Today we’d like to introduce you to Audrey Lane.
Hi Audrey, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I think I’ve had an artist’s heart since I was a little girl. I used to play for hours in my grandmother’s costume box, thinking up fantastical stories. I’d ask my big sister to read me story after story as they came to life in my mind. I begged my parents for art classes and for my small school to put on plays.
My family situation was very difficult for a while, with a terrible divorce and custody battle. Art felt like my only escape. Writing also became the only way I knew how to show that things weren’t so “black and white.” Both of my parents had so much beauty and love in them even if they couldn’t see it in each other.
I ended up applying to college as a Nursing major at my dad’s urging, but it became more and more irrefutable that I was meant in the Art department. I transferred to Tisch my Sophomore year and it all began.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Well to start, telling your parents you want to pursue art as a career is never easy. It’s not exactly an immediate or promised ticket to financial security. My dad has worried a lot, but I think my persistence and hard work helped ease his mind.
Ask any artist and they will probably tell you that the biggest hurdle in this field is rejection and I’ve experienced my fair share. But, I’ve learned to view each “no” as the gift of time. Gives me more time to develop my body of work before all my time is taken up by the hustle. I know that I will be making big films one day, I just feel that it’s a matter of when.
Money is another hurdle. Making films costs more than anyone realizes- even short films. I just don’t have the means at this moment to pursue all the projects I’d like to. With crowdfunding, you have to wait for the project that matters the most to you.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My biggest passion is conceiving and capturing stories. I think this comes from my love of humans and listening to them. I used to sit around for hours as my grandpa would piece together his life, story after story. I am passionate about telling stories that confront mental illness, disability, and family dynamics. With my work, I wish to inspire compassion for people and things that are seldom understood. I love bringing real stories to life. For example, my project, “The Story of My Boobs,” captures the personal stories of current, former, and future boob owners of all genders and ages.
This project touches on topics including what it’s like to go through breast cancer treatment and top surgery, get cat-called, suffer from body dysmorphia, and sexual trauma, and understand the bodies we live in in 2022. The first “The Story of My Boobs” gallery and live performance took place at Chance Studios in Soho, NYC in August 2021. The music video I directed last Fall, “Can’t Kill Me Now” follows Coral Mizrachi’s real-life battle with Lymphoma. After receiving a life-changing diagnosis mid-pandemic, Coral was forced to move back to Israel to receive treatment. Coral’s resilient nature, spirit, and beauty shine through Wes Aldrich’s soulful music. Currently, I am finishing my feature-length script, “Balloons Over Neptune,” which is a crushingly honest and whimsical story about growing up in the middle of a tumultuous divorce. “The summer before NJ-Native, Winnie, turns 21, her estranged dad announces his plan to move across the country.
Despite her step-father’s concern and her mom’s melancholy silence, Winnie helps her dad pack her entire childhood into a tiny storage unit.” “Balloons Over Neptune,” was a Finalist for the Sundance Feature Film Development Lab and earned her acceptance into the Nostos Screenwriting Fellowship in Italy, where she workshopped her feature film amongst internationally recognized writers.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was extremely energetic, ambitious, and intense. I always had a passion project I was going on about. Because my family situation was tough, I was 100% committed to my artistic passions.
It was what saved me. I would look up programs I could apply to. Beg my parents to take me to auditions. Read. Research. Write. Dream. I wrote a children’s book about Global Warming called “Gang Green” (not the best name in retrospect). I would petition my school to put on certain plays and a school dance.
Other than that, I was very sweet, gentle, and family orientated. Always trying to keep everyone happy. Super close to both my parents despite the divorce.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.audreytaylorlane.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/auddddiee/?hl=en
- Other: https://vimeo.com/audreytlane
