Meet Kayla Windsor

We recently connected with Kayla Windsor and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kayla, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I was extremely lucky and found my purpose at a really young age. I’m a natural story teller and when I was six years old, I started having really colorful, vibrant dreams that would stick in my memory. I started to write them down because they were so detailed and as I grew older, I realized I wanted to be a writer. There was a reason these dreams stuck in my memory and there was a reason I wrote them down. Moving into my teenage years, my dad bought me a camera so that I could take photos of the desert animals we would find when we went off roading. Animals that no one ever really gets to see in the city like Gila monsters. That was the next step in my story telling journey, capturing sights that no one would ever see because they weren’t there to see it. From then, I knew that my life was supposed to be for capturing what others couldn’t. To be places that no one ever goes and to show them that it exists. I moved from photography to filmmaking for that reason. Telling other peoples stories, telling my own, telling the world’s story. That’s the most rewarding thing in the world.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I have been a freelance filmmaker for over 14 years now. I work primarily as a camera operator for television and movies. I have work on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney, HBO, and all the others now basically. It’s been an incredible journey getting to see how much of an impact my work has had and it’s okay that no one really knows about it. Everything you see as an audience member was created by hundreds of crew members and we all really really love what we do.

I do many jobs though. I’m a writer, director, producer, assistant camera, script supervisor but that’s a lot to get into. I also work as a FAA certified Drone Pilot. I have my pilots license and it’s really fun because it’s the same written test as a regular pilot.. so one day I might actually take classes and learn to fly actual planes.

I’m a host of a brand new podcast that hasn’t been released yet called Arizona Filmmakers Roundtable. I gather Arizona’s best filmmakers and have them talk about what they do in their specific departments. The point of the podcast is to show the world that Arizona has an incredible workforce of talented creative filmmakers and that Arizona is ready to become the new Hollywood. We are building sound stages and have passed a tax incentive that should be bringing big movies out to Arizona. It’s the perfect time to be a filmmaker in AZ and I’m so excited to share my wonderful coworkers with the world.

I’m also on the board of the Arizona Production Association. We are an online directory listing of vetted Arizona local film crew. www.azproduction.com We quadruple check our members credentials to make sure that who ever is listed in our directory is actually good at the job they are posted under. We also create free monthly networking events for filmmakers where nonmembers can come interact with our members and get into the industry. We have quarterly workshops to train the next generation in their specific departments and we really strive to uphold our local community.

I work with another organization called Arizona Filmmakers that does the same thing! We have quarterly networking events as well that focuses primarily on new generations of filmmakers and provides a safe space for them to come speak with established filmmakers, intern on projects to gain experience, and really guide them to a profitable future in the industry. Our mantra is Community Over Competition and a lot of our work is focused on mental health, building safe spaces within our community, and having fun!

It’s been an amazing journey coming from the very bottom when I first started 14 years ago to being a leader in the AZ film community now. Giving back to the next generations so that we have an incredible work force for the big movies we are all working so hard to get out here. I’m very proud of Arizona and love to see it thrive.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Three qualities that were the most impactful in my journey would have to be great work ethic, patience, and trust in the process. In the very beginning it’s difficult to be patient with the process because you always want to be bigger than you are, but without the years of experience, theres no way you can be where you want to be right off the bat. Trusting that the process, being years of experience, isn’t a bad thing, is the best thing that ever happened to me. Yes, I was very good very early but there was no way that I could have possibly known what I know now. It’s part of the journey of life that you grow consistently and if you can be patient and get through those experiences that really make you who you are, that’s what the world needs from you. The world doesn’t need anymore ego driven action, it needs humble, hardworking, patient people with respect for their superiors, respect for the work they are doing, and the patience that it takes to create beautiful art. If you rush through the process, your art will be half what it could have been. Trust that the beautiful work you dream of doing in your lifetime will come over your lifetime and sometimes it takes 20 years to finish. If you’re lucky, you can do it in less time and you’ll have to work your butt off to get it done. It might even feel like it’s going to kill you but it’s worth it in the end. My advice to people early in their journey is to trust in the universe, trust in yourself, be patient in your eagerness to grow too fast, and work really hard to get yourself as well-rounded as possible so that you understand what it is that is needed from your art.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
The person who has been the most helpful in helping me build and develop the essential skills, qualities, and knowledge I needed to be successful were my parents, mostly my dad. They taught me from a young age what proper work ethic is, how to be humble, how to be helpful, and what it is to be a functional person in society. I learned hard work very young and it’s really gotten me so much farther at such a younger age.

In my career, I’ve taken what my parents taught me and really didn’t have someone to teach me how to do my job for a long long time. Most of my career, I’m completely self taught. I had no one to rely on at all but because of the way I was taught to be independent and do things for myself and others, I was able to survive on my own totally fine. I’m very lucky to have confidence in myself and my abilities and to have the trust in myself that not everyone has. Trusting that I’d figure it out was how I got to where I am now. It’s so important to know that you’ve got this.

Now, the person who has been the most helpful in helping me overcome challenges is my mentor. My mentor found me in 2020 over social media and reached out to ask if I needed help and I really did. He came at the perfect time. A time where the world shut down, my career as a filmmaker seemed like it’d never recover, and I was thinking of quitting. He reminded me that I deserve to be a filmmaker, that I deserve everything that I had fought for to be at the level I was at, and that I was better than I was giving myself credit for. He really got at me about my confidence levels and made me realize that I was overthinking about the wrong things. He taught me to trust myself again when I had lost my confidence. He taught me that I deserve more and that I’m ready for more.

I’m very lucky to have had them.

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