Filmmaker and photographer Kimberly Shelby spoke on “Answering the Call to Create” on Thursday, Feb. 8 2018 at Southern Utah University’s Art Insights Showcase. Shelby is a graduate of SUU’s Graphic Design program and received a Film Production Masters degree from University of Southern California (USC).
Shelby has worked on independent film projects since she was a teenager. For her senior Bachelors of Fine Arts Project, she created a Hunger Games film trailer which was nationally recognized on WNYC’s Studio 360 news show.
She now strives to become an action/adventure film director and writer in Hollywood. “My career has not yet started,” Shelby said. “But I look forward to the future.”
In her presentation, Shelby explained the importance of self-discovery in the creative process. “If you don’t know yourself,” she said, “then you don’t trust yourself. If you don’t trust yourself, you cannot create.”
Shelby recounted her battle with anxiety and depression after completing her Masters at USC. She began creating plushy dinosaurs for her own company, Plush Peddler. The company gave her enough confidence and positivity to start writing screenplays again.
Today, Shelby is writing an action/adventure trilogy. For copyright reasons, she could not disclose any information about the films but admitted that the project has changed her life.
“I’ve now learned there is no right way to get in [to the film industry],” Shelby said. “Everyone is so different, you literally have to forge your own path.”
The production company, Shelby Pictures, will be trademarked in the spring of 2019 and she will step into Hollywood with an original screenplay trilogy.
Art Insights is hosted during fall and spring semesters by SUU’s Art & Design faculty at the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA). For more information, please visit www.suu.edu/pva.
Story By
Ansleigh Mikesell
reporter3@suunews.com
Photo Credit
Haleigh Clemens
sports@suunews.com
