Here's My Voice
Ann Hammack
Director/Producer/Screenwriter Actor/Lyricist/Editor/Singer/Set Designer
Ann Hammack is an American director, screenwriter, actor, lyricist and singer. This multi-hyphenate artist has written and directed her debut feature film, Here's My Voice. She describes her filmmaking style as a panoramic view of life, having studied people long before she turned on a camera. Her directorial style is very collaborative; she’s open to any ideas others bring to the table.
Ann did not start her film career path in college. Instead, she received a Bachelor of Science from Purdue University with a double major in business and marketing. Soon after graduating, Ann lost her mother to cancer. Through the grieving process and soul-searching, Ann rediscovered her first love: acting. She quickly filled her acting resumé. She worked on and starred in four feature films. The director of the first feature she starred in asked her to read for a part that she would be playing opposite Tom Skerritt. In another, Ann found herself on set everyday gaining experience and learning from the legend, Faye Dunaway.
A few years later, at a party hosted by one of Ann's artist friends, she was introduced to a filmmaker who was interested in casting her in a lead role for his upcoming film. While starring in this film, Ann was asked to assist him in directing the less-seasoned actors. During this experience, Ann found her gate. She knew at that moment that she was going to be a director and filmmaker.
Directing Roger Conatser through a scene.
Working with 18 school-aged extras
Ann began studying the art of screenwriting with her husband, Steven Troy. Through a lot of hard work and rewrites, they wrote many scripts. Here's My Voice is Ann’s debut feature. The family element is a tremendous gift to Ann. She has always enjoyed spending time with others and sharing in creative responsibilities, especially with her family members. When the other members of the cast were on set, they became part of the family as well.
Another one of Ann’s great loves and responsibilities is teaching, and that includes teaching on the film set. She believes that teaching the next generation is crucial to the future of film, and that’s one of the reasons she and her family made this film.
Ann states: “My daughters needed to learn every job on set so they could be great filmmakers on their own in the future. I want them to pass on these skill-sets and gifts to their children and so on.”
Here's My Voice was created, from script through post-production, by Ann and her family. She often thinks it's amazing that her family members possess the skillset to pull off making a feature film. Ann cherishes the time the family spent to get this project from inception to fruition. Many people have asked Ann how she knew they could make a film. Her reaction is always the same: “We didn’t know we couldn’t!”
Connect with Ann
Ilyana Taylor
Lead Actor/Screenwriter/Singer
Songwriter/Set Designer/Editor
Ilyana Taylor is a multi-hyphenate artist of film, singing, editing, screenwriting, songwriting and production design. Her knack for storytelling was evident at the age of 6 when she began storyboarding her stories in school. In hand-drawn, short animation-style images, Ilyana learned the art of storytelling. She wrote her first script at 9 years old for the short film, Lost and Found. With script in hand, she and her sister, Ava, filmed it with an iPhone 6. Ilyana’s debut as a writer/director was also her first time in front of the camera. She was the sole actor in the film (other than Buddy, the family dog).
Ilyana’s gift of music is inherited from her parents. Being able to sing harmony at age 9, she and her dad, Steven, would sing together around the
Trying not to laugh during a serious scene
house and in their studio. At 12 years old, she recorded her first song in the family’s audio studio as a present to her mom. Ilyana’s singing skills are showcased in Here's My Voice, the family’s feature film, as she sings throughout the film and on the title track, which she co-wrote.
Ilyana is also a talented designer, which can be seen in the production sets she helped create with her mom, Ann. They worked together on color palettes, set design and wardrobe, creating one design layer at a time to ensure each element, however small, would work together in the end to convey the theme and set the tone and mood for the film. Her screenwriting talents were honed when she helped with the script for Here's My Voice.
Once filming was wrapped, Ilyana and Ann began editing and then moved on to work closely with Steven on 5.1 sound for the film, including ADR work and all of the foley work that was needed to finish the film. Now at 19, she has a feature film to her name with multiple credits. She and her family moved to the East Coast to continue making film and further their film career.
Wrapping another set on location in Nashville, TN.
Ilyana documenting the film creation.
Connect with Ilyana
Ava Leigh
Cinematographer/Screenwriter
Actor/Singer/Songwriter
Ava’s path to becoming a filmmaker started at a very early age when her mom, Ann, introduced her to four films: ‘The Sound of Music’, ‘Mary Poppins’, ‘My Fair Lady’, and ‘Fly Away Home’. These films, in total, garnered 17 wins out of 35 nominations at the Oscars© in their respective years, and all four films were either nominated for or won the Oscar© for Best Achievement in Cinematography. Unbeknownst to either one of them, Ava was viewing movies that would influence her to become the cinematographer she is today.
At 17, she picked up an iPhone 6 and shot her first film. With no budget, she joined her younger sister, Ilyana, in making the short film
Lost and Found. Ilyana wrote the screenplay while Ava developed the shots. Ava shot the film, did all of the sound design, edited and scored their project. Upon seeing the results of the short, Ann encouraged Ava to pursue a career as a cinematographer/filmmaker.
After Lost and Found, Ava had found that her dream was in making film. She was hired by a director to be a 1st AC and production assistant. After working with the director for several weeks, she was cast in the film, utilizing one of the many accents she has perfected.
As that film wrapped, she graduated from high school with honors. She then had a choice to make regarding her future. Should she go to film school or work with her family on a feature film? Ava chose to stay at home, helping to write the screenplay for the family’s first feature film, Here's My Voice, and then stepping behind the camera as the cinematographer. Her decision paid off, and Ava found her career.
As well as being the cinematographer, she was also her own 1st AC. Ava likes to tell people that when her camera rolled, she was responsible for 6 jobs at once.
Along with all of that on her plate, she was also one of the screenwriters, actors, and lyricists as well the colorist for Here's My Voice.
She continues every day, even while not on
set, to look at things with a different perspective and includes what she discovers in her vocabulary of shot ideas.
She is constantly creating in other ways besides cinematography, writing screenplays in her spare time, hoping to create new worlds for people to enjoy.
Ava concentrating on getting the shot.
On location in Nashville, TN.
Connect with Ava
Steven Troy
Producer/Screenwriter/Actor
Singer/Songwriter/Composer
Steven Troy grew up in east Texas with a musical family. Both of his parents were in bands when they met. They raised Steven in a home full of instruments and singing. Driven by his own musical ambition, Steven moved to Nashville, Tennessee when he was just 17 years old. A naturally gifted performer, he quickly garnered a solid reputation with major country music artists who recognized his talent and drive. While maintaining that he always earned his living with his voice, he was also a sought-after multi-hyphenate musician, playing drums, bass guitar, electric guitar, and keyboards for well-known country music artists. Steven also worked on many music video sets which gave him the insight to visual storytelling he would use in the years to come.
Steven’s ambition moved him into a management role for several artists. As time moved on, so did his quest for knowledge and experience. He has worked every job on tour and behind-the-scenes.
In addition to touring, Steven continued writing songs and performing in front of live audiences in venues around Nashville. During this time, at a songwriter’s night, Steven met Ann Hammack, an actor and his future wife.
Several years later, Steven was invited to a set where Ann was starring in a new feature. Feeling the energy of the cast and crew and seeing the limitless creative outlet, Steven realized that all of his life’s experiences had led him to be part of the film industry. Soon after, Ann brought up the notion to Steven that she wanted to be a filmmaker. Steven, having written songs extensively, wanted to be part of the writing process. The two of them tirelessly studied screenwriting, and, since then, have written many scripts, one of them, Here's My Voice, is now a feature film. They completed this feature, in its entirety, including post-production.
Steven mixing sound in our 5.1 studio.
During the past few years and through the making of their feature film, the knowledge Steven has gained is tremendous. Steven has said, “Everything I thought I knew about sound design in music was so different in film. Film encompasses talents and gifts I didn’t even know I possessed. I truly believe I will never get tired of making film; the process from script to post-production is fascinating.”
As well as being the production’s sound designer and composer, Steven is also acting in Here's My Voice in the role of Dr. Aamon Young, the antagonist.
Making sure we get great sound.