The Story Behind the Soul…
Old Soul began as a tribute to family & close friends; the old souls we have lost. Feel free to navigate amongst our tabs. More on the history of Old Soul below…The name Old Soul stuck after remarks often made by strangers.
Tisa, featured here.
What started as a way to spend time in a quiet place alone with her images, Tisa spent afternoons in high school working in the Darkroom with 35mm film. She discovered she had an eye and a love for imagery.
Years of making home movies in the basement with her brother, Brandon and best friend, Lindsay fueled a love of creating visual stories, writing, and acting.
How We Laughed
After high school she set out to follow a career in photo journalism at Hofstra University.
At Monroe Community College she discovered movement and sound and began to focus on video production, graduating with her Associates in Visual Communications.
Video, rather than photography, began to show itself as the perfect vehicle for relaying messages to mass audiences. When done well, the impact could be far-reaching and great.
Having a camera in front of her became a natural way to take in the world and learn about every new topic she was filming. It also acted as a barrier in social situations which she learned to use as an advantage.
On Sept 17, 2001, days after Sept 11, and months after the death of her brother, Tisa embarked on a three month journey living off the land in Baja, Mexico as part of NOLS course. One month was spent living in the San Pedro Martir mountains, one month paddling the Sea of Cortez living in a kayak, and the last month sailing in a 15 foot Drascombe.
Her years following in attendance at Maryland Institute College of the Arts allowed her to continue to focus on conceptualization and content.
“Vintage”
A strong element of raw truth-telling was present in her films during this time. Tisa could often be found on the streets of downtown Baltimore, filming the happenings of Lexington Market where she lived.
The Weight of Words
At Rochester Institute of Technology, where she finished with her BA in Film and Animation she focused her emphasis on documentary film production.
A Strange Love Affair, a film about a childhood friend’s battle with addiction was chosen for Women of SOFA, High Falls Film Festival and Honors Show in 2008.
Focus, a film documenting the public and private life of an inner city school teacher was featured in the Emerging Film Makers series & High Falls Film Festival and Honors Show in 2006. Around this time Tisa was a Semi-finalist for “I LoveNY” film competition and Interviewed by Channel 13 News.
Post graduation, Tisa embarked on a move out west which involved years of traveling and living in different areas of the country.
Something about the quiet of the woods and the majesty of the mountains that made for the best subjects of all.
Working for KEZI channel 9 news in Eugene, Oregon she learned the great and often overlooked responsibilities of the media.
Cam Hanes, Professional Bow Hunter. Filmed for KEZI channel 9 news.
Tisa returned to the east coast where She began to pull focus on her company, Old Soul Productions.
“Devoting my free moments to documentary filmmaking has both spiritually and intellectually shaped who I am and continues to do so. It has become a defining aspect to my character. In my work, there is always an element of reality that I aim to keep in sight. I enjoy taking the cinema verite approach, where one forgets the camera is present.”
After years of production, Sprocket, her hound has become the face behind Old Soul.
Old Soul is experiencing life & taking images for those that are no longer here. By creating work in their name Tisa brings meaning to her own life.
Brandon, April 9, 1978- May 03, 2001
Todd Conaway
A love of visual aesthetics, the ability to tell a story as it unfolds, and the tenacity for attention to detail, have collectively become the entity behind Old Soul Productions.
ARTIST STATEMENT
When viewing a film, I appreciate when the creator allows me to collect my own thoughts, make my own conclusions. I aim to extend that to my own viewers. It is my opinion that we become too far removed from what we are watching when it is weighed down with too much cinematic glitz and the message is lost. I am content driven. I have a strong desire to create work that will educate society and open its eyes. There are hidden stories reaching the farthest ends of the globe and stories in our own backyard waiting to be captured. These stories, whether small and intimate, or vast and relentless, are mirror images of ourselves, and a door to understanding the human psyche. What’s so compelling about a successful documentary is that it can take us to the heart of an issue, into the center of another world, and allow us to see what we could never imagine being a reality. It can express visually to us, what we may not be able to grasp in any other form. Some of the most successful documentaries are not easy to watch. It takes a willing participant to look at himself, at mankind, and accept room for improvement. Documentary film, when created in an unbiased fashion, is an enlightening experience. I enjoy getting people to think. What I specifically love about creating documentaries is the process of learning as I’m filming and also the process of educating the viewer. These lessons can be absorbed and applied directly to real life because they are being derived from watching real situations. They are not what we have come to know as reality tv, they are not created for the sake of hyped up drama, and no one is acting a role. The story tells itself, yes editing guides the story, but the characters, the plot, are all there. It’s up to the filmmaker to line them up in a way that tells the story best. Sometimes less is more.
— Tisa
ForeverMoore; The Angelo Project
Her feature doc about Angelo Moore, the lead singer of Fishbone, is entering the film festival circuit 2021. Tisa Produced, Directed, Shot, and Edited the film. The film will screen in London’s Doc’nroll, DOCUTAH, and the NOVA fest in the D.C. area.
Tisa is currently a Digital Film Producer and film professor for Dixie State University and Program Coordinator for DOCUTAH in Utah. She tries to pass knowledge onto her students.
