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

Hi Ethan, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I’m from the south side of Chicago; a neighborhood called Beverly. “Exciting” wouldn’t be the word I’d use to describe Beverly. My friends and I constantly needed to find ways to entertain ourselves. This is where my love for filmmaking blossomed. At first, we had no idea what we were doing. We didn’t know anything about lighting or composition or even how to focus a camera, a very evident problem in my early films, but we knew how to goof around and tell fun stories. I had a supportive family that let my friends and I film in our house, even though we probably destroyed about $1,000 worth of their belongings while performing stunts. The pure joy I felt for filmmaking back then still pushes me to this day. Whenever I get overwhelmed working on a film, I always try to remember what sparked my love in the first place. It’s a very comforting thought.

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 have two films that are currently going through the film festival circuit! The first film is Uh-Oh Aliens, which tells the story of Kazabog, an alien from an evil world who moves to Earth to find happiness and love. It combines puppetry with animation and human characters! I was very inspired by the shows I’d watch during my childhood while developing this film and its art style.

The other film is Your Dad’s Greatest Nightmare. It follows three daughters who create a monster in their garage to terrorize their dad at work. I really tapped into my love for 80s blockbusters with this one! The monster’s design was modeled after the Creature of the Black Lagoon. I couldn’t be more proud of how this film has turned out!

Professionally, I’m currently entering the industry as a freelance video/film editor. While at film school, I discovered my passion for post-production. One key reason is that I believe a film’s story is told twice, once when it’s written and again when it’s edited. Playing a part in that process is so exhilarating for me. I’m excited to continue my editing journey in Los Angeles and help bring many visions is life!

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.
Whenever I’m with a friend, my creative urges quickly emerge, and making a film is the only remedy. If any of my friends came into town, the first thing we’d do is hop in the car and get out to the desert to shoot a short film. Whether it’ll be a fish-out-of-water comedy or a grueling survivalist horror flick probably won’t be determined until we arrive at the location. We love to fly by the seat of our pants and start filming! Eventually, a story will catch up with us, and the film will actually start taking shape.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to shout out my family and my high school friends! During high school, I probably made around 20 or so short films. All of which required immense support from the people around me. We would get into all sorts of shenanigans, sometimes even trouble over the films we made together. Many of the shoots required crazy stunts and being covered in fake blood made from corn syrup on a hundred-degree summer day. There were times when tempers flared, and people got annoyed, so I’m thankful to everyone who stuck by me and helped me embrace my love for filmmaking. I can’t imagine being where I am now if I never had such supportive friends and family in those early years.

Website: https://www.ethangathman.com/

Instagram: thats_ethangathman

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-gathman/

Image Credits
My headshot: Ethan Paonessa The shot of me on a film set (camera on the left side of the frame): Zifeng Zhuo

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