Film Courage: When did you start thinking about a career outside of dance?
Courtney Miller, Filmmaker/Producer/Author/Editor: Here’s the funny thing, I got married when I was 20 years old. I had a son and I was married at 20. I retired as a dancer when I was 24. I stopped dancing but I put all my time into doing choreography and then I got a regular nine-to-five job. The regular nine-to-five job and the reason why I stopped dancing is because as a dancer you cannot control when rehearsals will be. You can’t control the days of rehearsal, the hours of rehearsal. As a choreographer I could, so I can still have a regular nine-to-five job and then work my rehearsals around my nine-to-five job. That’s why I only did that and again I had a wife, I had a son, I needed to have a steady income, benefits, health insurance, that kind of stuff. That’s why I got a regular nine-to-five job. I never left dancing, but I was already thinking about a life after dance because of this regular nine-to-five job. I went from a dancer to a choreographer to working in corporate America and then I quit my corporate America job. This was after my kids were grown. When my youngest turned 18, I’m like Okay, well my kids are grown. That part’s done, what if I never got married, if I never had any kids, what would I be doing? I said I would be directing so that’s when I decided to quit. I was working for the City of San Juan Capistrano, a really good paying job working for a city, benefits, pension, the whole shebang. Quit that job, lost my girlfriend after I quit that job. She’s like What are you doing? I’m going to this small community college here and learn how to write, how to direct. I want to be a director. What? She’s like We’re in our 40’s, we can’t really… I like Okay, well that’s fine. She left and so I went ahead and enrolled in a community college in South Orange County, California. I was there for about a year and a half. I wasn’t there to get a degree. I was there because I wanted to learn how to write, how to direct, just give me the basics. I could take it from there. When I was there I did a short film and that’s what got me my rep, it’s called REPAIRations! The Musical, it’s a musical and that’s what got me my managers. I’ve had maybe about four or five different careers over a lifespan and did pretty well with all of them. I got what I needed from each of them and I’ve learned so much from different people, different backgrounds and I think it helps me with my writing and it helps me with my directing…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
CONNECT WITH COURTNEY MILLER
BIO:
Courtney Miller is a 5-time award winning director who has worked with the biggest names in entertainment including Michael Jackson, Usher, and Britney Spears. His award winning short film REPAIRations! – The Musical, has garnered him meetings with top studios and networks including Lionsgate, TBS, and Viola Davis’ company, Juvee Productions. He has directed commercials for Nike & Apple, and has written several television and film screenplays in the Drama, Comedy, Musical, and Horror genres’.
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