Today we’d like to introduce you to Evan Maines.
Evan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I am a 29-year old native to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Area, however— I proudly reside on the Kentucky side of the river.
I come from a family of five, my mom and dad, and two siblings. A twin sister, and a younger brother by four years.
For most of my life, I have lived here in Northern Kentucky, but held a deep calling to creative-storytelling. Specifically in the arena of filmmaking.
I am of the usual origin of many famed and upcoming directors: I grew up with a camera in my hand, and spent a lot of time in writing stories in a notebook. My fascination with films weren’t just with the on-screen aesthetics of visuals, character, plot-development, and story… but the act of waking up one day and saying “I want to capture that and give that to people.”
I once heard the idea that for a long time, movies were kind of the closest thing we had to “mind-control” — back when theaters were a popular place to go, and sit in a collective of other stranger-audience members, in a dark room, and take the ride. To allow your attention into the gentle grasp of a filmmaker, and to be shown with great intention the aspects of a world someone chooses for you.
To comforted in your afflictions, or be afflicted in your comforts. To walk in the shoes of a fiction that sometimes closely mirrors your world, or speculates on it in a completely imaginative way.
A long time ago, I took pursuit of this mystic medium.
I’ve danced around film my whole life and I even been a part of making some great films, and even gotten to fulfill my dream of sitting in the directors seat for a handful of projects.
I ran around the idea, and for the most part I filled my time with developing people in non-profit work and ministries.
As of this past year, I’ve decided to go full-time.
No more messing around.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In 2024, I left a ten year full-time career in ministry.
Ministry is a difficult thing to speak about in a public forum, because the implication of church or religion, especially within a Christianity-background.
The word unfortunately has become synonymous with certain ideologies, political leanings, and hateful mindsets that it can be quite awkward to tell people:
“Why yes, I used to work for the church.”
And then feel like you are convincing them you aren’t hateful, homophobic, racist, etc.
Ministry allowed me a platform to practice a real form of empathy for all people, and take an approach to placing the care of people of the production of what we do or what we create. Recognizing a mutually felt hurt for all the people you encounter leads you to a place of curiosity, and this only fuels storytelling.
Today: We face many obstacles as storytellers, but the one we can all fight together is — how do we remain authentic to ourselves and to the hurt we see and experience in our world?
As a filmmaker, I’ve made a career for myself making things that go off the beaten path and hide honesty through humor and absurdity. Sometimes, if we want to shake the falsehoods that which we live our lives through, we have to first “hide-the-pill in cheese” per se.
I want to engage an audience by making pieces that are highly engaging and in ways, deeply entertaining— but hopefully reveal more “mutual truths” about us as a people.
In our current state of western-American Culture. There is a war on empathy, where many right-winged politicians and religious leaders are attempting to condemn the act itself. Entangling it with the “war of woke” brigade.
Empathy is currently being seen as a way to muddy the waters of decision making by our leaders. If I’m drawing inferences, empathy makes certainty a bit more difficult, because acting out on empathy means living with nuance and uncertainty. it makes the labels we create for people a bit harder to define, because it brings us back to the surface of humanity. I’d imagine it would be harder to bomb people in the middle-east if we saw them as humans, rather than potential enemies to American commerce—I mean—freedom.
As a filmmaker, the greatest compliment I can get is when an audience reacts in surrender. They cross party lines, and the lines between a preserved view of their life is blurred for their worldview is momentarily altered.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an award-winning writer and director in the narrative and commercial film space.
I work in collaboration for creative film content for musicians, artists, and brands. My current scope also includes original narrative content.
I have written and directed 5-short films and one TV-pilot. My niche also expands to the golf world, as I love capturing the stories and beauty around the game of golf and its players.
Currently working on a new concept-film for expansion for my first feature film as I work in collaboration with a team here in Cincinnati and a team in Los Angeles to move in production for this new film.
The film is called “TRANSFIGURATIONS” and plays as an American-Gothic/Thriller-Drama involving a broken and mourning married couple as they mourn the unexplainable disappearance of their only child, Charlie. However, when Charlie reappears a year and half later— the couple is left to wonder if his homecoming is the mark of a miracle or the stain of an omen.
How do you think about happiness?
Happiness is an action, not just an idea.
Happiness is achieved by what you do to take care of yourself, but also how you intentional choose to forget-self and help others in service and in gratitude.
When you see it this way, this can be achieved in many ways. For me, this happens in my work.
When I work with a crew, I place the people I work with above the project. Ensuring care of my cast and crew, as I think the industry can often times forget this. Burnout happens, as well as exhaust to one’s mental-health and well-being.
Take care of your people.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Evanmaines.com
- Instagram: @mainmaines
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/evan-maines-03a49a1b2?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@mainmaines?si=cFtrRTAoUpHlUnX_
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user120581644
