Reinventing Cinema

Sebastian Pigott redefines filmmaking and explores truly connecting with his audience through the creation of his own low budget movie.

Desmond Scott Contributed

For 15 years, Sebastian Pigott played it safe, taking whatever Hollywood role came his way, putting on a smile. He was starring in another show, where the people in charge don’t care about the process as long as it makes money. Filming a scene playing an unfaithful man trying to make amends, Pigott’s director kept telling him to act cooler. He had poured hours into learning his character, and attempted to be truly vulnerable and present in that moment and he realized the director hadn’t even read the script. It was one incident, but a series of moments like it opened Pigott’s eyes to what the film industry represented. He realized this wasn’t what he set out to do as an artist. Unfulfilled, he knew he had to make a change.

“Being on some big shows and working with big people, you think you’re gonna be satisfied, and you’re not,” says Pigott. About 15 years in the business proved to him that an actor can end up wasting their “whole life trying to catch this thing that doesn’t really exist.” nique, which teaches actors to focus on the other actors in their immediate surroundings instead of themselves. This technique lent itself well to Pigott’s desire to open himself up, to go deeper toward something more meaningful. Although he did study under acting teachers, most of what he learned came from real world experience. His constant goal as an artist is to improve in his craft.

At the same time, he felt insecure because he could lose his job at any moment. “It’s very hard not to let that fuck you up,” he admits. Acting lost all the aspects of what made it special for him, suddenly feeling fake, and his performance suffered. He was losing his sincerity. Suddenly, a childhood dream felt like endless suffering in an industry. As long as he stayed, he would never truly be making art. Once he fully accepted this idea, he quit waiting around for what was safe and completely committed to his art. After going back and forth between Canada and Los Angeles for years, he decided to create roots in Los Angeles.

“You get better as an artist by becoming more and more in tune with yourself,” he explained. He did this by continually expressing himself through his art, and genuinely considering and refining how his expression of self manifests.

Pigott recalled an audition with Renée Zellweger where he entered that state, he was in complete control of his body, all of his mental barriers and protections were lowered. He says, “I’m present and I know I can do anything in that moment. Cause I’m completely relaxed. I’m prepared.”

Pigott was born in Canada in 1983 and has been in the entertainment business for his entire adult-life. He’s acted in countless movies and TV series, such as The Song to My Heart and Two Deaths of Henry Baker, and he’s had roles in shows like Being Erica and Wyonna Earp. Acting has become an all-consuming pursuit for Pigott. His inspiration comes from the most simple yet complex reasoning; because he loves it.

It occurred to him that connecting to an audience was a fundamental thing that made successful actors, something that should come naturally. He became obsessed with what actually connected to an audience, material that told a story, that left people wanting more. Pigott went to an arts high school and later studied under John Riven, a teacher of the Meisner acting tech-

Pigott loves his job now, but it was a long journey. Acting has always been a meaningful part of his life, but until recently, the industry he worked in had a corrosive effect on his work. For 15 years, Pigott made a good living auditioning and acting in different movies and shows. The entire idea of an “art industry” is strange to him as the two things are diametrically opposed. “You feel like your dreams have technically come true,” he says, but it isn’t really making art.

Great acting comes when the actor has some sense of self, having explored inner conflicts, and finding comfort in vulnerability. The most difficult part about acting in the industry is “not losing your sense of self,” according to Pigott. Working like that always leaves the actor searching for someone’s approval.

He realized that he was waiting for it to be safe, but that it never would be. He resolved to go all in even if it would be a grind and he’d have to miss a few paychecks. It made him “ultimately, better as an artist.” He got to the point where he’d stopped enjoying his work, and had to take a risk.

As a result, Pigott just finished directing and producing his first movie, in which he also starred. The movie, Bring it All Back Home, was the most rewarding project he’s ever worked on. It follows a man who used to be a star athlete in high school. He joined the major leagues, but burned out with a bad knee. He disappears and five years later returns out of the blue on a drug inspired mission from God to liberate his friends from the oncoming effects of middle age. This movie exemplifies a different type of production in the film industry, made with a $20,000 budget. The movie he worked on prior to this project had a budget with millions of dollars, but he still thinks Bring it All Back Home is a better movie.

The corporatization of art is a common phenomenon, creating an extremely profitable industry, and anything that is as profitable as art will eventually be standardized and mass produced for consumption. This process is emblematic of a larger standardization that reaches almost every part of people’s lives. Art has always stood as one of the few escapes from this process. Art offers something other than the bleak sense of uniformity that comes with life in a large society that values production and efficiency above all else. But, more and more, real art is stifled.

Now there is movement from the top down where artists have attempted to reinvent the wheel. According to “Why Film Budgets Are Important, Beyond The Cost Of Production” an article by Schylur Moore in Forbes magazine, “there is a perverse tendency to inflate the cost of films” from producers. Pigott believes this is in part because the actors, crew, and producers make their money on the front end of the film. This means their cut is decided before the film sells a single ticket. Pigott’s solution involves creating a movie entirely in-house. This way everyone’s profit is entirely dependent on keeping costs down and selling their product. In the movie he just made, the acting, directing, writing, music, almost everything, was created in-house. They reinvested whatever they were paid for their services, such as the musical score, back into the film, keeping the costs down and maximizing the end profits.

Just because something is broken doesn’t mean it isn’t worth fixing. Acting as an art form has immeasurable value to Pigott, but also to the world. It gives license to people to be vulnerable and open. When done properly it allows a window into the soul of an actor, and that insight allows an audience member to see more clearly into their own.