Oklahoma’s Stain Inspires a New Art Form for an Artist

An injustice to a whole nation of people, two baby boomer artists, Boomer Hot Val Kilmer, and an award winning documentary.  What do they all have in common?

The Charisma, the Passion, the Dimples of..
Shelli Carlisle and Dawn Bonner

Bryan Beasley.  When he enters a room, heads turn. His rugged good looks, messy brown hair, and mischievous smile make him appear younger than his 36 years. Beasley has a passion for his work, family and life. When meeting him, one would guess he could be a male model, not a photographer, and an award winning documentary film maker.

Um…did you catch the part about the dimples?  When you’re with Beasley, his sense of fun and easy grin, gives one the opportunity to enjoy them often.  Plus, his quick wit and down to earth sensibilities make people immediately comfortable with him, which could be why subjects flourish under his view.

In the Beginning He Created Images

Beasley said, “When I got into NYU of the Arts film school I knew that my focus was to always going to be working in the film industry.”

“I interned for Sigourney Weaver, my last two years of college and it was great, baptism by fire in Los Angeles,” he said.

After graduation he moved to Los Angeles and worked with Martin Scorsese.  It was here he established himself as a successful professional photographer.

Passion, curiosity, and adventure  are what drive this talented man. So, Beasley jumped at the chance to tell the story of an Apache family who endured an unjust imprisonment for almost three decades.  Not only did the family survive prison, they thrived.

In the Dark

“I was completely unaware that such a horrible event had taken place in my own home state. Every high school in the state has one classroom devoted to Oklahoma history, but this past stain is rarely discussed. That reason alone merited the making of a film, but then I found the true humanity in this story,” said Beasley.

“This is my first venture into documentaries, everything else I have ever done has always been narrative or music video age.  I am very visual, I make my living, basically, as a photographer, so everything is visual for me. When I read a script if I don’t start to see it in my mind–if it doesn’t start popping in my mind, then there’s nothing for me there. It’s not going to inspire me,” said Beasley.

He found inspiration and the vision to share the past Oklahoma doesn’t give up easily. Which led to the making of his first documentary, Unconquered: Allan Houser and the Legacy of One Apache Family, which is narrated by Val Kilmer.  This inspiration led him to work with the Hazous brothers, two baby boomer artists whose talent was passed on to them by their father, world renown artist Allan Houser.

Eighth Day Productions, LLC 

You can tell when a person is serious about their art.  They take it to a new level, which makes it impossible for it to be a hobby.  They put their money where their mouth is.  Beasley really cranked it up a notch.

He took his art to a new level when he opened his own production company, Eighth Day Productions in New York City in 1995.  The company produced several successful film projects including Electric Man, a comedy about a guy who unwittingly thinks he’s a superhero.  It was screened at several film festivals including the Student Academy Awards.  Another success is a mob satire, Key to the Crime, which received great reviews.

Eighth Day Productions, LLC moved to Los Angeles in 2000 and for the last decade has been working in commercials, music videos, and television.  Two major creations are Outsourced, a popular TV comedy, and Talking Head, which became an immediate web series hit.

And now, the artist can put the critically acclaimed documentary, Unconquered, under his belt. Unconquered won Best Short Doc and Audience Award for Short Doc at Red Rock Film Festival and was nominated for Creative Spirit Award and Best Editing Award by Santa Fe Film Festival.

Tagged Alan Houser, artist, award winner, Bryan Beasley, documentarian, film, Unconquered