Meet Cassie LeFevre | Filmmaker, Writer & Media Manager/Marketer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cassie LeFevre and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Cassie, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?

At the risk of sounding too fanciful, I chose to pursue a creative career because I believed wholeheartedly in the power of storytelling. Throughout my teens, me and my family were on-and-off homeless, alternating between living in a tent and hotel rooms. During that time, my two reliable escapes were sports and stories. Whether the latter was watching what would become my all-time favorite TV show (Psych) on a junky television set or making up a nightly, spectacular tale one word at a time with my mom and brother inside our trusty canvas walls, it was almost as if stories were actively helping me process everything around me. But it was also more than that, because while I was consuming stories, I was also in the midst of experiencing a very transformative part of my own story, which is what makes the whole medium so beautiful and unique.

I didn’t recognize it then, but it’s clear to me now as I look back that I not only developed an appreciation & passion for media during those years but also an appreciation & passion for characters and for people—real, live, human people with flaws, biases, struggles, and triumphs. Our stories.

There’s something innately satisfying to me when I learn about someone’s story. It’s like a switch flips in my brain; I’m activated. I breached the vault and retrieved the cipher. Because if you’re lucky enough to have someone be vulnerable with you and tell you their story, that’s when true connection happens. It allows you in, brings you closer to the person they actually are—not the one they think you want them to be or the one you think you want them to be.

In this way, the characters and arcs we follow on TV, in theaters, on stage, etcetera are no different. We simply experience them in a different way because, in this form (broadly called life), we are given the advantage of time and perspective—two keys to achieving empathy.

In short, good storytelling is more than an escape. It can also be a window into experiences. Whether they are our own or if they are someone else’s, we still feel them in much of the same way. That’s the magic.

Some window, wouldn’t you say?

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

When I enrolled at the University of Colorado-Denver in 2016 to study film & television production, I knew a couple key things to be true:

1. That, first and foremost, I wanted to discover and tell stories. You know why by now; I don’t have to explain it again. Unless…did you actually want me to get more fanciful?

2. That I wanted to stay in Colorado after I graduated. I was born and raised here. I moved around the state a bit growing up, but I enjoyed every town/city that I lived in over the years (primarily Bayfield, Fort Collins, Loveland, and then Denver). My family was also still in Colorado, still close. All that combined to spell home, and I couldn’t possibly bring myself to leave.

3. That Colorado/Denver wasn’t exactly a filmmaker’s paradise, certainly not in the same way that LA, New York or Atlanta was. There are incredible artists based here, but many of them are independent, make a living off commercial work, or only film part-time/off their own dime. (Yes, that rhymed. Someone make it a rap.)

4. That Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets was going to win back-to-back MVP trophies in 2021 & 2022, and that the Colorado Avalanche would end their twenty-year championship drought and win the ’22-‘23 Stanley Cup.

Alright, one of those was a joke, but I couldn’t exactly leave Colorado when I knew my teams were finally going to be good again now, could I?

What exactly did this all mean? For me, it meant suffering through some anxiety, but I’m a fairly anxious person—that wasn’t new. More to the point, from an outside perspective, it could also mean that there was some risk with my choice to go to film school. Typical film students, after all, tend to go after typical film jobs—jobs that didn’t exist in Colorado to the same degree they did in Hollywood, on the coasts…

But was that really my only option?

What I found after I graduated in 2021 was that there was plenty of space for a storyteller like me to thrive in Colorado, because storytelling/filmmaking really doesn’t pigeonhole you in the same way that we think it does. I simply had to be a little more open in the ways that I approached my business and cast a wider net in my job hunt. Maybe I wouldn’t be producing an episode a week or writing on a groundbreaking HBO series, but there was still an opportunity to earn a living by telling stories, sharing experiences, shooting & editing video, writing, being creative, connecting with people—all the things that storytellers yearn to do.

I learned that the routes we think we need to take in order to be successful aren’t always foolproof nor are they written in stone. You should experiment, doodle to your heart’s content, and be resilient enough to find your own way.

My business, Barn and the Biscuit Entertainment, is my way. Alongside creating my own original content, I offer freelance services in film production, digital media management & marketing, and writing. I currently work as the Media & Communications Specialist at Girls Rugby Inc. and as Marketing Assistant for the Denver Philharmonic Orchestra. Both positions place an emphasis on content creation for social media, which is an avenue of storytelling that is wide open for exploration.

If there’s one thing that may be unique about my approach versus others in my field, it’s that I’m not your prototypical marketer nor your prototypical filmmaker. My specialty lies in blending the two, utilizing both the analytical and creative sides of my brain to set up consistent, dynamic brand messaging that connects with audiences; producing engaging, cinematic visuals; crafting precise & accurate copy; and serving storylines with attentive, passionate authenticity—whether they are fact or fiction.

Of course, I am extremely lucky to work for Girls Rugby and the Denver Philharmonic in particular, because their stories almost speak for themselves. (I said almost. Please don’t fire me.)

Every day, I get to market the power of my two passions: arts and sports. To help amplify the message of a 75-year-old orchestra invested in the Denver community since 1948 and a young-but-mighty, values-based organization committed to empowering young athletes nationwide is a privilege. I feel like I have so much to give back to sports, to the arts, and to the Colorado community, and this is merely the start.

On the more-typical film side of things, I’m producing and doing sound design on an animated short film directed by my friend, Marin Lepore of Sad Girl Productions; teaming up with Desert Girl Films and Sur Creations (headed by my professors at UCD, Jessica McGaugh and Roma Sur respectively) on a feature film currently in development; and writing my own feature-length screenplay (a western action-comedy) that I plan to send out to festivals and workshops very soon.

I am excited about all these projects & positions, but most of all, I feel lucky that I’ve been put into a position where I can do them at all: where I can be a filmmaker, a writer, a marketer and satisfy all sides of my storytelling appetite. Because as it turns out, the Colorado film scene isn’t quite the dead-end or yawning abyss that some might think it is. In fact, it’s a tasteful smorgasbord, especially for those willing to get a little unconventional with their approach.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

Colorado is teeming with fun, awe-inspiring places to go. Admittedly, I am a homebody, which means I’ve only scratched the surface of this subject, but between the mountains and the Denver city life, you get the chance to live the best of both worlds.

If I were to introduce my friend to Denver and/or Colorado in general, I would give them exactly that: a little taste of nature and a little taste of the metropolitan. I would take them on a road trip through the mountains, maybe camp by a lake (Horsetooth up north, Granby to the west or Vallecito to the southwest), rent a kayak/paddleboard/boat for a laid-back day on the water, go on a hike, and then amble back into town to take in a show or a game or two. As an avid sports fan, I instinctively lean towards inviting my friend to Ball Arena for an Avalanche or Nuggets game. Maybe I’ll feel better about recommending a night out at a Rockies or Broncos game this year, but the jury’s still out on that one.

Like everyone else on planet Earth, I too am fond of Red Rocks. It’s a gorgeous venue worthy of its reputation. If my friend and I couldn’t find a band playing there we both liked at the time of their theoretical visit, I would be comfortable suggesting other music venues in Denver as well (The Fillmore and Mission Ballroom come to mind). Of course, I work for an orchestra, so I would naturally suggest a night with the DPO if the timing was right.

This is all, of course, assuming this hypothetical visit also includes an infinite amount of hypothetical time, energy, and money. Otherwise, I would have to get a little choosier with our itinerary. Either way, we couldn’t go wrong with anything on this aforementioned list. There’s simply so much to love about Colorado—even for hypothetical people.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

There’s no question in my mind that I wouldn’t be who I am today—never mind where I am today—without my family. Their unwavering support and strength fuels everything that I do. The older I get, the more I realize how lucky I am to have them. My two older brothers, Adam and Corey, are unmatched in their encouragement, empowerment, and hilarity; while my mom (aka momma, aka mother) continues to be the strongest and most inspiring person I know.

We’ve been through a lot together, the four of us, including our aforementioned bout of homelessness—but all it did was solidify our bond and give us a sense of clarity about our shared values, philosophy, and priorities in life.

It’s not a competition (whose family is better than whose), and I would agree that debating these kinds of things is ultimately pointless… But if it were a competition, I would win. No question.

Professionally, I would also like to shoutout my two college professors, Jessica McGaugh and Roma Sur, who I had for multiple classes at the University of Colorado-Denver and who I interned with my final year. As a college senior, I worked for them as a Production Manager and Producer’s Assistant on a feature film (Three Worlds, One Stage) and web series (Womanhood: The Series), and we still are connected today, working together on another feature film in development. They were instrumental in my growth as a filmmaker/producer and as a working professional after graduation, and I’ll forever remain grateful for the opportunities they gave me. I couldn’t have asked for better people, leaders or teachers than them to guide me along my journey.

Website: https://www.barnandthebiscuit.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fevreish/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fevreish/

Other: Denver Philharmonic Orchestra: https://denverphilharmonic.org/ Girls Rugby: https://www.girlsrugbyinc.com/