Today we’d like to introduce you to Keller Fornes.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Keller. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in the Texas hill country. Kerrville Texas was a great place for a young man to grow and learn. Playing sports all through middle school and high school taught me a lot about life and work ethic.
I enjoyed playing football and being competitive, but my favorite part of football season happened about 8 hours before the game on Friday mornings. The Pep Rally. I was in charge of the pep rally skit every week. I would recruit friends from the team, from the band, from the staff, and even some of the parents to take part in our weekly sketches in front of the entire school.
At the pep rally is where I fell in love with Directing, Acting, and Entertaining.
After high school, I went to the University of North Texas to major in Filmmaking and Minor in Acting. It was there that I really started to find my place both as a director and an actor. I learned how to write scripts. I learned the importance of Pre-Production. I learned how to collaborate and delegate. I became completely and totally fascinated by the entire filmmaking process.
While in my Junior year of college, I booked my first paid acting gig on a Television series called #KillerPost that aired on the Investigation Discovery channel. While shooting the pilot episode in Knoxville, Tennessee, I met several Cast and Crew members who were living and working in Atlanta, Georgia. After picking their brains and annoying them for a week straight with my questions about Atlanta, I made up my mind then and there I was moving to the east coast after graduation.
I moved to Atlanta in the Fall of 2016, eager to break into the Atlanta film community. After a slow start, I started to make some progress by taking acting classes, finding a great agent, and eventually booking some roles, while simultaneously working on some of my own projects.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not exactly. My first year in Atlanta, I was with an Agency that I felt like was not living up to their potential or helping me live up to mine. I was getting very few auditions and it was bumming me out. I felt like I moved to Atlanta simply to wait tables.
Although I was constantly editing my documentary film, which is a whole other story in itself, and working on a few of my own short films, I felt like I was not auditioning enough.
I finally landed a pilot, which I submitted myself for, that helped turn things around. The pilot was called “Banned in Boise” and I met so many great people on that project, including the Casting Director Shannon Reis. Shannon referred me to the Privilege Talent Agency, run by brothers Jacob and Corey Lawson, and since signing with them, things have been looking up!
I have also recently finished my documentary film titled, The Buddy I Never Met, which took me over three years to make.
What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
I’d say most people in the Atlanta film community know me as an actor. I have studied at several acting studios, auditioned for all of the major and most of the minor casting directors in the area, and have acted on many different sets.
People are surprised to find out that I was a filmmaker before an actor. I began writing, directing, and editing short films when I was in middle school I’ve directed all genres of short films, music videos, trailers, promotional ads, social media campaigns, and recently completed my first feature film in the form of a documentary about my late Grandfather, Buddy Fornes.
I’d say what sets me apart is my versatility. I’m just as comfortable in front of the camera as I am behind it. I am just as comfortable in the pre-production office, as I am the editing lab, and I am just as comfortable conducting an interview, as I am being interviewed.
I believe I have a very strong work ethic, but I believe so does a vast majority of the Atlanta film community. What sets me apart is my willingness to do whatever it takes to get the project up, running, and completed.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is a great place for actors, especially if you are just starting out. There is a very tight-knit community here in Atlanta and people are very willing to work together, help each other out and create original content in the process.
Contact Info:
- Website: KellerFornes.com
- Email: kellerfornes@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forneskeller/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/keller.fornes.52
Image Credit:
Brian Parris
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