Meet Thomas Moeger | Director, Cinematographer & Producer

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

Hi Thomas, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
My life has been full of risks. I’d like to believe that I take it safe, but looking back, I took several risks to get me where I am now. I joined the Ohio Army National Guard when I was in high school so that I could pay for college knowing the risk of what could happen. I ended up with a college degree in Film Production completely debt free. I know people who I graduated with who aren’t working in the industry and have a huge college debt.

Another great risk was volunteering to deploy overseas right outside of college. Other people would’ve started to find work in the industry, but I took the risk knowing that I’d make good money, and it would be an experience of a lifetime. Unbeknownst to me, I deployed right when Covid started to hit in 2020. While people were struggling to find work in the industry due to the world being shut down, I was getting a consistent paycheck. I was able save my money while I was deployed so I could use it to buy new film gear and jump start my filmmaking career. Looking back, deploying was a risk worth taking based on what happened.

Lastly, I believe my greatest risk for my filmmaking career was to actually start filmmaking full-time. Coming back from deployment I was scared to start my career. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it, especially in the time of Covid. There’s no greater fear than failure to me. I took the risk of putting myself out there knowing that I could fail and so far, I’m glad I made that leap. Now I’m a full-time filmmaker and living my dream since I was a child.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
What sets me apart from other filmmakers is my military experience. I joined the Army National Guard when I was 17 years old. I was still in high school when I joined, and I have continued to serve since. I believe that my military experience influences the content I create. Several of my characters that I write are from a military point of view or content reflects the military experience.

Today as a professional filmmaker, I would say that there are many paths I took to get there. I’ve been filmmaking since I was 11 years old. I started with a small digital camcorder, and made little, short films with my friends. They weren’t great, but they began my path as a filmmaker.

In high school, I joined a Video Production class. This class really didn’t teach much because my school didn’t take the class seriously All the gear was outdated, and the instructor was one of the English teachers who knew almost nothing about filmmaking. What was nice about the class was that we had to create content weekly. I had to turn out projects constantly, which really help give me the experience needed. I also had to learn things on my own.

After high school, I attended Bowling Green State University for Film Production where I learned the bulk of what I was looking for in high school. I learned screenwriting, directing, producing, cinematography, sound design, and editing. The great part of film school was the networking and access to film gear. As a filmmaker, networking is essential to find work. It’s a business of who you know, so work with as many people as you can in school. Access to film gear in school is also a key to professional success in the industry. Training yourself on all the equipment allows you to acquire jobs over people without that experience. That goes for films too. Get on as many productions as you can in school. This will give you onset experience you need as well as a nice resume builder.

Once I committed to becoming a professional filmmaker after film school, I had to work hard to get work. There is a lot of competition in my field, so presentation is the key to success. I’ve had to constantly re-edit my resumes, cover letters, and demo reels to show producers exactly what they want and stand out amongst my peers. It took me about 6 months to 1 year to become comfortable about finding work in my industry.

Today, I’m a revolving door between a director, cinematographer, and producer for my own company, Filmmaker at War Productions. I also work and collaborate with Tyler Savino’s production company, Bucketnaut Productions. On top of all that, I freelance as a cinematographer often on other people’s productions.

One of the films I’m the proudest of is a 16mm, black & white short film called Re-Integration. This film reflects the military experience discussed earlier. I’m proud of this film based on what it represents, and how it was created. In the digital age, shooting on film has become a dying skill. Shooting on film is different than shooting digital. It is a lot harder in many ways. With film, you have to make sure that you load the reel correctly in the camera, then properly exposing the image without the use of a monitor, all while making sure that you don’t run out of film. Once you run out of film, you’re done whether you like it or not. This film was also edited from scratch. I didn’t record any sound during production, so 100% of the film’s sound was created afterwards. This film was my complete vision, and I’m proud that it has been recognized at several film festivals throughout the years.

Looking forward, I’m excited to direct my first feature film called The Anarchist. It is still in the writing stage, but it is a project I’ve been thinking about making for years. It revolves around a Black Vietnam War veteran who encounters and faces off against a corrupt, racist local government. I hope it to be a mixture of Taxi Driver (1976) and Django Unchained (2012). I plan on shooting the film after the production of Tyler Savino’s next film Calamity Hill which enters production next year. I am the cinematographer for that film.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Findlay, Ohio is where you’ll find me when not traveling often for work. It is a small town but has a lot to offer if you go looking for it.

If you’re looking for food, there are two places I’d recommend. Heavenly Pizza is my go-to pizza place. It’s a local pizza joint that has great pizza for a great price with the perfect thick crust. I’d also recommend Amy Mays Rockin Taco Truck. Amy Mays used to be a restaurant in the downtown area, but recently turned into a taco truck. It might be a lot harder to find, but the tacos are a nice reward if you can find where it’s parked.

I’m an outdoors person myself, so I’d recommend visiting the Findlay Riverside City Park. As in the title, the park resides next to a beautiful riverbank. It is a great place to relax, have a picnic, watch the wildlife, or even swim in the pool during the summertime. There’s even a playground if you have kids. I find the park a great place to write and storyboard for film projects.

Lastly, I’d recommend going to the local AMC Movie Theater in town. I know it is a franchise that anyone can go to almost anywhere, but it is a great place to support filmmakers. It’s my go to place to escape reality and transcend into another world for a few hours.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my father, Timothy R. Moeger. He is my greatest inspiration for getting into the film industry. My father passed away when I was only three years old due to lung cancer. I don’t have many memories of him, but I do have reoccurring memories of him and I watching movies together. I can’t pinpoint the exact movie we were watch together, but it was more of the experience of watching a movie. It was a bonding experience for me. This is where I found my love for film. My father was also an artist. For his profession, he was an architect. He drew the things that would end up being built. I would watch him create, and that inspired me. He would teach me to draw cartoons animations from the movies and shows I would watch as a kid. It was his creativity that I believe led me down the path of filmmaking.

The other person I’d like to shoutout is Tyler Savino. Tyler and I met in film school at BGSU. He inspired me in his decision to make a feature-length film while being a college student. That is something no one else was willing to do. A feature-length film as a student? Impossible…but it wasn’t. He did the impossible and brought me along the ride. I believe that if he can do it, then I can do it. His risk-taking has always been and always will be an inspiration to me. He also supported me when I returned from deployment at the end of 2020. I had no idea how I was going to start my full-time filmmaking career. I thought I’d have to figure it out on my own, but Tyler offered me to join Bucketnaut, his new production company. Him and I supported each other in starting our filmmaking careers together, and I’m forever grateful for that.

Website: https://www.bucketnaut.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-moeger-9bab81185/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FilmmakerAtWar

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/filmmakeratwar

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6dN54C2BcCzGGb0c5Pwnyg

Image Credits
Tyler Savino, Casey McAllister, Thomas Moeger, Brett Wineland