How to Become a Working Director without Film School with Cole Walliser
I've always said that "film school" isn't for everyone. There is so much noise and advertising telling filmmakers that you NEED to go to film school to be taken seriously. I disagree COMPLETELY and so does today's guest! On the show today is director Cole Walliser. Here's a bit on Cole's amazing filmmaking journey so far.
Cole Walliser, born in Steveston, BC Canada and bred in Vancouver, now lives in Los Angeles doing most of the same things he did in his country of birth – playing guitar, drinking scotch and directing cool videos.
“I started with filming skateboarding at about 14. For some reason everyone kept handing me the camera. I guess I had a knack for getting cool shots. Music videos has been a natural progression.”
Once he decided to pursue directing as a career, he knew he had to be in Los Angeles to reach his full potential. In LA, Cole began shooting videos for professional dancer friends on a pro-bono basis when a dancer, returning the favor, asked him to be involved in some dance videos for Miley Cyrus.
These videos impacted the entertainment industry bigger than anyone could of imagined with everyone from Ellen DeGeneres to Madonna to Ryan Seacrest reporting and commenting on the videos. These videos then led him to direct Miley’s 2008 Teen Choice Awards performance featuring LL Cool J.
In 2009 Cole was introduced to P!NK’s management, led by industry heavyweight Roger Davies. The meeting proved fateful, providing him with his next project directing the opening video for her Funhouse World Tour (originally slotted for Dave Meyers).
Cole continued working with P!nk on the record-breaking Australian tour where he gave fans a glimpse into P!nk's life on tour with a 30-minute documentary “On Tour with P!nk”. His successive work on four new P!NK music videos (Please Don’t Leave Me, Funhouse, Leave Me Alone [I’m Lonely], Mean), along with the documentary, found their home in P!NK’s 'Greatest Hits So Far' DVD.
Enjoy my inspiring conversation with Cole Walliser.