Meet Cole Sayre | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cole Sayre and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cole, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I think the key to understanding work-life balance is looking at how you can combine the two. Freelance filming luckily, has plenty of opportunities to do that. I’ve been able to take things I love doing (Hiking, sports, hunting, the outdoors, small business betterment) and use these genres of activities to search for jobs around the area… One thing that can be challenging is knowing when to put down the camera and enjoy the moment rather than trying to capture it. This is the one problem with combining work & life when you can; you never truly experience something if you’re looking at an LCD screen!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think these days everyone wants to use a camera and try and film something. There’s nothing wrong with this, but there is a high skill gap between those that do it for fun and those that do it for work, obviously. In the day and age everyone wants to call themselves a “creator”, and I used to use this title to describe myself when talking to relatives or employers, but I think the term creator has morphed into something that is no longer artistic. I think at it’s core, filmmaking isn’t about the idea of creating something for consumption, like TikTok or Reels. Filmmaking is about the art of making art. Something you can be proud of, something that’s different, and something that shows your personality and thought process. Overtime I’ve learned that it’s better to spend more time learning the skills YOU think are necessary… you can take a film degree (like I did) but you’ll learn much more by doing. Whether it be your iPhone, or just a dollar store camera, go out into the outdoors and film things that interest you! If nobody else likes it, so be it, at least you have a direct window into what your brain thinks is interesting, cool, or beautiful.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Despite being raised in Austin, Fort Worth is my favorite city in the country. Sure, other places have better food, or less traffic, or better entertainment, but thats what I like about Fort Worth; the familiarity. I love the small town feel that Fort Worth still possesses on the edges of town. My family is from Oklahoma, so I’m used to having small locally owned businesses all over the place, and Fort Worth fits that feel. If I had a friend coming to visit I’d likely take them up to lake worth to fish and then maybe out towards the plains west of Aledo (In my opinion, God’s country).

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My parents have been massive supports of me… Even when college hasn’t been the best, or what I’d hoped it would be, they were constantly helping me find the silver lining to everything. It’s really impressed into me how important it is to look on the bright side of things. Another big shoutout to all my siblings, they’ve been the subjects/actors in many of the videos I did in high school just for fun.

Website: https://www.capturedbycole.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colesayre/