CCM alumna creates opportunity for independent filmmakers in Cincy
It was fate.
Allyson West was a high school student from Texas embarking on her national tour of potential colleges. Making her way down the list, she arrived at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music. While on a walkthrough of the facilities, she saw Corbett Auditorium — yet what should have been her first time seeing the stage wasn’t.
“I literally had a dream earlier in the year about being on that exact stage,” she recalls. “From that moment on, I didn’t consider anywhere else. It was serendipitous.”
Speaking after finishing up teaching an acting class at CCM where she’s currently an adjunct instructor, West's energy is palpable.
“I was a really green, passionate, creative kid, so I always knew I was going to be a performer. But it wasn’t until I started looking at colleges that I really started to consider it as a professional path.”
Coming from a small Texas town of around 1,500, where her school had what she lovingly referred a “cafetorium” as its performing arts facilities, CCM was a performer’s dream. And Cincinnati a complete culture shock.
“Suddenly being on my own in a city that was so much larger than my small town was so crazy. You’re close to downtown on a campus that is incredibly diverse — in a little city all on its own really.” She remembers it wasn’t just the vibrancy of campus that kept her encouraged that she made the right decision.
From CCM to NYC and back again
Allyson West/provided
“You’re the kind of student we need here,” West heard one of her mentor teachers, CCM Professor of Acting k. Jenny Jones, say. It was the direct nature of this statement — and the pure, genuine belief that faculty had in her abilities — that fueled her.
“Knowing that I had those kinds of advocates in the background, and that they saw value in things that were just inherently me, was critical,” West says. It was that active mentorship, from CCM Professor of Acting and Directing Richard Hess and others, that helped her build her community here. “As a student you’re taking risks, constantly putting yourself out there, so the community is so important.”
Not to mention being exposed to the diversity of the arts. She says simply walking through the CCM Circle hearing opera singers and musicians practicing was a very romantic experience.
It wasn’t long before West was graduating and starting a whole different kind of adventure in New York City with her now-husband Phillip. She had prepared herself so intensely here at CCM that she was ready to get her hands in the work — and have fun.
“Walking out of my apartment every day was like walking into a street fair, it was alive and amazing,” she remembers. And while the hustle and bustle of the Big Apple was invigorating, Cincinnati just wouldn’t let them go; Phillip was offered his dream role as a chef back in the Queen City, so they packed their bags to return after two years.
Full house at opening night of the CINdependent Film Festival at The Woodward Theater.
CINdependent Film Festival is born
West began finding her creative groove here in Cincinnati. And having always had an interest in being on both sides of the camera, she wrote, directed and starred in "Texican," which began gaining traction in the independent film festival scene. Traveling all over the country screening the short film, she realized there was a major gap in her backyard.
“I wanted to screen in Cincinnati, but the current festivals didn’t apply to me. They focused on a theme or I didn’t fit in as cleanly. A multi-genre, multi-style film festival just didn’t exist.”
Cue a supportive husband, sheer willpower and passionate arts enthusiasts in the city, and the inaugural CINdependent Film Festival happened in the summer of 2018. She wanted a film festival that was accessible, fun and that served the community while emphasizing filmmakers. And the 130 artists who travelled in for a screening attended by 2,100 people across two days is a testament to that hope.
West says there is great long-term potential in the city embracing the festival on an even larger scale. “The creative workforce and quality of our work will rise,” she says. “And getting CCM students involved now gives us the opportunity to keep talent in the city. I want the festival to be a path for students to become better connected as young engaging talent.”
West always tells her students, “Think about your entire artistic life. Shoot for the moon but remain flexible.” West’s “flexibility” brought her back to the Queen City — and now she's making an impact on the future of the arts in Cincinnati.
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