Meet Kip and Tessie Wilmot of Travel Far Productions in Gwinnett County

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kip and Tessie Wilmot.

Kip and Tessie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I, Tessie Wilmot, was born in the funnest, best tasting food, seafood galore and free to party city in the country, The Big Easy! Yeah, baby! After high school (1998), I left everything I knew and joined the United States Navy. My first duty station was Sardinia, Italy. This is when I met Kip Wilmot, another Navy sailor who showed me how a woman is to be treated and chose me to be his wife (2002). Kip was born and raised in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. After us visiting over 13 countries together, getting married in Louisiana, me being honorably discharged and Kip continuing his service in the Navy Reserves, we relocated to Georgia. It was then when we had our first child. Kip has always been an artist, being able to create freehand and digital art work. While serving in the Navy, Kip designed art for his t-shirt company, Amiri, where his merchandise sold out throughout many Atlanta stores. We began our life after active duty and started attending college. Kip graduated from The Art Institute of Atlanta with an Associate’s Degree in Graphic Designing. I graduated from Georgia State University with my Bachelor’s in Management Studies. After the recession of 2008, the death of my (Tessie’s) brother in 2009 and her mother in 2010, I sought out film and acting opportunities. It was when I met Cindy Jefferson, a wonderful woman who had lots of acting information, that really started my acting journey. From there, I went on to perform as extras in many Hollywood productions, as well as supporting and starring roles in stage productions, commercials and independent films.

After working on so many different film sets, I got the motivation to start my own independent film company, Travel Far Productions. Although it was my idea, it didn’t take long before my husband was on board with throwing his hat in the ring as a director. In the middle of creating the company and filming our first film, we found out we were pregnant with our second child. We wrote and produced our first film, Secured Tightly, which can be seen on Amazon Prime. After completion of the film, we searched for film festivals to submit the film. The only film festival for veterans was in DC. My husband and I talked about creating a veteran film festival to showcase films where veterans worked on the production side or as an actor. I was pregnant and close to my due date, so the film festival got out on the back burner. After seeing other directors, Kip got the edge to edit and direct himself. We wrote, produced, directed and edited our first short film, Captured, which can be seen on YouTube. We were excited because our short film won the best actress (Lilian Brooks) award at the TPN Film Festival. Here we were again, ready to produce and film our second feature film and pregnant with our third child. It was our last day of filming when I went into labor on set. Shortly after that, Travel Far Productions provides another award winning short film, Tripped Up. It won many awards at the TPN Film Festival. Then, in 2018, while pregnant with our fourth child, we started the annual FAIRWINDS Veterans Film Festival.

Has it been a smooth road?
Smooth? HAHAHA!!!! In between having babies every other year (along with having an older child), us both being full-time college students, having full-time jobs and having struggles with choosing between family time and being on set, we actually managed to stay sane and accomplish the mission at hand. Let’s not even mention the financial struggle we have had funding our projects with personal funds and also had the support of some friends and family members. Then, there’s the whole wife is the producer and the husband is the artist/director/editor scenario. Talk about heated debates! We see and or want something different or one of us is inpatient-typically me, LOL. Then, there are my family death experiences to work through. Along with film, we also have our government careers which we have to manage and excel in as well.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
Travel Far Productions is proud of its diversity on film and how we take care of our cast and crew. We enjoy having a diverse cast and crew, feeding everyone on set with some good food and being able to pay and provide everything agreed upon. Kip and I balance each other out as he is the artist, editor, director, researcher and the calm one on set. I am the budget planner, assistant director and loves yelling QUIET ON SET. We both contribute to the writing of our films. We are proud of the FAIRWINDS Veterans Film Festival, where military veterans can showcase films they acted in or served as crew on the production side. We encourage civilian film companies to hire veterans for their films so they can build relationships, learn from each other and bridge the gap between civilians and veterans.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Atlanta is a great place to start out in the film and art industry as there are so many events, venues and or supporters. I recommend to first-timers to socialize, get to know people, keep your word on anything you agree to, treat people right, be punctual, be professional, have fun, have a good spirit and be willing to put in the work. People and businesses are there to help, get out in the mix, ask to work and put in the work to complete your project.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.travelfarproductions.com
• Email: travelfarproductions@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/travelfarproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/travelfarproductions/

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