Meet Bradley Fowler | Screenwriter, Producer, Director, Husband & Father

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

Hi Bradley, why did you pursue a creative career?
Story telling has sort of always just been in my blood. As a kid I could play with a couple of action figures for entire days at a time, without the need to have other kids around to play with. I would create elaborate stories with whatever I had, He-Man, GI Joe, whatever other amazing 80’s characters that I had laying around. I would plot out the story while placing the characters around the house/yard and sometimes I wouldn’t even get around to playing the actual scenario that I had created. This continued on far past when most kids gave up on toys. Eventually, it gave way to my teenage years and eventually adulthood where that same storytelling just transferred to things like daydreaming about sports achievements, love, travel, and eventually writing. Love, was in fact the first thing that pushed me into writing. When I was a freshman in college at the University of Northern Iowa, I was desperately in love with a girl from my High school days. I decided that the best way to win her affection was to write a screenplay that was an expression of how I felt for her. As it turns out, that may have not been the best way, as she never got around to ever reading it… this was as it turns out probably the best thing that could have happened to me. Not only did it kick start my career as an artist, but it also lead me down the path that allowed me to meet my amazing wife Victoria Matlock, which resulted in the birth of our amazing daughter Luna. After College, I wan’t quite sure where to go though. I had just completed working for an advertising agency in San Francisco as an intern, but I found the “creative” work at the agency to be little more than window dressing for manipulative sales techniques. I left the industry feeling a bit gross and in need for something that was more in line with my views as an artist at the time. So, of course I chose sales… I worked in sales for new construction homes for about 5 years, working about 60-70 hours a week, while spending my nights either taking classes in acting and improv while also heading out to do open mics as a Stand Up Comedian. Not only was this schedule exhausting, but it was also incredibly rewarding. Stand Up really taught me a lot about writing while getting me used to the rejection that is all too familiar in the arts. I did this schedule for a little over 5 years, while raising enough money to move out to Los Angeles, where I would spend the next five years living on a couch while pursuing my career as an actor. All along the way, I continued to write screenplays, but my focus was primarily as a performer myself. It wasn’t until after the completion of the second feature film that I had produced, “The Voices”, that I realized that I was just as happy writing films and producing them as I was acting in them. This was the major shift in my career. It allowed me to put my focus on writing and producing with the hope that acting work would come along the way as well, which it did and still does from time to time. My commitment to writing drastically increased, to the point where I was turning out about 4-6 scripts a year, while still working on producing as well. My last film, Slotherhouse was hugely successful, reaching the number 6 slot for Hulu in October 2023 and playing in over 1000 theaters around the world, including 500 in the US. Today, I try to write a script every few months, while focusing on my family.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Boy, what sets me apart from others? That is such a tough question. I do believe that I’ve been blessed with the gift of imagination and the ability to translate that into story, however I think the real thing that has set me apart from others is my ability to deal with failure and rejection.

I’m a filmmaker or storyteller, however you want to view it. That career in and of it self requires a person to have a strong relationship with rejection. Movies cost a lot of money and take a lot of people to create. As a result, it is a daunting process to get a movie made, especially one with a decent budget that has a chance of reaching the public. So, you end up hearing no a lot, or you hear people tell you all the things that you should change in your story… usually from people who don’t write them. But, you must hear all of it and take the information in, making adjustments when needed and not making them when it is not worth it… in the end though, you can’t make a movie without many people saying yes.

As a child I was diagnosed with a reading and writing disability, if you are reading this then you may have picked that up already from either spelling or grammar errors. Well, this was probably my first date with rejection. The teachers treated me like I was dumb and it really did leave a lasting affect on me. Yes, there is some pain there, but the result was that I wanted to prove them all wrong. I worked harder and harder and harder and gradually as the grade levels went up, so did my grades. No, I never became a prolific speller or grammarist… is that a word? But I did learn how to outwork thought around me.

In College I faced a similar rejection. I was on the Football team at Northern Iowa and was competing for the starting field goal kicker job on the team. The first three years I sat on the bench behind Mackenzie Hoambrecker, who went onto the NFL. After him, I had a shot at the job. In two-a-day fall training (just before the start of school), I was competing against 4 other kickers for the job. We charted our kicks and in the end I beat out the other kickers (at least statistically). When the time came for the coach to pick the starting kicker, he told me that I did everything that he asked me to do, but that in the end he had to “Go with his gut”. He chose another kicker, who I ended up being asked to coach throughout the season. In fairness, that kicker did go on to become an All-American, so maybe the coaches gut was right… we will never know. Most of my friends and family told me I should quit and that it was not a fair scenario, but my father didn’t raise me that way. He taught me not to give up and so did my learning disability. So, I finished my career on the bench. 5 years on the team and 6 seconds of playing time… none of which came on senior night. I don’t say any of this to complain, no it’s rather the contrary. I say it to explain that what sets me apart was this lesson to learn to deal with failure and to not give up.

This same lesson followed me into Stand Up comedy where success or failure was determined on a night to night basis. This lesson followed me to Hollywood where the first agent that saw me told me to my face that I was too old. Casting directors told me other similar reasons for rejecting pertaining to my age, my weight, my attractiveness, and even my race. All of this was said directly to me. It is a good thing that I learned to deal with rejection. Instead of staying in a state of anger and disappointment, I pivoted my direction toward something that people couldn’t reject me based on who I was. This decision has allowed me to finally overcome and start the career that I’ve dreamt of since I first began to dream.

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.
If my best friend was visiting and I wanted to show them the best time ever, I would probably get some materials to make some fancy cocktails and set up the board games upstairs. My best friend and I are similar in that regard. We can play a 12 hour board game without batting an eye. That being said, if we were younger I’d take him out to play a pick up soccer game, and if the question involved travel, I would hop on the plane with him and head to the Swiss Alps.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
So many people deserve a shout out. The people who have always stood beside are my parents, Tim & Joyce, as well as my sister Angela. Many of my friends have always stood beside me as well throughout the years reading my scripts and encouraging me not to give up, Eric, Bails, Amandas, Rachael, Dylan and many others. My G&R & Beetlehouse family who have helped keep me afloat along the way. I would also give a special shout out to Walter Mosley, who taught me so much about the game, my legal team, and of course my producing partners around the way, Amanda, Andy, and Cady. You all have believed in me so much thank you. Lastly, I need to give a big shout out to my wife Victoria and my daughter Luna. You have allowed me to not only pursue my dreams, but you’re constantly helping me re-direct to the right path along the way. I love you all.

Website: slotherhouse.com

Instagram: bfowler29

Linkedin: Bradley Fowler

Twitter: @BradleyFowler29

Facebook: Brad Fowler

Image Credits
Victoria Matlock