Meet Hayden Gilmour | Photographer & Filmmaker

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

Hi Hayden, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think Risk is truly the biggest factor in chasing after your dreams, especially when it comes to establishing a career in the film/photo realm. If you aren’t willing to risk it, the chances of making something happen for yourself are slim. I chose Risk the moment I left college, packed up my car and jetted off to become a “ski bum” or something close to that in Sun Valley. The safer bet would have been to stay in Seattle and work for larger corporations like Amazon, a route that many of my friends had taken, and settle into a career within my realm of study/what I had gotten a degree in: Advertising & Journalism. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with choosing that route, and it seems to have worked out really well for many people I know and love, but it was 100% not for me. I love risk, it’s terrifying and I have definitely had days where I get in my car and go for a drive wondering “what the hell have I just done”, but I have become quite familiar with it as I have journeyed into the film world and risking it all has gotten me where I am today. In the end you just have to believe that everything will work out the way that it’s supposed to because you are going to MAKE it work out. Risk it for the biscuit.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I guess I’d describe my “art” as being the photos and videos I am lucky enough to capture on almost a daily basis. Most of this art is curated in the mountains, which pretty much sell themselves. But a ton of it lives in my head, which I try to tap into by writing out scripts and storylines. I am very fueled by music, I think it saves my life sometimes. Good days, bad days, there’s a song for it to get you out of a bad headspace, or to mark a wonderful experience you just had. A lot of my short films and scripts I write out are catered to certain songs I am enthralled by. I think I am most proud of the way my mind works; it allows me to create and see things in different unique ways.

My journey to my current role professionally was not necessarily an easy one. I had to put in a lot of overtime, a lot of it unpaid. Some of the gigs I took on at first were brutal, long days and nights, harsh environments, harsher people. But I loved every bit of it, honestly. It took a lot of putting myself out there, networking and selling myself through my commitment to learn and keep getting better. There were a lot of people who took a chance on me and I had no intention of letting them down.

I’ve learned that sometimes creatives have to be willing to be their own biggest fan. If you have a dream that you believe in and a story to tell, you have to convince others to believe in you too. Unless you’re willing to take that step towards the unknown, towards the potential to totally get shutdown and fail or the potential to thrive and succeed, or to put yourself out there in front of the right people it’s going to be much much harder. The film world is HUGE but not so huge that you won’t find yourself “knowing a guy who knows a guy”, and often times that “guy” (or girl) has the means to plug you in where you want to get plugged in.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Itineraries for a week long trip where I live (Ketchum, ID aka Sun Valley) depend on the time of the year. We are lucky enough to get all 4 seasons out here, and there is plenty to do during each. I always recommend that my friends come out in the winter because the back country skiing and on mountain skiing is pretty unbeatable. So I would plan a week of fun in the snow: Day One : Tour de Lodge- hit all of the lodges on Baldy and ski in between
Day Two / Three : Take a trip up North to get in some back country skiing and visit/stay in Stanley overnight
Day Four : Take a rest day, find some good food in town – Grumpy’s is always a great pit stop for a burger and a beer, maybe we get a lil’ dolled up and head to The Duchin Room in the Sun Valley Village
Day Five : Head to a hockey game in Hailey, ID; huge Sun Valley Suns fan
Day Six : Hit the mountain again and head to the local hot springs spot at the end of the day (lots of interesting people out there)
Day Seven : Skin up Baldy and ski down at night, feels like you’re in a video game skiing down when the snow guns are going off and all you have is your headlamp; head over to the Cellar Pub for a local farewell done right

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are tons of incredible people who have helped me get to where I am today. The first of them being my mother and father who taught my sister and I that we should & would become whoever we wanted to be as long as we believed we could. They also provided the means for us to learn how to ski from a very young age, which for me was a catapult towards my love of adventure film/photography and drove my desire to be part of it all.

We were raised on Warren Miller movies, another person/group that I can attribute inspiration towards success. These movies left me wide eyed and eager to get out there and make something of my own, or at least stand where these cinematographers and athletes stood, on the tops of mountain peaks and everything in between. I have always been drawn to “scary”, heart pounding experiences that leave you a bit stronger and more confident in yourself having done something that you never thought you could do. That’s all I could see in the faces of the individuals in those films, and I knew I needed to find it for myself.

My biggest professional mentor was a man I met here in Sun Valley, Yancy Caldwell, who truly took me under his wing and taught me everything I know about a camera. I will always be grateful for the path that he helped pave for me into the film world.