Director Landon Ashworth: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist

Be patient- Sometimes I’d have a comedy sketch I wanted to shoot that day and an actor would back out and rather than waiting for the right actor to be available I’d shoot the sketch with who I had. Always wait for the right team. Sunday Boiling of Mormon Boling casting told me “It’s better to shoot 1 good comedy sketch every 6 months than 10 bad ones in a week.” She was right.

As a part of our series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist” I had the pleasure of interviewing Landon Ashworth.

Landon is an award-winning film and commercial director, writer, producer, photographer, and actor who’s appeared in various tv shows & film. His advertising clients include Mastercard, TopGolf, Titleist, SQRDUP, Ballistic Golf, Nike, GolfSmith, and many many others. Landon’s photography has been featured in Vanity Fair, Nat Geo, W, Golf Magazine, and in publications around the world.

He’s worked with Annika Sorenstam, Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, Slash, Marcia Gay Harden, Tom Hanks, and many other amazing actors and sports stars.

His content moves needles.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up in a corn field in the middle of nowhere. There was 1 stoplight in our entire county. My father was a community banker, my mother was a nurse. I was bullied beyond belief for being autistic before the term autistic was even understood. There was no gifted program in my school so I didn’t find out until I was around 14 that I was on the spectrum. I only had two places of solace; the theater, and the golf course. My entire childhood was spent acting, and golfing.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I never fit in with anyone my age. I only had one friend from ages 4–16; another kid on the spectrum. Growing up my parents got me a Christian therapist (I was raised Baptist) who encouraged me to mimic the behaviors of everyone else to help me fit in. I then got into community theater to help learn how to interact and replicate the behaviors of others. Acting ended up being my saving grace. It really saved my life because even though I didn’t understand why others felt sadness, anger, love, passion, and most other emotions I was able to logically decipher when and where those emotions fit in. I became really really good at acting like a neurotypical human by college. I never wanted to be an actor; I always wanted to be an astronaut but NASA kept changing their hiring requirements. I got my BS in Aeronautical Science and became a test pilot for NOAA, then flew jets. NASA decided they only wanted military test pilots so those degrees became useless. The next mission was going to be Mars and they decided to send someone from the arts field on that mission so I got my MFA in film making to make me a more well-rounded candidate. Then NASA scrapped the Mars mission. I then went back for an astrophysics degree just in time for Obama to cut NASA’s funding and scrap manned missions hiring new astronauts. When that final death blow was dealt I packed up my stuff and moved to LA to be a filmmaker and actor.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

There are too many to name. The highlights would be Tom Hanks personally got me my SAG card on the set of John Adams mini-series. I went on dates with A-List celebrities. On camera, I’ve played every single sport professionally (NBA, NHL, NFL, PGA Tour, and MLB). I’ve gotten into a shouting match with John Malkovich in Space Force. I’ve acted opposite Dana Carvey in Becoming Bond. I’ve gone for drinks with Rebel Wilson after wrapping Super Fun Night. I spent hours talking with Will Forte about SNL audition tactics on the set of MacGruber. I was told I “really brought the noise to my scene” via Twitter by Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden when acting opposite her on Code Black. David Caruso kicked me out of a transportation van for sitting in the front seat (his seat) on CSI Miami. I could go on but you’ll have to talk to me in person if you want more stories.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I wrote a musical about the unsung heroes of the Space Race called To the Moon. That’s my love letter to space and the 400,000 men and women who got Buzz, Neil, and Mike to the moon. I wrote the book, lyrics, and some of the songs. The orchestration and bulk of the melodies were written by the most talented musician on the planet and my partner in crime, Jason Pelsey. I wrote, directed, and starred in a film following an Autistic detective who takes on the cases that the police turn down. The film was a journey into the autistic mind. The film ended up winning some really big film festivals which qualified it for Oscar voting.

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?

Do you have 10 years? I knocked Steve Carell down to the ground on a dark soundstage on the set of Space Force and helped him up profusely apologizing. He said no worries and asked if I’d run lines with him. I said only if he ran my scene with me. He agreed and we ran lines for 5–10 minutes and I never saw him again. That was the greatest 10 minutes of his life I assume.

I met Elon Musk when I flew the test pilot mission of filming his rocket landing on the carrier off the coast of Mexico. I only got that job because I was a test pilot for NOAA and went to a Hollywood studio film trade show where a company that flew the airplanes I was a test pilot for attended. They hired me on the spot to fly the rare airplane and I didn’t hear from them for 3 years. They randomly called me when I was heading for an improv class at Upright Citizens Brigade and asked how soon I could be to the airport. I flew the mission and when I got back to the airport Elon was on the ramp to gather the footage. I told him I had a cousin who was the president of Pay Pal Europe. He said he started Pay Pal. I said I know. He said cool, got in his car, and I never saw him again. I have countless random stories like this. My life has been pretty insane.

Where do you draw inspiration from? Can you share a story about that?

It used to come VERY randomly. I’d hear someone say a random sentence and the way my autistic brain processes it ends up as a comedy sketch. One example; my friend Vincent Kartheiser who was a series regular on Mad Men cussed in front of me. I had never heard him cuss and brought that up to him. He responded “Dude. I love cussing but only if it’s interesting cussing.” I ran home (next door) and wrote a comedy sketch about an ad agency who signed a famous energy drink client but the boss of the ad agency told everyone they had to be edgy and cuss a lot when the client comes to visit, so the employees all tried to cuss in really interesting ways. That sketch was really weird but that’s how my brain works. My comedy is NOT topical.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’d like to think my musical about Apollo 11 will bridge the gap of the public’s misunderstanding of why outer space is so important. I do work with Autism organizations and try to celebrate hiring people that aren’t the typical actor. Several actors I have hired in my comedy sketches are ASTOUNDINGLY more talented than some of the A-list actors I’ve worked with. I firmly believe in the advice I heard once- “When you’re at the top, lower the ladder down to someone else.” Not enough of that happens in Hollywood. People hire their kids, or best friends. The RIGHT or BEST actor rarely gets the role.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Start at the bottom and work your way up- don’t start your own studio- I was told to start making my own content my first few weeks in Hollywood by a casting director. Instead of getting hired as a PA at an amazing production house and working my way up to director I wrote, shot, edited, and delivered my own sketches. I helped SO SO SO many actors build their comedy reels, but it didn’t help my career at all. I would have been better suited to making connections from the bottom up than trying to start at the top and working my way down.
2. Be patient- Sometimes I’d have a comedy sketch I wanted to shoot that day and an actor would back out and rather than waiting for the right actor to be available I’d shoot the sketch with who I had. Always wait for the right team. Sunday Boiling of Mormon Boling casting told me “It’s better to shoot 1 good comedy sketch every 6 months than 10 bad ones in a week.” She was right.
3. Don’t chase notes- I’m a writer first and foremost. I’ve gotten notes from people who I thought wanted to make my stuff. I implemented those notes, sent the rewrite back and was told “Great job! You implemented the notes perfectly!” I’d then ask when we’ll sign a deal and the replay 10 times out of 10 is- “Oh. No. Never. The project isn’t right for me.” Then I’ll send the new script to another producer who has TOTAL OPPOSITE notes than the first person who ALSO has no intention of helping you get your project made. Don’t implement any notes from anyone who isn’t willing to help you get your art made (unless you really agree with them).
4. Everyone is full of shit unless they aren’t- Never trust anyone in Hollywood until they show you that they aren’t full of it. And I don’t mean “show you other things they’ve done” I mean- show you proof they are willing to dedicate their personal and business connections to help you personally.
5. Never ever ever blame traffic- Show up on time. Take traffic into account. Never be late for anything. Ever.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Interesting question. I would say that Hollywood needs a place where we can snatch people from obscurity and let their ideas live. For every co-star or guest-star that TV shows hire at least ONE person needs to have no credits. If we are opening up everything to different voices we also need to open things up for the next generation. If I was a studio head I would make sure that more unknowns get their shot. Hollywood is hard enough; let’s help people out. Also- SAG needs to fight for their actors. There’s been a clause in the SAG contract where actors are supposed to be paid to audition. SAG has NEVER enforced that. They need to start enforcing the contract. Paying actors to audition will cut down on SO much garbage.

We have been blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she just might see this.

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, or Lin Manuel Miranda. We need to get my space race musical off the ground. We need to challenge the next generation of explorers and politicians to dedicate their lives to making our species a multi-planet species and beyond. My musical is deeply rooted in space history and the amazing lessons we learn from exploring the cosmos.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

I just started an Instagram page!! IG handle: goodgolfbadgolf

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2272378/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

You betcha. You owe me $1.