Rising Stars: Meet Wiley Kaupas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wiley Kaupas.

Hi Wiley, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I guess I came into filmmaking by growing up as an athlete. 

I raced mountain bikes from the ages of 8 to 26 and I was always a bit of a reckless kid at the races. So, when I was injured and since all my friends were athletes, I could only hang out with my friends if I was filming or taking pictures. So, I would sort of alternate between racing and standing on the sidelines trying to operate a camera with a cast on. 

Luckily, a lot of my friends are incredibly talented, so I was never short of having great athletes to film, and I also had a few mentors who I met through racing who also pivoted from an athletic career into filmmaking. 

Joey Schusler, Tory Powers, Kasen Schamaun, and Drew Boxold who are all incredible filmmakers, let me follow them around for a few years to try and figure the whole filmmaking thing out. Athletes like Austin Hackett-Klaube, Harrison Ory, Demetri Triantafillou, Cody Cirillo, Kellyn Wilson, and Warren Kniss also let me chase them around with a camera. 

So, I guess it’s not a particularly long story, but I just sort of hung out with my friends and filmed with them and now I luckily get to do that for a living. 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Haha, I guess so far so good? 

It feels like it’s been slow going and I don’t feel like I’m particularly “far along” on the road to being a successful filmmaker (whatever that even means). But I haven’t had any dramatic successes or tragedies along the way. Just slow and steady so far. 

But I guess that said, I’ve had to make a few sacrifices along the way. Like when I was just starting, I was living in a 10×7 windowless motorcycle trailer parked in my friend’s yard so I could afford racing and filmmaking. And I’d also say filmmaking itself is a pretty time-demanding job so it can be hard on relationships and friendships when you have to vanish for a few months at a time. 

But at the end of the day, filmmaking is just a bunch of adults getting paid to play pretend, so all things considered I think the relatively minor struggles to get to do this as a living have been worth it for sure. 

I appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As of right now, I mostly making my living working on outdoor/adventure commercials shooting skiing and mountain biking specifically. I’ve specialized in filming more athletic-based pieces which is fun since it is just hanging out with my friends and capturing them to do whatever it is that they’re good at. 

But as of recently, I’ve started directing more music, fashion, and narrative work which has also been a ton of fun to move into. It’s been cooled to work in some genres that have a bit more of a capacity for emotion and expression and I’m trying to steer my work more in that direction. 

But I’d say of all of the pieces I’ve worked on in a lead position, I’m equally proud of all of them. Each one has been a really fun and rewarding experience in its own way. 

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I spend waaayyyy too much time clicking around on indie short film websites just watching other filmmakers’ work and trying to understand how they make the things they do. 

Websites like Vimeo, Nowness, Directors Library, Short of the Week, Film Shortage, and Beyond the Short have a ton of great work and I love watching all the crazy stuff people are making these days. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wileykaupas.com
• Instagram: @wiley.ks
• Other: https://vimeo.com/wileykaupas