Meet Taylor N. Braun | Film Director & Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Taylor N. Braun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylor N., do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
To be honest, film is a very unforgiving industry, especially for young and upcoming filmmakers. There’s endless competition, battles over equipment and production costs, scheduling conflicts, and location issues. But something about film—the magic of creating moving pictures and telling stories through them—feels like it’s not a choice for me. When I sit down to question if it’s all worth it, which I do often, I imagine my life without it: no writing scripts, no calling producers, no directing actors. I simply can’t picture it. It’s hard, but this is my purpose in life. In a way, I have to keep going just to survive.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a film director, which means my primary job in the film world is to take a script and bring it to life visually by coordinating a vision across multiple departments, with a particular focus on working with the cast. I have a knack for translating ideas visually. Even as a child, reading books felt like watching movies play out in my head, so filmmaking became a natural discovery for me when I entered college.

Currently, I’m in post-production for two of my films. The first is a short horror film called Angler, where I had the incredible opportunity to work with an entirely practical special effects team to create a full creature costume. Honestly, it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever done. The second is Eclipse of Us, which introduced me to the fascinating world of virtual production—a rapidly evolving area in filmmaking. This technology uses powerful gaming engines like Unreal and XR technology to transport actors to any location in the world, all through the power of hundreds of LED screens. I had the privilege of directing on an XR stage for this project, and seeing where the industry is headed has opened my eyes to countless new possibilities.

I often find myself comparing these two productions, particularly my love for the tangible artistry of practical effects against the incredible accessibility and innovation of virtual production. It’s an exciting challenge to navigate these quickly evolving methods of filmmaking and finding your place within them, especially in an industry that’s still just over a century old.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my film making journey is the skill of developing a team. Many people across disciplines work in teams, so when you’re tasked with going out and hiring people to not only work with you, but take on your vision and execute it, it’s certainly intimidating. But one of the best parts about being a filmmaker is finding people better than you at something, and trusting them to take your vision and make it better. It’s a certain trust that I don’t see a lot of filmmakers have in each other. When you have a team that builds up one story by using their specific skill sets, it’s literally magic before your eyes during the whole production process.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Hands down, any sort of nature walk, hike, national park, etc. Anywhere in nature. Nature has a way of letting us be with and express our thoughts in such a comfortable way. You’re away from the internet, your job, your earthly responsibilities, getting your body moving, and the conversations happen so naturally and more meaningful. Plus, there’s a reason that people always tell ghost stories in the woods. You might leave with some new stories to tell.

In terms of my favorite places to go, anything haunted is right up my alley. As you’ll see with some of my upcoming projects, the paranormal has had a huge influence on my stories, as well as how we experience and understand the past. I find any building supposedly haunting just fascinating.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
One of the best parts about the filmmaking industry is the sheer amount of talented people you get to work with. Because of this, you begin to form a circle of people you like to consistently work with. Through my time directing, I managed to meet Brady Scott (@bybradyscott on Instagram), who is by far the best writer I know and I can easily say you’ll see his name on the big screen quick. I refuse to direct a film if he doesn’t have his name on the top of the screenplay.

Website: https://taylornbraun.com

Instagram: @taylor.n.braun

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylornbraun/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@taylor.n.braun.

Image Credits
MC Garrison – Set Photographer, Chloe Storm – Angler Photographer