Meet Scott DuVall | Independent Filmmaker and Photographer

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

Hi Scott, how do you think about risk?
I suppose as someone who very early on in life decided to go into the arts, risk was always present in some form or another. I remember discovering the notion of film school as a teen and the concern I got from my parents about it, like, “are you sure you don’t want a communications degree instead?”, that kind of thing. It came from a place of love and I knew they were trying to insulate me from a life of bohemian poverty, but that was a risk I was willing to take in order to do what I loved. Once that decision was made and I was in the pipeline to become a professional creative, taking risks just came with the territory. You’re constantly risking things as an artist: credibility, reputation, putting your own vulnerabilities on display for others to pick apart. When you’re young it’s very easy to throw caution to the wind and let the chips fall where they may with those things.

But then a few years ago, as I entered my late thirties, I experienced some unexpected losses in my close family that completely took command of my sense of risk assessment. My concept of mortality was suddenly in charge of every decision I was making. The metrics for what constituted high risk drastically shifted toward the conservative and I stopped feeling adventurous and carefree almost overnight. A few years removed from that now, I’m realizing that acute sense of self preservation was a natural part of feeling loss and grief, and I’m learning how to do the risky or scary things again. So, it’s gone from something that felt almost second nature to a sort of obstacle I’ve had to figure out how to overcome.

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.
As a filmmaker and photographer, I’ve taken a very scenic and circuitous route to coming into my own, and I’m proud of all the experiences that has given me. In a way I’ve always rejected the kind of overspecialization that the world impresses upon artists and taken up a lot of different titles and vocations over the years. Cinematography was my first passion, and through rigging and lighting I gained insight into so many other disciplines: hair and makeup, set design, visual effects, coloring, editing, and others. Through nighttime street photography I explored my personal perspective both visually and emotionally while also pushing the capabilities of my equipment and experimenting with technology. These and numerous other side quests and part time jobs over the years have given me an extremely diverse set of skills to apply to my work. That said, it cost me a lot of time and many false starts, so occasionally I feel like some of that time was wasted or that I could have gotten underway with my own projects sooner. But the path I chose has generated a deep empathy for my fellow craftsman that I wouldn’t trade for anything. Roger Ebert famously said that cinema is a machine that generates empathy, and it’s that perspective that I bring to my art and to other people.

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?
First on the list would be Din Tai Fung, my favorite restaurant in town and the perfect place to show off to out-of-towners. There’s also a delightful wine bar in the Valley called Mirabelle that makes for a lovely night out, and La Fogata, a great neighborhood spot for Mexican food. And then take your pick of sushi places in Studio City, they’re almost all incredible. Any of those could be the punctuation on the end of a day spent visiting other favorite landmarks like the Getty Center, LACMA, and the Academy Museum, or personal favorite local galleries like Gavlak or Fahey/Klein. There’s also consistently impressive programming at first run and repertory cinemas across the city, from the newly re-opened Vista Theater and the multiple locations of the American Cinematheque, to the more mainstream AMC Citywalk which features an IMAX theater offering one of the best-looking presentations you can find anywhere in the world. And after all that, there’s no shortage of nightlife- Sunset and Vinyl for strong cocktails and great music or No Vacancy for a more unpredictable speakeasy vibe, to say nothing of neighborhood watering holes like NoBar or Fox Fire Room. And we didn’t even talk about the beaches or record stores! LA has it all, man.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to shoutout one particular book: The Alchemist, by Paolo Coehlo. It came to me through two different people. First of all, my mother has always been an avid reader and spent most of her life working in academia, which set a precedent in my life to be inquisitive and collaborative. As an over-achieving student, I also attracted the encouragements of my wonderful teachers (which I was fortunate to have a great many of). One in particular- Sarah English, my high school chemistry teacher- gave me a copy of The Alchemist at the end of the school year and it changed my life forever. Its themes of following your dreams, understanding your intuition, and being able to identify omens and signposts along your path shaped my entire philosophy on life and helped get me to where I am now.

Instagram: @theotterphotographer and @sinandtonicfilm

Other: People can also visit tinyurl.com/5xfsycev to preview my newest project, Sin & Tonic!

Image Credits
Scott DuVall, Ryan Ashton