Today we’d like to introduce you to David Kirkman.
Hi David, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Well, I’m born and raised in St. Louis and spent majority of my elementary, middle, and high school years in Ferguson. I was the kid who always wore suit jackets to school and would organize my friends on my block to join me in my imaginative Star Wars worlds.
But my passion was really music. I first learned how to play the cello and violin, then eventually the piano and drums- with the piano becoming my main instrument. Not only did I play piano in school, but also I was the band leader for the church my parents started. I would then edit the sermons and create promo material for the services.
That slowly evolved in to me getting in to filmmaking and creating short films. So at 17, my family moved to the Maryland Heights area and I finished high school at Parkway North being the keynote speaker of the class. Even during the short period I was there, I learned animation, Latin, and decided to make a movie with my new friends- and that’s when I knew I wanted to create films for the rest of my life.
Granted, the movie was by standards really bad, but I got a chance to get my feet wet in making a full movie over the summer before attending college at Webster University. And even while I was there, Wehrenberg Theaters had supported the movie and hosted the initial premiere for it. All of our high school friends and families came to see it on the big screen. My best friend and I had created DVDs and Blu-rays for people to purchase afterwards and we sold out.
Fast forward a bit, I end up dropping out of Webster. The film program was going through significant changes that many in my class were not satisfied with and I really had no reason to continue as I was working on films outside of the program. I was also in the discovery phase of myself and owning my truth as a gay man.
So I dropped out and found myself sleeping on an air mattress at my great aunt’s house for about 8 months and worked at AMC for a while until I was able to do a little better. The thing was, I dropped out with a project that only needed to be edited: Gonzo. That really allowed me to start traveling a little bit and screening it at different venues locally.
After Gonzo ran its course, I made a short film titled STATIC (2019), which is based on the Static Shock animated series. The premiere was at the Tivoli and the line was wrapped around the building with about 500 people who came to see it. Then I started traveling across the world screening that and when it officially dropped online, the film went viral. Together the Portuguese and English version of the film have about 4 million views on YouTube and even caught the attention of Netflix.
I created 3 other short films in that world: Icon, Noble, and Hardware. Now at 27 I’m working on my indie feature film debut professionally, UNDERNEATH, and currently the artist in residence at Washington University.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has not always been smooth. Honestly, people thought I was wasting my time creating a fan film (Static), but I knew something that they didn’t. Even while Static was making it’s rounds globally I wasn’t being paid really anything. I got an honorarium here or there but I was broke and funny thing many times my cell would get cut off even while I was out of town.
I mean when Static blew up I was 23 traveling the world and not really having any sort of guidance as to how to navigate the entertainment field. Netflix even flew me out for a week to screen the movie and I made a lot of connections there.
Here I am with only a dream and I created something viral internationally. What do you do with that? How do you monetize something like that? Was that even the goal?
Regardless of how tough it got, I know I have a high pain threshold and I also had supportive people around me. I just knew that in order for me to progress all it takes is the right person to see the work and I had to get outside of my environment to build awareness of that.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m an independent filmmaker and I produce, co-write, direct, and edit my films.
I would say right now I’m most proud of what’s being cooked up and that’s UNDERNEATH. We’re transporting the audience to different worlds here and I couldn’t be more excited about this Afrofuturist movie.
Because of my residency at Washington University, I was able to get the actors and crew from across the country to help pull this off and it was my first time filming completely out of state to get the other worldly looks- like the sand dunes, icy mountains, and rocky terrain.
Creating a feature film on this scale with most of shooting based in St. Louis, is a huge risk. You can support us by simply buying some merch at www.UnderneathMovie.com/
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
You know the saying goes if there is no risk, there is no reward. And honestly, this entire journey has been one big risk with hills and valleys.
Creating the Milestone Comics short films was a major risk for me because there’s no immediate return on investment. It’s a miracle any film project is even completed because so many dominoes have to fall in place for it to be executed. And we did them back to back, regardless of what the traditional route to ‘breaking in’ is.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.UnderneathMovie.
com/Shop - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/ davidkirkmanfilms | https:// www.Instagram.com/ underneathmovie - Twitter: https://www.twitter.
com/davidkirkman - Youtube: https://youtu.be/
LNY8B7qC2CI
