Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawnre’ Tieuel.
Shawnre’, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I travel the path of a guerilla filmmaker and photographer on the road to creating the stories that I want my legacy to include. I’m not formally educated in the arts. I studied at the University of Texas with an initial desire to be a mechanical engineer. Instead, I completed a degree in mathematics. That corporate life is far different than the creative one that I lead now.
In 2000-2001, I was a financial advisor for Waddell & Reed but wanted to make a change. My position was based strictly on sales of bonds, insurance, and investment protection advice. I held series 6, 63, 65 , and group 1 insurance licenses. The stock market wasn’t performing well enough for financial companies to go on hiring sprees. However, September marked a brief window and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter was hiring. They scheduled my test for September 12th. The World Trade Center was attacked the day before. If the market would’ve performed better a week earlier during the summer then I would’ve been stationed in the World Trade Center for 6 weeks during the time of the attack.
The freedom of financial advising was attractive but I wasn’t willing to die for it. What was I willing to die for?
My love of filmmaking stemmed from my love of collecting thousands of cds and dvds. Although my Dad sang and acted in a few plays, I couldn’t sing at all. It was an easy choice for me to pursue writing. Throughout the years, I wrote and illustrated stories that I sent to girlfriends but I didn’t realize that writing could be a career.
My first attempt at Hollywood began with writing a sitcom script for a Bravo reality television show named “Situation: Comedy”. My project wasn’t selected but I realized my passion for creative writing and immersed myself studying script formats.
In Fall 2004, I met Will Griffin (SLMG President) in what was once Houston’s Sundance Theater. They created a film tour for a media company started by Stan Lathan and Russell Simmons. He encouraged me by stating, “Film your own projects because writers come a dime a dozen.”
I bought my first camcorder and began shooting “Breakfast Klub the DocKumentary” on March 1, 2005. It was a day in the life story based on owner Marcus Davis and the food of one of Houston’s top performing soul food restaurants.
I continued to work at AIG Life as an actuary analyst, off and on, from 2002 through 2012 while financing my own projects. After leaving there, I finally accepted a contract role teaching filmmaking, photography, and creative writing to kids at the Salvation Army Boys and Girls Club.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There are bumps along the way in the filmmaking business. You have to have thick skin and a healthy tolerance for the highs and lows that follow.
My lack of formal training led to me absorbing a variety of ways to produce stories. I had to separate what works from what doesn’t. That’s an ongoing process.
Financing film projects is a challenge. Waiting for someone to write a check for $5k – $500k is few and far between. Therefore you have to balance your time, life and finances accordingly to produce it yourself. Filmmakers have to ask themselves what they are willing to do to support their dream. Are you working part-time? Does that job pay enough? Can you take meetings during peak hours or late at night? Can you leave work for several days at a time? Do you have money to submit your film and travel to film festivals or tour it yourself? Are you able to work around the clock?
We’d love to hear more about your work.
I’m the owner of my media company with focus on microbudget filmmaking. I feel that I’m unique because I learned a variety of positions to complete my projects. That’s the “guerilla” side of it for me. My job is to write the project, light it, record audio, edit it, and negotiate locations where necessary.
Currently, I’m in production and post production for a variety of projects including “Dear Norman, Dear Mr. Lear”, the “Catfish Station” restaurant documentary, and a short documentary that will be found on the 2nd season of the “5th Ward” Docu-series airing on UMC.tv.
I’m in the pre-production stage of directing my 1st feature film based on a dramatic thriller series that I wrote named “SOULed Out”. The idea is for it to lead to another feature film called “If You’re Scared…”.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Thank you to my family that supports the arts wherever my siblings appear. My Dad captures photos that we use for promotion. My Mom always has cooked meals when I need them.
Both my sister Lyndsay Miller and brother Jack Freeman are singers and recording artists. You would think that we were filming a comedy show at the house during family gatherings.
I’d like to thank Shanda Davis who inducted me onto the board of directors for the Bayou City Inspirational Film Fest (2007 and 2012) and Ms. Andrea Arceneaux (deceased) who added me as a judge in the “film” and “creative writing” categories for the N.A.A.C.P. Act-So Competition (2006- present). Thank you to the Essence Festival for including me on their board of creative talent after Hurricane Katrina damage forced them to move to Houston.
Thanks to the Houston Media Source for producing a short version of my script “SOULed Out” last summer. It was directed by Latonia Thomas.
My advice to all creative people that want to produce film and photography for a living is to find a small group of trustworthy people. They should be able to articulate your story and tell exactly what makes sense to them and what doesn’t. Some of these people in my circle act become actors in my projects and/or trust me with their own personal stories. One example is my friend Jermain Johnson, former child actor in the 80’s. He’s my co-producer and the subject of my documentary “Dear Norman, Dear Mr. Lear”.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 281-451-4296
- Email: legacybridgefoundation@gmail.com
- Instagram: @legacybridgeplatinum
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/tieuel.legacy
- Twitter: @tieuellegacy
- Other: IG @agglife_media
Image Credit:
Most photos by Tieuel Legacy with the exception of the Legacy Street sign which is credited to my father JLF Photos.
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