trailer” and I asked how. She replied, “On iMovie.” I remember asking, “What’s iMovie?” As if I knew that moment would foreshadow everything to come. She showed me all of the default trailers you can make, and we started exploring the different themes. I can remember getting mad at them for not following the given shot list and saying it wouldn’t look right unless we followed it. I’ve always been such a type A and rule follower but also a very creative, “let me cross this line” blend of a person. I went home and downloaded it on my iPad. I started making trailers about anything left and right. Any event, birthday, or lazy Sunday was turned into a film. In my first ever film, I put dog and girl productions in the intro and made a film about my childhood dog Phoebe and her adventures. That’s why my production title today is Phoebe Films. From there I just began documenting everything until I was twelve and about to go into my first year of middle school.
As much as I loved film, it wasn’t the only thing I felt passionate about. I loved animals, soccer, painting, photography, writing, horseback riding, piano, dancing. I loved all sorts of things and I didn’t feel like I had one specific thing I was good at and it made me feel lost. All my friends had an aesthetic, one thing they were good at, a style of clothes, a sense of self and I felt like I belonged all over the place. I remember the anxiety leading up to middle school, and suddenly, I was writing a script. I had been writing poems since the third grade whenever I felt emotional about something, so writing as a way of processing how I felt was very easy for me. That’s how I came up with my first short film, True Colors. True Colors was a film I one-manned from writing to editing (except for acting). It went on to win seven laurels, a film festival in Oregon, and The Fayette Film Festival. It was a very empowering moment for me, but it came with a cost. The pressure to continue to keep creating overwhelmed me at such a young age and I eventually grew away from film and focused on occupations I thought would be more “practical.” In my senior year of high school, I realized that I only felt complete when I was in an artistic environment. So I decided to apply to SCAD.
Once I got accepted, I could feel the fear of creating and being judged crawling its way back in. I can seriously say I owe it all to my peers at SCAD, who encouraged and supported me greatly as I reached outside my comfort zone. In March of 2023, I came to the awful realization of something that happened just years ago. At the age of sixteen, I was groomed by my boss, who was twenty-four at the time. This lasted until the age of eighteen. When I decided to put an end to our relationship, part of me understood that what had happened to me was wrong, but it wasn’t until a year later that it hit me. I felt suffocated by this new realization and immediately started turning my feelings into words on paper. I began coming up with fake scenarios similar to my event as a way to cope and slowly, it developed into a storyline. When I pitched this idea to my roommate, I didn’t think much of it, but her excitement to be a part of such a project lit up the room. She couldn’t even sleep that night. So I started writing, and lots of it. I had the help of my peers, professors, and editors and finally, a draft was done. The film logline reads: when a physically strong female boxer, Tessa realizes her abusive relationship with her coach, she must find the mental strength to turn the tables of power. It was really important to me that I created a film like this that touches on the “invisible” obstacles that victims face. It’s not always that easy or obvious to remove yourself from an abusive relationship, or rather even recognize one. I handled a majority of pre-production myself, working out deals for locations and equipment.
With the help of my friends and boyfriend, we set decorated an entire house and blacked out a basement. It involved late nights, phone calls, budgeting, and promoting, but it was all worth it. Then it came time to film it. This was an incredible process. I can confidently say I loved working with my entire crew. They were incredibly focused and driven the whole time, even on the nights we had call time from 6pm-6am. The editing process was tedious but allowed for a lot of creative control. It was incredible to see the multiple layers it takes to edit a film and see the vision translate from my head to the screen. We have submitted the film to the ATL Film Festival and are waiting to hear back. Our SCAD, family, and peer community was incredibly supportive, and we were able to screen the film for roughly one hundred people! I am so proud of everyone and have learned so much from this project. I can’t wait to get started on my next projects to apply everything I have learned.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but then again, what is? There’s been a combination of mental and physical struggles. The most common struggle is money. It’s hard to come by money to create the art you desire and starting off it’s a huge risk-to-reward scenario. I am experiencing this right now as I wait to hear news back about my film, hoping that it can make a profit, but most importantly, just be able to reach an audience. That’s the second struggle. You want to get your art out there, but it can be hard to compete with others doing the same thing. It really boils down to knowing how to network and showcase your work. For the longest time, I struggled mentally to want to show anyone my art. It took building a community but I quickly learned that art is not a competition. I can have confidence in my work not because I think it’s the best thing ever, but because it means something to me that I desire and long for other people to experience. Learning the community of art has been a struggle, but it’s definitely one worth taking.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a photographer, cinematographer, director, and model who majors in film at SCAD ATL. I work as a model for the senior collection at SCAD as well as for student/outside projects. When I model I love to incorporate my knowledge of cameras into my poses to create a unique dynamic between the subject and frame. When I am not modeling, I am on set. I aspire to be a DP or director and have done so on my own projects. I spend most weekends operating cameras or pulling focus for student/outside projects. I love to be on set no matter what I am doing. I also love to do photography. I have a variety of photography that I explore such as narrative-based/studio photography all the way to street photography. As someone who loves to do street and behind-the-scenes photography, I have a new passion for travel photography as I can incorporate those skills. Traveling allows me to see and observe new and beautiful environments. I can capture raw moments of ordinary life as a lens into understanding my new surroundings. I have also recently become interested in gym/sports photography for students and athletes.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I was still in high school when Covid-19 hit, so my focus was mainly on school. Aside from the downtime I had to pick up new hobbies and spend alone time, it really made me realize how so much could change so fast. Not even twenty-four hours before our school shut down did my friend and I said out loud “What if they shut down the schools?” I felt as though time stood still during this era and all I could do was reflect on the swiftness of change. I also felt as though this time period pushed a demand for the arts and digital creations which led me to begin creating a social media platform that was reflective of my work.
Pricing:
- $30 gym/sport photoshoots
- $50 creative/artistic photoshoots
- $50 an hour – modeling
Contact Info:
- Website: https://itshaileymoore.wixsite.com/lovehails
- Instagram: love_hailsx
Image Credits
Melina V., Troy Redahan, Akash Das
