Meet Jody Wheeler | Writer. Filmmaker. Teacher.

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

Hi Jody, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
The poet and essayist Muriel Ruykeser wrote “The world is not made of atoms. It is made of stories.”. When I was a therapist, I often asked my clients to thell me their story: their hopes and dreams, pains and problems, understandings and doubts. To my writing students, I’ve mentioned that stories aren’t true, they just feel that way. As I’ve gotten older and used that expression in more places, I’ve added, “That’s their power and their peril.” Stories have always resonated with me.

As a kid, I read and reread the books on my shelf. As a kid of the 80s, the wonders of the VCR appeared with near magic in the living room. I could rewatch favorite stories — TV shows and movies — and explore whatever new ones leapt out at me on the vast and inviting shelves of Erol’s Video.

There’s just this way that stories are everywhere, be they the formal experiences invoked on a screen or the informal intimacies passed from person to person. They roll in and out of us. They influence how we see ourselves. We can get stuck in stories. We can inspired by them. We go to war over them. We are them.

Early on, I felt silly thinking about how ubiquitous stories were. The top show on TV or the worn book in the back of the library couldn’t be -that- powerful, could it? When I discovered luminaries like Ruykeser, Campbell, and Jung not only said yes, but spent their lives and careers exploring just how powerful narratives are. I’ve spent my life working with them ever since.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As a kid, movies and television were a bit of a mystery. Not the enjoyment of those things but their creation. The East Coast was far and removed from the West Coast, not just in terms of distance, but with how creativity met the commerce to create the media everyone loved. I’m still amazed that I found a way across that distance, able to create (and teach about creating) in our media age.

How? I chipped away at my ignorance of both how the system worked and how to create what the system could work with. How are stories written for the screen? How are productions mounted? How is funding found and used? I benefited from the blossoming of new technologies, of the profound shift of the world from the analog that began the 80s to the digital that defines today.

I also benefitted from my desire to learn, with my drive to do, and my need to teach. They all influence the other. They vie for dominance. That struggle though allowed me to see the creativity outside the screen and inside each and every one of us. It’s lofty-sounding, yes. Those soaring ideals run smack dab into the reality of actually creating around the quiet, present truth that it’s so damn tough to be human.

It’s tough to be human. That’s at the core of what I both create on and teach about. We have intertwined and contradictory impulses and desires. We stretch and shape those around our experiences and fashion a story to carry us through the resulting paradox. I’ve always looked to my own contractions — with love, trust, intimacy, shame, terror, and wonder — as a way across the distances between me and others. Often using a fantastical, genre focused lens, everything I do, be it creation or instruction, is a small, meaningful attempt to wrestle with what it means to be human.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I always start at the edge of the world — the beach. Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Long Beach, Malibu, it’s about showing people the not-quite-known about lazy spots like Mother’s Beach, Playa Provisions, or Dukes. While I breeze through all of the touristy and iconic places in the city, it’s fun to show people the view of the city from the Griffith Observatory, people watch at Citywalk, or experience the general funk and madness of West Hollywood.

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 shout-out is to all of the writing teachers who worked, helped, and inspired me over the years. Each step, they saw something in me. They encouraged it. I thank them for that encouragement. Occasionally curse them for being so inspiring. I hope to pass on their knowledge and support both in my work and the students I help along the way.

Website: https://www.jodywheeler.com

Instagram: theonetruejody

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodywheeler

Twitter: theonetruejody