Travel Always

The other day we read a great piece in the Los Angeles Times about an uncle advising his nephew on the route he might take to drive across the USA from the East Coast to Los Angeles to attend the American Film Institute. We’ve spoken at one or two events at the film school here in LA and it’s certainly a venerable institution for an aspiring young film-maker to go to. Rather than zip across country on the Interstates the uncle, a noted film director himself, felt his nephew would be better off taking the slow roads where there’s more chance of discovery. Take your time he urged, meander through small towns along the way – heck, even take a couple of years to let the whole thing brew and soak up all the different experiences along the way. Don’t just go to film school in LA and learn how to copy other filmmakers but find your own voice and your own techniques borne of your own experiences. His underlying message: be an original voice, and find yourself through travel.

Funnily enough, that’s how Out Of Obscurity got started in the movie business, and I guess why that piece hit home. A few years back after living in various parts of the world, we bought a red Mustang rag-top and set off from New York to take the slow roads and drive right around the US. We covered just over 10,000 miles in 6 months and found ourselves in many small towns and byways along the way. We made some great friends and finished up playing music and watching the world go by for a month or so in the French Quarter in New Orleans. From there we hopped over to the Bahamas where we wrote our first screenplay, drawing heavily on our experiences from the road. It was picked up by a producer straight away, a minor miracle in itself, and we began working with agents and producers in LA.

And here we are: travelling has always been a part of our lives and we can’t imagine things otherwise. Travel always.

The Out Of Obscurity team.