Meet Paul Davis | Writer/Director/Producer

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

Hi Paul, why did you pursue a creative career?
The simplest way to explain why I chose to pursue an artistic career is that I didn’t see much of an option to do anything else. Telling stories and making movies is all I have ever wanted to do, so it has never been a question of “why” for me as much as “how.” I knew that I wasn’t going to find satisfaction in any other career path, so the truest thing I could have done for myself is pursue this artistic journey. I made a choice early on not to have a backup plan, which I will admit, was very dumb and I don’t suggest it. I made the decision not to work on any other potential career path that I could fall back on, because I knew that would allow me a level of comfort that wouldn’t drive me to work as hard on my writing and directing. In the back of my mind, allowing myself that safety net would have been admitting that I didn’t think I could make it in Hollywood. It’s not what I would recommend for anyone else, especially in today’s economy, because putting all of your eggs in that one, difficult to achieve basket, doesn’t leave a lot of safety for later in life. The cost of living is so much higher now than it has ever been before, what we commonly view as the romantic lifestyle of a struggling artist isn’t as cute as it was in decade’s past. Everyone who is struggling to make it in this industry who wasn’t fortunate enough to be born with connections to help break them in or without family or parents willing to support them financially has to work day jobs to survive, and those can often take up most of what would otherwise be your creative time and energy. It’s not an easy way to live your life. But even knowing all that, there still isn’t much that I would change about pursing this career path, because I know that nothing else is going to bring me the happiness that making movies does.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I don’t want to present myself as some totally established filmmaker who writes his own ticket. Some of the films that I’m making are still self-financed, some are looking for distribution. Some of them play on the festival circuit, some of them don’t make it there. I think the only thing that separates me from anyone else with a desire to make movies but hasn’t is that I still wake up every day and think about the steps I can take to move forward; whether that’s finishing a screenplay, outlining a new project, editing something I’ve already filmed, or making plans to shoot the next one. The only real difference between a filmmaker and someone who wants to be a filmmaker is that one of them just decides to do it.

The films that I gravitate toward making are horror and horror/comedies. It’s such a rich, fun genre to work in, and you can really go as extreme as you want in storylines and the audience generally accepts whatever you’re showing them. It allows you to couch in any issue or message that you want to tackle into the outrageous storyline, and it always works. I’m a huge horror fan. I’m proud of everything I manage to get made, as every film, feature or short, is a struggle to bring to life. But currently the one that has brought the most success and that I’ve had the most fun with is a short film called D.O.D. It’s about a couple idiots trying their hardest to survive through the zombie apocalypse. The comps I’ve been giving people to sort of understand the tone of it is Dumb and Dumber meets Dawn of the Dead, with some shocking twists along the way. We were fortunate enough to win Best Horror Comedy at our premiere film festival Screamfest, one of the country’s biggest and oldest horror film festivals. It has gone on to screen at several other festivals since then, winning a few more as well. The movie has been invited to screen in Portugal, Norway, and Germany, and our final festival is fast approaching in September. It has been a very fun ride, and watching the film with all kinds of different audiences has been a blast. Hearing the collective laughs or gasps in the places where they’re supposed to laugh or gasp feels good, knowing you did your job right as a filmmaker. It’s a bit sad that our film festival run is coming to an end, but D.O.D. was designed as a portion of a feature film that happens to work on its own as a short. I’ve since gone on to shoot about two thirds of a feature film, and am currently preparing to shoot the final act. Hopefully the complete feature will have a festival life of its own, and can manage to secure distribution. I know there will be an audience for it based on how enthusiastic crowds have been for the first installment. All we can hope for as filmmakers is that our work finds the people who want it or need it the most.

I started making my first feature film when I was 25. I poured my life savings into it, and two years of my life. For that movie, I didn’t pick my favorite story idea that I had, but one that I thought would be the most logistically simple to make. I was so confident about what I was doing that I thought anything I made would secure distribution and find an audience, so I shouldn’t put my best stuff out there right away on a limited budget. Something that I wish I knew when I was making that film is that any project you make is a time commitment, an energy commitment, and obviously a financial commitment, and there’s only so much time, energy, and money that you’re going to get in this world. Don’t spend it making anything other than what you think are your absolute best ideas. This industry is insanely competitive, and we are already over-saturated with content. Even if you’re making great stuff, it’s still nearly impossible for anyone to find. Don’t waste time making anything other than your best work, because that’s the only way you’re going to get a shot at having it discovered. After all the work I put into that film, I got rejected from every single film festival I submitted it to. I couldn’t pay people to watch that movie. It wasn’t until I looked that failure in the eye, took everything I learned from it, and started writing projects that I myself as a viewer would want to see, that I started finding some real success as a filmmaker. I don’t regret making it though, that film was still an incredible learning experience for me. I went to film school, but making that movie was my real film education, and was truly where I learned how to make a movie.

Also learning to accept that my own path for filmmaking is going to be different than anyone else’s helps keep me centered. Sure, I didn’t have a Citizen Kane under my belt by 26, but I’m doing things that work for me in my own way. It’s so difficult NOT to compare ourselves to our heroes. You look at the filmmakers that you grow up idolizing, and if you’re a struggling filmmaker growing up in the 90’s that’s probably folks like Tarantino, Linklater, Soderbergh, Rodriguez, P.T.A., and Kevin Smith. Basically, the guys that we watched get explosive and successful careers seemingly in the blink of an eye by getting their low-budget indie film into Sundance (or wherever). Of course I can do that, we all thought, and patterned our goals off of them. But by the time we’re submitting our films to those festivals ten or fifteen years later, the game has changed. That’s not really how people are getting their starts anymore, at least it’s happening way less frequently. I heard Soderbergh once say something that I’m going to paraphrase, but it was something that equally comforted me and frustrated me. He said, “Back when I was getting my start, getting your film into a film festival and getting a filmmaking career from it was like hitting a fastball with a baseball bat and getting a home run. Today that same thing happening is like hitting a fast ball with another fast ball.” So yeah, most of us won’t have the career paths that our inspirations had, and most of us today won’t even have similar paths as each other. At this point, nobody (who is born outside of Hollywood without previously established family connections) knows a set game plan to break in, we’re all just out here doing our best until something sticks.

When I’m not making movies, I also love storytelling in general, and will compete at storytelling shows like The Moth when I have time. I’ve had stories air on NPR and published in Reader’s Digest. A secret goal of mine is that one day I would love to produce an hour-long storytelling show that weaves in and out through stories from my life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m sort of a sucker for the standard tourist spots. I love Hollywood Boulevard, as trashy as it is, so I will usually take friends down that street so they can see the stars on the Walk of Fame. I took a few of my nieces and nephews once and we saw a woman taking a dump in the street gutter, so you never know what you’ll see out there! I actually wrote and directed a short film in 2018 that I’m very proud of that takes place on Hollywood Boulevard, about a cineaste who dresses up as a character on the Walk of Fame, only he dresses up as Death from Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, so all of the tourists prefer to take photos with the Disney and Marvel characters instead of him. It was my way to write about my frustrations with the industry, our obsession with blockbuster movies and a lack of respect for our film history, while coming from a sort of funny character. The film is called Death in Hollywood, and I love it. Hollywood Blvd is also where my favorite movie theater is located, The Egyptian. It was closed for a few years, but they opened it back up this year and it’s great to go back and see movies there. I will either make it a point to take someone to that theater, or one of my other two favorites, The New Beverly Cinema, or The Aero in Santa Monica. You can find me at one, two, or sometimes all three of those theaters multiple times a month.

My wife and I eat at a little Mexican spot by our place called La Fogata. We discovered them during the pandemic and would have it delivered to our place like once a week, and were always amazed at how fast their delivery was. Then when the world opened back up we realized that it’s like a block away from our home. It’s still our go-to when we don’t want to cook and feel like good, easy comfort food. Their salsa is crazy good. I also love SUGARFISH for sushi. The Hollywood location on Sunset Boulevard has never let me down. And you can’t go wrong with In-N-Out. I’m definitely one of those annoying LA people that won’t budge on my love for those burgers. The fries, not so much, unless you get them Animal style, then they are suddenly elevated to the best fast food fries around. Jinky’s is a favorite spot for us to get breakfast. And if we see a play at The Pantages, or maybe a movie date night at The Egyptian, and are looking for something fancier, we’ll eat at Musso and Frank. A+ steaks and old Hollywood ambiance.

But really, LA has everything: food trucks, movies, events, theater, live music, museums, sports, there’s never a shortage of interesting stuff to do. The problem is actually getting out of our place and going. We’re both home-bodies, and honestly, we’d much rather have a night in watching movies with our dogs Greta and Bilbo (we just lost our other precious little crested dog Oyster, and it feels weird not mentioning her here, RIP sweet baby), than battling traffic and navigating parking. That’s what we like doing with our friends as well. So I would never plan a week of events, ever. I’d plan like maybe two things, hit the beach for a day, go see a movie, but otherwise just hang out and talk. Talking is one of my favorite things in the world, and I really struggle with having great conversations out in the world without people just staring down at their phones throughout. The art of good conversation is definitely a dying one. But most of my friends, I think at least, are interesting and love to have conversations, so if I’m spending a good amount of time with anyone, I’d hope that we would have at least a few hours every night or two to discuss…really anything, everything. This is your sign to go have a real conversation with your friends and family, or even a co-worker or stranger. Cut the small talk, put your phones down, really listen to them, and share some stories.

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 wife Gina has really been more than I could ask for as far as support goes. It can’t be easy to love an artist; they are emotional, they pursue strange projects, they keep unpredictable hours, and they’re not always bringing in as much money as they’d like. To know all that, to accept it, and to continue providing love and encouragement means the world to someone like me. Gina has been such an unfailing supporter of me and my artistic endeavors that I can’t believe how lucky I’ve gotten. She doesn’t always like what I write or make, but she’s always the first pair of eyes on everything I do. And her first comment is usually “Make it shorter.” Which is usually right. She believes in me in a way that I have never experienced with anyone else, and I love her madly for that reason, as well as a multitude of others.

Instagram: @pauldavisfilmmaker

Youtube: @pauldavis3596

Other: Email: GangOfLightProductions@gmail.com

Here’s a link to my first wedding dance. It’s just about my favorite thing in the world, and as weird as you’d expect from a horror filmmaker:

Here’s a link to the trailer for my short film D.O.D. that is finishing up its festival run soon:

And here are links to some of my storytelling performances:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEJWm6zZrys

Image Credits
Natalie Clark, Dark Roux, Gina Davis