Today we’d like to introduce you to John “Fletch” Fletcher.
John, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Hmmm… this is probably going to sound pretty disjointed but stick with me. I think I have to go back to 5th grade for the closest thing I have to a “start”. Somebody came to my school and did a presentation about stop motion animation. I was never entirely sure why they had such a random presentation at my elementary school. I didn’t even know there was going to be an assembly that day…it’s like they just called us into the theatre and said, “Hey, listen to this guy.”
Anyway, I was fascinated by it and went home and dug out my parents’ old Kodak Brownie 8mm film camera from the closet. I ended up breaking my wrist badly enough that summer that I had to have a full arm cast. I couldn’t do much of anything, so I ended up making little clay figures and animating them in my basement and backyard. That led to even more interest in film production, and I believe it helped to train my eye for framing and editing at an early age.
I took a photography course back in junior high and then went on to study film and video production at Notre Dame. I was fortunate enough to be around Notre Dame when they were shooting the movie RUDY on campus and had the very cool experience of getting to drive Sean Astin to set each day. He was a newlywed at the time, so his wife always came to set and drove him home. One of my best memories from that was discussing the finer points of one of our favorite video games, Dragon’s Lair. I also got to drive the director, cinematographer, writer, costume designers, and locations folks around to do some scouting and collect items for the wardrobe department. It was an amazing experience.
In the meantime, I’d also discovered my love for music. I performed in various campus bands as either the singer or the bass player, and then I moved to Minneapolis, Austin and eventually Atlanta, performing with some very talented individuals. I’ve managed to keep playing the odd gig here and there along the way. My favorite gig for the last several years has been with the U2 tribute band, Desire, at Fado in Buckhead during the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. I’m disappointed I’m going to be missing this year’s performance because I am living in Valencia, Spain with my girlfriend while we teach English to children in the public schools here.
As you can maybe tell, I’d lost touch with my film roots for a while, but with all the growth of Atlanta into a major movie city, I’ve started to explore those interests again. I still love the idea of working behind the camera, but I’ve also been focusing on work in front of the camera for the last few years. I’ve trained mainly with Pinch ‘N’ Ouch Theatre, the stellar folks at Drama Inc, and I’ve also done some voiceover training with Atlanta Voiceover Studio. I’ve had the pleasure of performing in several films and on stage and was really excited when Jana VanDyke selected me to be part of her roster of talent. My favorite film work to date has been playing a mob boss in a fun series movies based on the Paula Peril comic books. I also have a part in a short film shot up in North Carolina called Blue Crossing. It’s an intense and culturally relevant story created by some very talented people, and it has the distinction of being picked up recently by Sean “Diddy” Combs’ REVOLT TV.
The main thing I’m specializing in now, aside from the acting and occasional bass playing, is photography. I picked up the travel bug several years ago and eventually made the leap from iPhone to full Canon Camera gear and a drone. That’s what most of my time centers around these days, and I’m always working on something new. I have sold fine art, travel and astrophotography prints along with doing stock photography work. I’ve produced photographs for advertising campaigns, and I’m moving into doing headshots for my fellow actors along with more portrait work.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It hasn’t been a smooth road, but I don’t think any road that’s worth it is ever smooth. There are the standard financial struggles of someone trying to work more in an artistic realm and the wavering between that and having a “real job” to make ends meet. Some struggles have probably even been of my own making. I’m always trying to learn and do something new, whether it’s learning to salsa and swing dance or flying to Spain for a year to teach English to students in Valencia. The latter has meant that I’ve had to put some of my other pursuits on hold, but it’s also allowed me a great opportunity to focus on my photography in some amazing locations. There are so many types of photography that I can always jump around to different styles, which can involve entirely different approaches, equipment and skill sets, so I never get bored.
Please tell us about FletchJr Photography.
I believe photography is what I’m really known for right now. I’m proud of the variety of shots and types of photography I’ve done and can do, including drone and time-lapse work. I think doing all of this photography while traveling has made me very flexible with the types of shoots I can handle, and it has developed my ability to come up with some pretty cool photos with very little time or setup.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
The only thing I sometimes question is whether I should have moved to Chicago right after working on RUDY and kept working my way up through the system that way. But had I done that, I wouldn’t have had all the amazing experiences that have led me to this point. I definitely wouldn’t have met a lot of the great people I call friends, and I probably wouldn’t have gotten to experience the incredible Atlanta film and acting scene. I’ve found everyone in Atlanta to be so supportive, and I love how so many of my Atlanta creative friends are developing their own films and productions while continuing to audition for and work on the bigger budget TV shows and movies that are being shot here. The Atlanta film community is certainly not waiting around for everything to come to them.
Contact Info:
- Email: fletchjrphotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: @fletchjrphotography
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fletchjrphotography
- Other: www.imdb.me/fletchjr
Image Credit:
FletchJr Photography
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