Meet Kiel Thorlton | Filmmaker

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

Hi Kiel, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
With our feature film A Place Called Home, I started writing it while I was in film school and working full-time. I’ve always wanted to make movies and I wanted to be sure that I was giving myself the best opportunity I could to attempt that dream. Once I graduated I was on draft 4 with a really clear vision of the project and what I wanted out of it. We have some amazing people on our team like Nathan Banister and Adam Bova who really helped bring the story to life and help get the film off the ground. A feature film, of almost any level, is a business and this one is no exception, so aside from the creative factor there are all the business factors still involved in creating something of this scale. At the end of the day I wanted to go for it, I didn’t want to look back much later in my life and have the regret of not trying.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My passion has been, and always will be, telling stories. The medium I feel like best suits that is film. I want to always be sure that I’m putting something on a screen that resonates honesty, in everything I write I want to feel like a very human story, that no matter who you are you can find something to connect too. I’m obviously the most excited about A Place Called Home as it is the newest project and my first directed feature film, a lot of time and energy has went into this so it feels great to see it now out in the world. It doesn’t hurt that the film is beautiful and the performances are exquisite.

To get where I am today was a long journey, as I’m sure it is for many creatives. I grew up in rural Kentucky where the opportunities growing up were a bit limited, but even from a young age I loved storytelling. So I wanted to find a way to do what I love, at this point, I’ve found a good balance between creative opportunities and teaching film/television. It allows me to live in the film world every day and the flexibility to further my creative works. It’s all about finding the balance between normal life and the creative one.

Along the way I’ve learned a lot but the two biggest things I can think of are.

1. There are no such things as small opportunities, everything is a stepping stone.
2. You have to have taste, if you can’t tell what’s good and what’s bad, objectively, you’re going to struggle. (I stole this one from my film professor Booker Mattison)

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This is such a great question as I have friends visiting at the beginning of the year. I would say Downtown for sure, it has a life to it with plenty to do. Food wise we’d have to catch a burger at David’s Burgers, I feel like that is an Arkansas staple, we’d check out Handi in Littlerock and Taqueria Azteca in North Littlerock. Also, I’d probably spend an entire afternoon at Vortex Arcade in North Littlerock, I’m a pretty big nerd and anywhere I can spend all day playing video games for ten bucks is a great day!

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 cast and crew are the most amazing people I’ve ever had the pleasure working with. There are to many people to list them all here, but 100% A Place Called Home wouldn’t be what it is without them.

Website: https://aplacecalledhomefilm.com/

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aplacecalledhome

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrk6sPqFHBBY4mqAYU-FzFQ

Other: https://www.freestyledigitalmedia.tv/film/a-place-called-home/

Image Credits
Cinematography by Aaron von Buseck Photography by Shelli Witt