Today we’d like to introduce you to Andromeda Johnson.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I have wanted to make films since I was a teenager. I am from Minneapolis, Minnesota, originally, but I moved south for school to Dallas, Texas, then north to Oklahoma City to be a part of its growing film industry. Now I work as a freelance camera technician full-time, and am a proud IATSE local 600 member.
I came out of the closet in Oklahoma, where it has been a much harder experience than if I had done so back home up north. However, I have found that there is a tight-knit queer community here. There’s so much queer love in the South, and I got to explore that love in my directorial debut, a narrative short film called BOY MODE.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I was on the verge of giving up and moving back home when my first Production Assistant job came along for a local indie feature film. I had already given up the place I was staying at – so I worked my first film while living in my car and crashing on couches. I have still no idea what became of that film! But I figured if I could make it through that- making a feature film while homeless- I could do anything I set my mind to. I busted my ass for years to get into the camera department. Once I did, everything really clicked.
I got very sick with Crohn’s disease in 2019, which forced me to re-evaluate my role in the industry – the pain from this illness made film work excruciating. Leaving the film industry wasn’t something I was willing to do, so I aggressively pursued a path towards improving my health and maintaining my budding career.
Along my journey of self-improvement, I discovered I am queer.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Digital Imaging Technician – I work to preserve the creative intent of the director of photography on film and television productions in Oklahoma, I have worked for Disney, MGM/Amazon, Paramount, Nike, 988, and many independent productions for artists of many backgrounds. It is a highly technical job that requires a diverse skillset.
I am also a Writer/Director, and am currently taking my directorial debut, BOY MODE, on its film festival journey. BOY MODE is a narrative short film that follows a trans woman exploring gender euphoria in a post-drag ban Bible Belt town. I made the film with my collaborator, Dylan Albertson, who co-directed with me, and also played a leading role. In this project, we got to merge the worlds of film and drag, with the crew being IATSE and the cast being virtually ALL drag queens and queer entertainers – it stars Oklahoma City performer, producer, and drag icon Sativa Green, Heartland Emmy Award-winning singer Deonna Marie, and the internationally headlining burlesque star Adèle Wolf.
Film, as an industry, is dominated by cisgender heterosexual norms – but with BOY MODE, we got to authentically represent the queer communities of my corner of the South.
Any big plans?
We’re hoping to take BOY MODE to Europe! We just received our first international film festival acceptance in Zurich, Switzerland, and we’re hoping for many more around the world. BOY MODE will also air on CUNY’s public broadcasting station in NYC this summer. We hope, through the film, to facilitate conversations about gender euphoria and the importance of queer spaces here in the South.
And also, making more queer movies!!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/boymodefilm
Image Credits
Behind-The-Scenes photos: Tajh Calloway
BOY MODE Stills: DOP DJ. Zachary
BOY MODE POSTER: DJ Zachary, Morgan Zachary
Production Company: Polyphemus Digital LLC
