Meet Halifax-based filmmaker Taylor Olson, whose sophomore feature film, Look At Me, will premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival and who will shoot his third feature film, Unseen, in 2024.
20 Questions with Taylor Olson
1. Your first job.
My first proper job was working as a swim coach.
2. The job you always wanted as a child?
I wanted to be a zoologist.
3. Your pet peeve.
I hate being late, haha.
4. Your hero.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was my acting hero. Paul Thomas Anderson is my writing/directing hero.
5. Your biggest indulgence.
I might be obsessed with Taki chips.
6. One thing no one knows about you.
Nobody?! Haha. Almost nobody: I have webbed toes.
7. Three things you would want with you on a deserted island.
Things, not people, right? I presume Koumbie and my daughter are with me, so a set of playing cards, a hunting bow, and a fire starter.
8. The one word your best friend would use to describe you.
Passionate.
9. If they made a movie about your life, who would it star?
I’d love Jared Kesso, even though maybe that makes no sense.
10. Hero or villain?
Villains are more interesting in fiction.
11. Your life’s motto/mantra.
Always do your best.
12. The last book you read.
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.
13. The song getting the most play on your Spotify playlist right now.
Colter Wall‘s Sleeping on the Blacktop.
14. If you were a cartoon character, what cartoon character would you be?
Um… Shrek?
15. What will it say on your grave marker?
I hope it’ll say, “Taylor was hard-working and kind.”
16. Who would you most like to have dinner with?
Jim Cummings, my other filmmaking hero.
17. Your idea of happiness.
A great (short) day on set with Koumbie and my daughter laughing, and then a board games night with the fam-jam.
18. If you could go back in time, what would you tell your twenty-year-old self?
Loving yourself is hard, but start now, bud.
19. The one thing in your life that makes you most proud.
My daughter is an incredible human being. Yeah, every parent says that, but I’m right here.
20. To be or not to be?
To be… awesome.
Meet Taylor Olson
Taylor Olson (he/they) is a queer filmmaker. The Canadian Screen Award & eleven-time ACTRA Award nominee is based in Kjipuktuk/ Halifax, N.S. Taylor’s feature film directorial debut, Bone Cage, was released to critical acclaim, sweeping the awards at the FIN Atlantic International Film Festival and earning over 30 additional accolades at festivals around the globe. Bone Cage appeared in competition at Camerimage, competed in the Forward Future section of the Beijing International Film Festival, and toured numerous U.S. festivals before being nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards for adapted screenplay & supporting actress.
Next, Olson is set to premiere his sophomore feature film, Look At Me, at the Slamdance Film Festival and will be shooting his third feature film, Unseen, alongside Crave and Vortex Media in the spring of 2024.
For television, Olson has directed two seasons of This Hour Has 22 Minutes on CBC, three seasons of the documentary series Disrupt for AMI, and screened their A.R. series Alone Together at festivals such as the Reykjavik International Film Festival and the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
As a creator, Olson released his first two short-form comedy series, King & Pawn and 2GETHER 4EVER, for Bell Fibe TV1. King & Pawn is currently shooting its third season in a 6 x 22-minute format for the Trailer Park Boys streaming service Swearnet.
Olson likes to explore themes of masculinity and queerness and the ways the two intersect.