We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marco J. Carlson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Marco J. , so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I found my purpose early on in my life through watching movies. I frequently rented Horror movies from Hollywood Video and my local library. They were a comforting and magical media to experience. Often times, I sat myself in front of the TV, in the living room, for hours watching these movies. I always had my Kipper the Dog toy, my Dracula toy, two chocolate chocolate cookies, and milk to complete the experience. After watching Frankenstein (1931), I really wanted to be a mad scientist who could bring back famous people from the dead. Unfortunately, I was told that wasn’t possible. I then pivoted to making movies, which I hilariously didn’t know was even a thing. I thought movies just appeared out of thin air until my parents informed me otherwise. From that point and on, I knew making movies was my life’s purpose. It wasn’t until I was twenty when I discovered the real reason behind it all. Through a multi-year haunting, a string of horrible misfortune, detailed memories in dreams and nightmares, and an endless barrage of synchronicities, I found out who I was in my past life. That identity connected to moviemaking as well as many aspects of my character throughout my life thus far. It made me realize that “wannabe Frankenstein” idea was truly a way I was trying to remember who I was. At that point, I knew this life was a second chance for me. Everything, and I mean everything, fit together like a puzzle.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Making movies is the core of my being. From writing the script on my IPhone’s notes app to editing the finished film, I am apart of the entire creative process. The most special part of filmmaking is getting to see what you wrote on screen. It is an otherworldly feeling how words on the page can translate into a movie scene. On the downside, literally everything has to be right. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to feel right. I think a lot of that feeling comes from two elements: What special personal touches the actors bring to the table and a part of my soul being embedded in the scripts. If the scripts are not, in some way, personal to me then I know the finished product will suck. That doesn’t mean it has to be an autobiography. But I know that personal experiences I’ve had can be generalized so everyone likes the stories more. I am currently working on my first feature film, Doctor Imperfect and the Perfect Man. It is going to be the greatest adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein ever put to film. I aim to get it out to the world on August 2. 2025. I am also working on a short film, County Fear, a movie called The Basin, and another feature called People Pleaser.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
-Persistence. I failed every year of my life to make a movie until 2022. Even though it has taken so long to get this movie made, I know it will be finished soon. There were many times I quit or wanted to. And I’m the type of person to get frustrated real fast and give up. You have to find that one reason to go on. I know WHO my reason is.
-Confidence. I started off as an outspoken and loud child. Then, life morphed me into a quiet and depressed teenager. I felt sick to my stomach at the mere thought of approaching a girl. And if I couldn’t ask some nobody from some random town in Ohio to go to prom then how could I make a movie?! There were two things that changed me into a more confident person. First, I watched a cancelled show called Movie Fights- a debate show where nerds battled with each other over their opinions on movies. This show taught me to stand up for my beliefs no matter how weird they were. Or ARE. I watched these shows and pretended like I fought alongside the contestants every week. Secondly, I started going to conventions regularly and meeting celebrities. The realization they were just normal people helped me overcome a lot of my social anxiety.
-Kindness. When you are in any industry, you come across a lot of evil, rude people. I recently spent over an hour talking with someone about being in my film only for them to freak out at the notion of my making it all on my own. I had another person tell me, “Your movie could be really good… if you let a big studio like Amazon make it.” If you let their actions affect you, then you harm yourself physically and mentally. You also harm your work. As well, all that good energy you give to good people gets returned to you ten-fold. Everything you do is a constant exchange of energy. About 90% of my film production has been spent warding off psychopaths and posers so I can focus on helping the “real ones”.
-My first piece of advice, to aspiring filmmakers, is to watch films. And I don’t mean modern movies. I mean real movies. Ones with character, heart, and professional craftsmanship. My second piece of advice is for you to train your confidence in all areas of life. There are too many people who let their past or their present hinder their future as an artist. The decision to “go out and do it” will be the powerful turning point in your journey. No matter what, you will always be able to say “I did it” rather than “I wish I did it”. Lastly, my advice is to do everything with love. People, nowadays, have lost their ability to be nice to other people. They chew you up, spit you out, and move onto the next victim. If you always do everything with love, then you will always win over them.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
Not to sound repetitive, but the love of my past life deserves the credit for helping me come into my power. Without her, the script I wrote in 2022 would’ve just been another script like the previous two were. She turned me into a doer after I was nothing but a dreamer. Whenever I have a question, I ask her and she answers. Whenever I am in doubt, she fills me with confidence. Whenever I feel down, she lifts me up. Her guidance led me to getting the most important education of all- the actual making of a movie. You learn more on a set than you could ever learn in a classroom. Everything you take from a shoot informs the decisions you make on the next one. The only challenge you need to overcome is the fear or hesitance of actually doing the work.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrriskymovies98/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marco.carlson.50?mibextid=kFxxJD
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@safiandmarcodishoutonmovie590?si=kef31OJg6C-P_k_B
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
