Walley Films consists of Mark and Angela Walley, a married couple living in San Antonio. They grew up together and share a common interest in art and film, thus the creation of Walley Films, which this year was noted as Vimeo Staff Pick All-Stars. For the past 12 years, they have created numerous short documentaries that range from inspiring to comedic.
This week on “Frame of Mind,” a series of short documentaries will be featured by Walley Films. Learn about the story of Reuben, a 15-year-old with a mysterious disease that causes him to have seizures; follow the installation of Soo Sunny Park‘s art exhibition at Rice Gallery in Houston; laugh along at the parody targeting product consumerism of a made up product, plus many more short documentaries!
My conversation with Angela Walley:
On how they started Walley Films…
AWWe married on February 14th, 2010 and thought that was a perfect time to establish Walley Films. It’s a bit of an homage to Maysles Films, whose work was very influential to us as we began focusing on documentary work in 2009. That shift occurred after we meet Albert Maysles at the 2008 Dallas Video Festival.
On the goals of their films…
AWThe goals of our films vary depending upon our intention. Our goals for short documentaries follow artists is to bring the audience to a closer understanding and appreciation of the work the artist makes. With our comedic films, our goal is to have fun and enjoy that time making films with our friends.
On the length of production for their films…
AWIt depends on how many projects we’ve scheduled and the availability of our subject(s). Some of our films could be made over the weekend, and others take months or in the case of our current feature-length documentary, years to complete. I would estimate that our short artist documentaries typically take about a month from inception to being available to watch online.
Mark and Angela Walley of Walley Films
On their favorite piece of equipment…
AWOur favorite piece of equipment is our Canon C100 Camera, which we were able to purchase through a grant from Artist Foundation of San Antonio. That camera has helped us continue to grow through our work and has given us confidence in the quality of our future work.
On how they began to feature artists in their films…
AWWe were particularly fascinated by the Maysles Films following artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The films captured the process of the artists and their beautiful and ephemeral projects. We grew up watching art programs on TV such as “Egg the Art Show” and “Art21,” so we knew the importance of seeing behind the scenes and the impact that makes on your respect for and interest in contemporary art. Shortly after meeting Albert, Glasstire.com had an open call for filmmakers making films about artists in Texas. They wanted to feature short films on their online magazine, so we produced our first film for them following performance artist Jimmy Kuehnle. We produced a total of eight films for Glasstire and found ourselves immersed in the local art scene which led to continued work with various galleries, non-profits, and individual artists.
On their favorite Texas filmmaker…
AWWes Anderson is our favorite Texas filmmaker. The first film we ever watched together was “Rushmore,” which is still one of our Top 5 Favorite Films.
Thoughts on Frame of Mind…
AWWe love Bart Weiss and everything he does for contemporary filmmakers. We are so grateful and honored to have a program of our work selected for “Frame of Mind.”
Tune in to “Frame of Mind” on KERA TV Thursday at 11 p.m. to watch the documentaries by Walley Films.
