Meet William Burrell of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to William Burrell.

Hi William, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in 1995 in Alabama to a military father and my mother, who is a teacher. A few years after I was born, my dad’s career had us move to Belgium, where I was raised until I was 11. Growing up there – my parents took the opportunity to travel all over Europe, taking my sister, Elizabeth, and I along with them. We were away just about every weekend on some new adventure.

I think seeing so much of the world at a such a young age put me on a natural path of curiosity, which is, to me, an important quality in any artist of any medium. I also read voraciously, and drew constantly, and wrote and told my own stories with pens and drawings and lego figures – and I always liked to make people laugh, or feel good, or feel something – I lived for the reactions, I suppose.

Naturally, as I got older, and had to think about a career, I was pretty certain of what I wanted to do – I wanted to tell stories; and, I was a terrible student to boot. I didn’t try, but it was pretty likely that normal colleges weren’t my cup of tea and I wasn’t theirs. But my parents insisted I go to college, and they were right – so I went to art school, specifically The Savannah College of Art and Design, where I learned all about screenwriting and advertising and film, and met many dear friends, and made some films of my own that, looking back now, were pretty terrible – but I thought they were great at the time!

After graduation, it took me a few years to find my footing. I struggled with the big question, “what do I do next? How do I make a career out of this?” and for a long time, I didn’t have an answer. I knew I wanted to tell stories but I didn’t know how, I didn’t have the money to make anything like what I wanted to make, and I didn’t know how to get that money, and so I was in limbo.

That all changed when I moved to Atlanta in March 2020 – yes, right at the cusp of the COVID pandemic. Here I was, ready to finally pursue my dreams for real, once again an optimistic young artist and BOOM! Global Pandemic. Just lovely.

But, it was almost a blessing in disguise. Shortly thereafter I got a job offer to work on a political campaign who needed a filmmaker to help them tell their candidate’s story in world where he couldn’t really go town to town campaigning. I worked on the campaign tirelessly for months and months, creating all sorts of videos and telling all sorts of stories, eventually resulting in a historic win for the candidate – Senator Raphael Warnock, the first ever African -American Senator from Georgia.

But the campaign ended, and again I was left with the question of “What do I do next?”

The answer came in the form of a phone call from my good friend, Zack Federbush. We had made a short film about him when we were in college – about his art and his struggles with autism – but we both felt we didn’t really even scratch the surface.

We needed to make a feature documentary, a real film. The idea reinvigorated me. “Zack in Many Colors” We planned it out, started a kickstarter, raised $11,000 and found some crew who believed in the story and were willing to work for shockingly low fees. Finally, after years of planning, in October of 2023, we began filming the movie. It was a crazy, chaotic, non-stop race, and perhaps one of the best weeks of my life – maybe even second only to a week in September 2025 leading up to marrying my beautiful, incredible wife, Daniela, who is a constant source of support and encouragement.

As of today, “Zack in Many Colors” has premiered at the Atlanta Documentary Festival, where it took home the Documentary Spirit Award, and we are planning more screenings later in the year.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely not. There were some really difficult times when I really didn’t know which way I was going – which direction my life was heading. I remember living in a house with a rotating roster of relative strangers, most of them insane, and all of us renting independent rooms from the landlord and sharing a kitchen. The house was falling apart, literally leaning like the tower of Pisa – but the rent was insanely cheap, and it was about all I could afford at the time, when I was working as a doorman at a cocktail bar and trying to get freelance video work.

But there were probably more emotional struggles – internal struggles, constantly doubting and questioning myself, wondering if I’m making the right move, overthinking on what the right move may be – that sort of thing.

Even today, I struggle with questions of, “what if I’m not good enough?” or, in regards to my projects, “what if people hate it? what if they laugh at the wrong parts? what if they laugh at me?”

Mostly you just have to tell those voices to shut up, and keep moving forward.

But I’m definitely my own worst critic.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a producer, director, and screenwriter, and currently I am most proud of my first feature-length film, a documentary titled, “Zack in Many Colors,” which is a portrait of Zack Federbush, an abstract painter on the autism spectrum, and a very close friend of mine.

I think what sets me apart from others is my focus on realism and honesty – I like to tell stories that truly understand their subject matter and reflect them with care and stay true to them. It’s important to me that characters feel human, feel like they have real wants and needs.

I’m also a bit of a workaholic, and don’t often stop pushing on one project or another. I like to have a lot of pots cooking.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Perseverance, not giving up. Life is a marathon, not a race, and good things come to those who push through and keep moving forward, no matter what obstacles are thrown at them.

Like everyone, I’ve felt like throwing in the towel – many times – but I don’t think I would like myself very much if I ever truly did. Actually, I don’t think I’m really capable of it. I love telling stories, and I would find a way to do it whether I had 10 cents in the bank or a billion dollars.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.williamburrell.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/w.bur/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamwburrell
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ZackinManyColors