Meet Rachel Olivia Taylor

We recently connected with Rachel Olivia Taylor and have shared our conversation below.

Rachel Olivia, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?

My optimism comes from years of self-motivation through progress with my emotional maturity. And therapy. Stick with me, we’ll get there.
8th grade Rachel was a little negative Nancy. I didn’t curse, or drink or do drugs, and art school teenage angst is apparently quite different from that of your typical 6th-12th grade school. Crushes and mean girls and a new history teacher cycling in almost every other week was more than enough for me.
One night, I stood in my dad’s driveway with tears pouring out of my eyes, on a three-way call with my best friend and one of our mutual friends who said they were thinking of hurting themselves.
Another day, I found myself at my God sister’s basketball game, shouting with far more frustration than was necessary for a bunch of pre-teens running across an indoor court.
Not long after that, I came to the stark realization that the country I live in has people who would rather support a neighborhood watchman who shot an unarmed Black kid in the back, than the family the kid left behind as they try to get justice for their son. Off to therapy I went.

Still, in the year 2025, being a minority of any kind requires conscious decisions to be made every single day. Am I going to let this microaggression roll off my back, or will I confront the person who said it and hope I don’t get called aggressive for doing so? If I smile at a man and politely decline his advances, what will his reaction be? Will I speak freely outside of my home and risk having my aptitude called into question, or will I code switch and chance the “compliment” of being told I’m so ‘articulate?’ What steps can I take to ensure that I make it home alive at the end of each day?

Unfortunately, this is not an exaggeration.

All of these questions, the uncertainty of the filmmaking industry (and my job security as a cinematographer), and the current state of human rights in the U.S. are enough to make anyone feel like they’re losing their mind. However, I haven’t come this far to only come this far. And I am stubbornly determined to do more than just survive. I want to live.

I also want to be realistic about my safety moving about this world, but there’s a difference between being cautious and living your life in fear.

Now for the optimism.
If anything is possible and you can let your imagination run wild, why wouldn’t you think about the best possible scenario? Instead of asking why something great “would” happen to or for you, ask why it “wouldn’t.”

This quote, better known as the Serenity Prayer, that I first heard on a set in Champaign, Illinois in 2023, sticks in the back of my mind: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to know the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

There are a lot of things in my life that I don’t have control over, so I try to make the most out of the things I do. Making the conscious decision to be optimistic every day is something that has changed my life for the better. I’m not saying that there won’t be bad days, or that you won’t occasionally feel like the world is crumbling around you. I’m saying that choosing to stay optimistic helps you to find the sunshine peeking through the clouds on a rainy day. I’m saying that after two weeks of back-to-back productions, very little sleep and my own production on the horizon, being optimistic reminded me that “being tired in the pursuit of a challenge of my own choosing is a great problem to have.”

My optimism comes from having good, great, and not so great days, because I have no choice but to remember that whatever I may be feeling in a moment won’t last forever. This makes me hold on tighter to a moment before it becomes a memory, and it makes me cherish my memories during difficult times.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am Rachel Olivia Taylor, upcoming cinematographer, with a passion for the creative, not trauma-based, portrayal of Black characters in film and television. I make movies for a living and it’s really cool. I help to shape and create worlds that people get lost or find themselves in when they turn on their TV, or laptop, or even their smartphone. I can’t imagine doing anything else. There is no plan B. This is, at least one of the things, that I am supposed to be doing with my life.

I founded my company R. O. Taylor Legacy, LLC in 2019 with a Canon Powershot and a dream. Many milestones have been accomplished since then, but the big picture dream lives on. In November 2024, I purchased a Sony FX3 cinema camera. It was certainly pricey, but I knew it was time to have what I needed to stay ready, so I didn’t have to get ready. Since then, I have been the owner/operator of my own cinema camera for the production of four short films, one of which has completed post-production and entered the festival circuit. I love what I do.
I plan to continue establishing myself as a cinematographer who creates beautiful and impactful images that tell the story within the story. I will also be working on screenplays of my own. I can’t wait to expand my network of filmmakers and see what great things we will go on to create together.
The aforementioned, completed short film is titled Thank You for Your Time. This is a project I mentioned in my “Stories & Insights” interview with CanvasRebel when it was still in pre-production. Following April Moore, a burned-out employee stuck in a corporate job, Thank You for Your Time (TYFYT) is more than a surreal dramedy—it’s a magnifying glass held up to workplace culture and identity. Inspired by personal experiences of navigating microaggressions and coded corporate environments, this story serves as both a mirror and a megaphone. With humor, tension, and a touch of the surreal, we want audiences to feel both uncomfortable and seen. This film holds a special place in my heart, and I am incredibly excited to share it with the world.

Recently, in addition to my individual professional endeavors, I have co-founded Skrappi Productions with my friend and creative partner Ricki Nelson. We co-wrote our first short film TYFYT together in December 2024, shot it this January, and won two grants in March that allowed us to shoot the next short film in April. Ricki and I are thrilled to be on this journey together, and look forward to being the Black women Director x Cinematographer duo representation that we would’ve loved to have seen for ourselves. Saying I’m grateful doesn’t feel sufficient to express how I feel about seeing everything I’ve worked so hard for start to become my reality.
Next, Ricki and I will be co-writing a feature-length film, that we anticipate to receiving funding for, and hope to shoot in 2026.

Stay on the lookout for work from R. O. Taylor Legacy, LLC and Skrappi Productions and connect with us on social media! If you don’t already know us, you will soon enough.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I have a strong sense of self, I know what my values are, and I have integrity. That’s one. In a world where people are perceived by the content they decide to post on social media, or the content they were involuntarily a part of that got posted on social media, it’s important to know that “authenticity” isn’t always what it seems to be. “Don’t compare people’s highlights to your documentary.” Know who you are as a person. If you’re still finding yourself, that’s okay, too. Know what your values are and why they’re important to you. There is so much opportunity for temptation and fear of missing out, but more often than not, it’s not worth whatever it may cost you.
I’ve never smoked cigarettes, I don’t smoke marijuana, and I don’t enjoy the taste of alcohol. I’ve been around friends and strangers who have offered me both. I’m almost 24 years old and people are usually shocked when I say this. I know that neither activity is something I enjoy, and that I’ve previously had undesirable results when participating in either. For smoking, I say no every time. For drinking, I make a conscious decision of what it is in that given moment that I want to do. Even if it’s not about drugs or alcohol, I hope you get my point. Don’t say yes to things you don’t feel are aligned with what you should be doing and understand that “no” is a full sentence. If you don’t feel right about what you’re doing, and it’s something you have control over, it’s on you to change it.

Secondly, I am a kind person. I have feelings and allow myself to feel them, but I do not take it out on people if I’m having a bad day and I don’t have respect for people who do. It is so easy to be kind, or decent at the very least. You may not owe people anything, but they don’t deserve to be given your butt to kiss just because they happen to be around you on a bad day. “If you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” An oldie, but a goodie that people should refer to more often.

Lastly, there is nothing wrong with being a jack of all trades. It is, however, important to know what your “thing” is, and why it’s what you’d do for the rest of your life if money wasn’t in the equation. Figure out what makes you excited to wake up in the morning. What would you do every day for the rest of your life if you didn’t have to worry about money? Find that, hone your craft, and become the best at it that you can be. You never stop learning, and you’ll always find a new way to approach the same old thing. For me, this is being a cinematographer. Yes, I am an overall creative in the filmmaking industry and beyond, but crafting the images of a story speaks to me like nothing else does. I love it. It is a way for me to express myself and connect with audiences of people I may never even meet. I am good at many things and skilled in several areas. Cinematography is my “thing,” and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
A colleague whose work I admire once said “I’m not giving advice, I’m sharing experience.” So, here’s what I’ve learned and want to share from my experience.
1. Even if you don’t yet know who you are, know what’s important to you. Hold your values close, and your integrity closer.
2. It’s so easy to be a decent person. Don’t treat people based on how you are feeling, or based on whatever hierarchy has been imposed on your professional setting. “People may not remember exactly what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” (paraphrased from Maya Angelou)
3. Be kind to yourself. It can be easier said than done, but at the end of the day, when no one else is around, you are who you’re alone with. Make sure you enjoy your own company.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

I believe that being a well-rounded individual is important. I also believe that if what you are good at, your “strengths,” are aligned with your goals and desires, that it is important to invest in those, too. I have plenty of areas that I am not as strong in as others, that I have no particular desire to improve on. For example, I am a camera person who knows little to nothing about sound, and I am so okay with that. I have an incredible amount of respect for the role of sound mixers, on and off set, and I love that they enjoy and are good at what they do! However, I have no desire to learn about sound beyond the basics that are necessary for me to be an effective collaborator in the production process. On the other hand, I am not a gym girly by any means, but I do have an interest in investing time to build my strength and reach other health-related goals.

I am a good filmmaker, but I want to be great. Balance.

If you want something, work for it. If you don’t, don’t. I have learned that motivation isn’t always enough, and that discipline is what will push you to do what needs to be done on days you don’t feel like doing anything.

I’ll leave you with two quotes (that unfortunately I don’t know the authors of):
“Make the thing. You can make it look good later.”
“Enjoy the space between where you are and where you are going.”

Thank you for your time. Stay well.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Amanda Medina, Clara Ann Brown, Eugene Bennett, John Henderson, Rachel Olivia Taylor, Sound Guy Jimmy, Tyla Barnes

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