Meet Wesley Foster | Filmmaker

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

Hi Wesley, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
My philosophy is “jump and the net will appear.” The first time I moved to New York was a huge risk for me. I didn’t have savings or a job lined up or a place to live, I was sleeping in my car and just looking for any opportunity. It was a huge learning experience for me. It taught me a lot about embracing uncertainty, staying grounded in a sense of purpose, and prioritizing my creative pursuits above merely getting by. I had a year or so of mixed success. I found a job waiting tables and a sublet (a 2BR apartment with six guys all on bunk beds) but I wasn’t having any creative traction. The turning point for me came after I decided to stop working survival jobs. It was another risk but completely necessary because I felt so split with my energy waiting tables and trying to get film jobs so I swallowed my pride and was like I’ll be an extra, I’ll do Starbucks runs for producers, anything that will get me on set. It got my foot in the door and kept me in the right place for the right time.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am an actor and a filmmaker. I specialize in creating narratively driven concepts for abstract projects including music videos and dance films but writing and directing narrative films is my passion.

I began my video career as a live events videographer, working mostly on weddings and corporate shoots. Over the course of five years in the wedding world, I honed my skills with camera operation, run and gun shooting, and the use of natural light and took that into the indie film world.

A huge turning point for me happened after the pandemic hit in 2020, I used the skills I had gained from my wedding years to transition into larger staged productions for companies that were unable to showcase their shows for live audiences. The Nutcracker and a dance adaptation of The Wizard of Oz were two of these features. For the latter, I had an idea to take the dancers outside to shoot the opening sequences on location at a New England farm and transition onto the stage when Dorothy enters Oz. The idea created a unique look for the piece and offered the audience something they wouldn’t be able to see in a conventional dance performance. It was met with great success and led me to a third ambitious dance project shot in the deserts of Palm Springs. Since then I’ve continued to challenge myself, directing several short films and a series of in-studio music concerts. I have a new short film premiering in New York on June 23 before it heads out to festivals.

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?
In LA, I would take them to Debs Regional Park. There are a lot of great walks throughout the park. It’s just so peaceful and gorgeous. We’d probably head over to Figueroa St after, check out the different shops, and get some street tacos. I really love that area. We’d end the day at Gold Line, it’s a hifi cocktail lounge with great vibes. We’d definitely end up in Silver Lake at some point to run the reservoir. It’s more of a nostalgic thing for me than something that’s exciting. One my best friends lives there and has the best recommendations for good drinks and eats. We’d go to L&E Oyster bar. There are some great parties at Los Globos we might end up there if there were an event. And I’ve never been to Disneyland so why not go there for the heck of it.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many!

My friend Brian Wertheim. He’s a documentary filmmaker I met who let me use his apartment to get me on my feet shortly after I moved to NY.

And the brothers Jon and David Schmitz. They hired me as a second shooter for weddings over the summer when I was a teenager.

Website: www.wesleyfoster.com