Meet Talbot Hall | Writer, Director, Photographer

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

Hi Talbot, how do you think about risk?
Oh boy. Risk taking is everything. Truly. It is paramount to personal and creative progress. It sounds brutal, but I genuinely believe that if you create something about which someone could not say “I hated that,” then you have not taken a risk. I believe that the worst thing you can be is boring. Some of the best advice I’ve ever been given is to “fail big.” I live and work by that. If I fail, I want to go down swinging. In front of everyone. Because that’s what makes success so fulfilling; that’s the flipside. Those who allow themselves to fail big will be the ones who succeed big. I don’t take half-measures.

Overcoming fear of rejection and embarrassment are key to risk taking. Once you stop caring about how you’re perceived, which is a lifelong journey, you get to make art that is challenging, and proudly so. Art should be emotionally, experientially, and intellectually provocative. The heart of art is having something to say. If what you’re saying needs to be said because it’s new, or challenging, or underexposed, odds are that someone will disagree with it. I live to be surprised by art. All of my favorite films are stories that, in the wrong hands, could have gone horribly wrong. That’s one definition of risk. Wiser people than I consider art to be a mirror of society. Not everyone likes what they see in the mirror.

Basically, if I’m not absolutely terrified that someone will look at me as though I have five heads when I pitch an idea, I don’t believe that what I’ve created necessarily needs to be made. New is scary, but it’s necessary! Fearlessness is one of the most powerful qualities an artist can possess, and it comes through so clearly in the finished product. My work won’t be for everyone, but it will be perfect for the right people. I have a lot of trust in that.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
There’s virtually no dividing line between my art and myself at this point in my life. I’m proudly multi-medium, as I strongly believe that art is transcendent of form. What I want to say can be expressed in screenwriting, playwriting, directing, photography, embroidery, and so much more. I am an extremely excitable person, and usually ideas come to me in multiple mediums. A film with a companion photo series. An embroidered hospital gown to accompany a short story about illness. I think that great concepts and ideas don’t exist exclusively in one form. Although sometimes it is a matter of what medium suits a concept best, which is something that I deal with as a creator. I also just get bored easily, so it’s good to keep my brain busy with different outlets.

Technically, the primary mediums in which I work are writing, directing, and photography. I consider several other things to be secondary mediums. As far as what I’m excited about…I’m excited about everything. Haha. I’m not a difficult person to excite. I think that creation is sacred, and positively limitless, and I’m not sure there’s anything more exciting than that.

I definitely don’t hail from a background that’s naturally conducive to being a professional artist. I’m from the south and grew up working class in a pretty rural area. I tripped and fell into the training that I got. I used to be an actor. I went to a magnet school, which was free, for middle school and some of high school, and then to a conservatory, which was also free to those who were admitted for their final year of high school, and then to USC for filmmaking on a full-ride. I absolutely had fortune on my side to aid what I was naturally interested in. Many people worked very hard to nurture my potential even when I couldn’t afford it or wasn’t in a place with a lot of opportunity. It wasn’t easy, but I don’t think anyone truly has it easy trying to make money in art.

Chronic pain was and is my other challenge. I’m very transparent about my chronic pelvic pain. It’s debilitated me at many points in my 20s, and has absolutely been the most difficult thing I have experienced in my life. But it’s also forced me to slow down and “embrace my pace,” as my friend Chris would say, so I’m grateful for that.

Chronic pain, financial disadvantage, and being geographically displaced for what I want to do were the biggest obstacles in my life.

However, they’ve only made my art better. No one is more creative than a broke person who has a vision or a need. I have both. Scarcity begets creativity. I wouldn’t change a thing about the way that I grew up. If things had been handed to me, I would be a painfully boring person. I have a sense of humor about my challenges, but I also feel quite motivated to overcome them so that I’m able to illuminate them in my art. Because I’m not alone in them, and being able to share them could possibly enlighten someone else to the fact that no one is alone in their suffering.

I think if I would want the world to know anything it would be this – there are not many problems that don’t have a creative solution for someone who really wants to actualize a vision. No one is excluded from creativity, including and especially people who are facing personal obstacles. It takes longer, but it also forces you to look at life with dramatically more empathy and with resourcefulness, resilience, and creativity.

I have “True Grit” tattooed on my knuckles. Actually. Haha. I do believe that’s what it comes down to; grit. Obstacles can either be used as fodder for defeatism, or they can inspire you to think in a new way out of necessity. That of course isn’t to say that every human being alive won’t, at some point, get stuck and spend a while idling. I’d be lying if I said I magically transformed everything that’s ever gone wrong in my life into a masterpiece. I’ve spent periods of time completely beaten down. But I don’t feel jealous of those who have been spared hardship. In my mind, they’ve also been spared insight and inspiration. I wouldn’t make that trade.

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.
In Charleston? Easy. You start with the shops – that’s the historic district on Market St. It’s a long road that doesn’t function as a road – it’s blocked off and populated by world famous artisan markets. One secret that a lot of people don’t know is that for a few months out of the year they also host a Night Market, which is a little more freaky and fringe. Much more to my taste. I’d say end at the Savannah Candy Kitchen, grab some pralines, and head up to the roof of the Market Pavilion hotel for a Sweet Tea cocktail and a view of the city that will take your breath away. Grab dinner at Church and Union, and then hit up Bangkok, a legendary karaoke bar above a great little pizza joint.

Next I’d tell them to hang around on King St. That’s the commercial shopping district. So even though the shops are standard, they’re all built into some of the most gorgeous historic Charleston architecture imaginable. There’s also a really cool escape room that’s themed to Charleston history.

Then I’d say to enjoy some steak at Halls or some seafood at Hymen’s and a French 75 at High Cotton before you take an evening carriage ride through the city. Charleston is known for its carriage rides, and they’re top tier.

Stroll along the Battery at sunset, walk down the cobblestone streets and look at the live lanterns, peek at Rainbow Row, grab a cake that will blow your mind at Carmella’s, and then crash at the Palmetto Hotel.

That’s how it’s done.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The list is endless, because my art was most certainly not developed and brought to fruition by myself and myself alone. Not even close. I grew up in a home which, although my parents are not artists, was extremely supportive of my ambition. Many paycheck-to-paycheck homes, which is what we were, seek out security when raising their kids. Which is completely natural, and many believe that creative fields are simply not job-secure. However, my parents trusted that I would find my way and were extremely encouraging of me pursuing professional artistry. I don’t take that for granted. Everything that I’ve made in film has been a collaborative effort. I wouldn’t know my camera from a hole in the ground if it weren’t for a generous mentor who took me under her wing.

Collaboration is essential in life and in art, and it’s healthy. We need each other. Nothing that I create is mine and mine alone. It is the product of the teachings, encouragement, support, and skill of so many other people who I’ve met on my journey. I would be absolutely remiss if believed that my art was authored by only me, because there are so many things that wouldn’t have happened or would not exist were it not for the aid and gifts of others, who have shared them with me so generously.

There are about a million places that my career could have stopped in its tracks had it not been for the graciousness of another person. I’m forever grateful to more people than I could ever name.

Website: https://talbotnhall.com

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