Rebecca Fourteau, Photographer and Filmmaker
Rebecca Fourteau is the portrait of a striving young creative in NYC. Granted, she's descended from fashion royalty (Ellen von Unwerth's her mom). But even so, she's doing what we've all done — working a 9-to-5 to pay her bills and her dues. After graduating from Barnard in 2012, the stylish Fourteau's been splitting her time between a day job doing visual research for production companies and plugging away on her own short films. The results? She's worked on the upcoming feature Girlrillaz (starring Lola Kirke and Casey Lebow) as an assistant to director, Lena Esco, photographed for Nylon, written for Galore, and created behind-the-scenes videos for Erin Fetherston. When chatting with her, we were reminded of our own early days of crunching work and play hours, learning on the go, and always looking for the next big thing.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
So what’s going on in your life?
“Well, I graduated from college less than a year ago, and I’m only just starting to head in the direction of where I want to be. I’m developing the skills I need and learning the way talented people work by spending time around them.”
Now, just like a lot of young creatives your age, you're balancing a lot of new projects, professional work, and play. We all have our ways of managing — what's yours?
"For me, the best way to get things done is waking up early in the morning — it's when I am most productive and, that way, I can enjoy the rest of the evening and not have to worry about finishing something. Of course, that never really happens as much as I would want. To me, that's by far the most difficult thing about working on projects independently. Without strict deadlines or a boss breathing down your neck at the office, it takes a lot longer than it should to get things done. Still, I usually don’t go out unless I have finished at least part of the project I've been working on."
And when you do head out, do you find anything out there that helps you toward your goals?
"I don't party non-stop — but meeting people day and night is always inspiring, especially in a place like New York where there's so much diversity and so many eccentric characters. It gives you access to different interests and opinions that you can build off and to expand into your own. Collaboration plans also occur on a night out. Some of them develop. Others don’t. In the end, though, New York nightlife is a great place to meet people you might work with in the future. Some of the people I work with now I met while out somewhere or was connected to through people I met at night."
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
As an aspiring filmmaker, what are your favorite nightlife scenes from movies?
“There are so many great ones that are inspiring for different reasons whether it be cinematography, plot, performance, and so on. Still, I love the opening club scene in Boogie Nights that’s all one shot choreographed to ‘Best of My Love’ and the Halloween party in Mean Girls in particular.”
When you were a child growing up around your mother’s work, did you always want to get into that for yourself?
“When I was little I really wanted to be an acrobat on horseback in a circus. It didn’t lead into much — but I’ve always really been into visual aesthetics and performance, which still applies to what I do today. In fact, I recently started painting, which is something I do a lot now in my free time. It’s not so much a project as a hobby. Sometime when I’m out and not having a particularly good time, I’ll just go home and paint a goat in a tree.”
And, as you're working your way up, what's been the most fulfilling thing to you?
"Finishing a project, seeing the result of your work, and knowing you're getting better at something. Having an actual product that came from your effort is the most satisfying thing of all.”
Styled by Lauren Edelstein; Hair and Makeup by Bethany Brill.
Topshop dress; Falke tights; Marni shoes; 3.1 Phillip Lim Scout Small Cross Body Bag, $575, available at Philip Lim.