Today we’d like to introduce you to Douglas Wicker
Hi Douglas, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a St. Louis-based filmmaker, who has been fortunate enough to have transformed my childhood passion for storytelling and illustration into a career in the world of creating. I grew up in rural Missouri with no connection to the entertainment industry or anyone making a living from being creative for that matter. I really owe a lot to my elementary music and art teachers for planting the seeds for the path I ended up taking.
Over a decade ago, I decided to focus on filmmaking and put a lot of my other interests on hold. It was a monumental amount of work and self-doubt, but eventually I started to see some momentum which finally evolved into a career in marketing and advertising. It’s a privilege to be able to directing and produce ads for clients and have the opporuntiy to work on more personal projects, which include short narratives and documentaries. My most recent film, “What Happened to The Others?” earned recognition at the 2022 Chattanooga Film Festival and went on a successful festival run, securing awards for Best Short Film, Best Director, and Best Poster.
I truly find filmmaking uniquely rewarding, and navigating the intricate blend of art, technicality, and business in every project brings all of my creative interests together. It also awards me the chance to work with and discover new talented voices along the way.
With a passion for spotlighting St. Louis filmmaking, I really anticipate an exciting future, pointing out upcoming festivals like Hysteria Fest, and the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase as essential platforms for showcasing the city’s creative prowess.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The path to the place I am today was far from easy. I was the first generation of my family to graduate high school, the first to graduate college with a Bachelor’s degree, and grew up in lower class family. I didn’t know anyone who made a living from being creative and it was such a foreign concept. I was a creative kid and always wanted to make films, but the cost was outrageous at the time. When I first started to pursue filmmaking, I would buy as many books as I could, there were barely any resources online save for a couple of YouTube channels, and really no podcasts to any extent. So getting information without going to film school was so difficult.
Then there is the social life aspect of trying to legitimize yourself as a filmmaker, which is a completely different mountain to climb. It’s a job of changing people’s perspective on how they view you, which is much harder to do with people close to you. Even after I had sold my first project, I would have people ask if I was still making “home movies.” Which is funny in hindsight, frustrating at the time. I found the more I learned to focus on the work, and the less on people’s opinions, the better.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a writer, director, producer. I love to work in comedy and horror for the heightened sense of reality you get to operate in that is so satisfying. You can create your own rules, what can happen and what can’t, and in that you get to experience an absolutely liberating world for your audience to experience.
I am proud of the opportunity I have had to work alongside brilliant creatives to build these imaginary worlds and see them spring from the paper into a three-dimensional reality.
I don’t think much about what sets me apart. I pursue the projects I find interesting and represent something that speaks to me on a fundamental level.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
The only way to advance your career is to take risks. You can be the most masterful in your field, but if your work never leaves your notebook and sees the light of day, no one will ever know.
You have to do everything in your power to bring your work to life and share it with the world. That is in itself the greatest risk. You cannot stand in front of your project and apologize for what you think you did wrong, or take credit for what went right every time it’s seen. Sometimes the things we view as shortcomings are whats celebrated by the audience, and the thing we worked the hardest on is taken for granted.
The relationship of a piece of work and the audience is the greatest risk.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/douglaswicker/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/douglas.wicker.391/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@douglaswicker?si=B7ifmz8foUPKWy3J
