From Beaufort to Hollywood: Inside Filmmaker Justin Graves' Journey to LA

“Creators have to create. You just have to make stuff,” remarked Filmmaker and Beaufort-native Justin Graves. Coming from a military brat background, Graves found comfort in watching cartoons and movies during his pastime.

"Certain films would make me emotional, and I knew something was different about me.” Besides the natural order of human emotion, Graves described how specific movies moved him, which further piqued his curiosity about the craft:

“I cried watching Honey, I Shrunk the Kids when Antie died.”

During his collegiate years, Graves earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of South Carolina Aiken (USCA) to pursue a career in the music industry. “I thought I wanted to become a DJ on 106 & Park. I just knew I had the personality to do something in entertainment and be on TV,” Graves commented. Music is his first love, but it wasn’t his lifelong passion.

Graves then turned to film and television, citing that it was the main art form that never failed to excite him. But Graves still resisted commitment to the craft until he came across an interview with Ice Cube, detailing the behind-the-scenes development of the 1991 classic, Boyz n the Hood. “It was 2015. I watched the interview and saw how John Singleton boosted him [Ice Cube] up. He’s [Ice Cube] writing songs and telling stories in his music. I thought, “Writing a script is just a longer version.”

“Superbad was one of the first movies that made me feel like, “Oh, hell yeah, I can do this.”   When Graves watched the buddy-film comedy, he knew he needed to write a script that reflected that bromance aesthetic, but through using Black characters to make the story more personable. “Superbad was the starting motivation,” he said. Graves continued to write music until 2015, but admitted that Donald Glover’s 2016 hit series Atlanta gave him more hope by seeing the Black representation of the classic buddy-esque dynamic.

“It felt different,” Graves said about the television show. A couple of years later, Graves discovered the filmography of Ryan Coogler, solidifying his dedication to filmmaking. He wanted to start making movies, seriously. “Ryan Coogler and Donald Glover were kind of in that group of people that made me write my first script, 86.” A screenwriter was born. Eager to learn more about the art, Graves taught himself how to write through the YouTube filmmaking platform, Film Courage. “I learned a lot about writing through YouTube University, and I did a lot of research about my favorite writers, producers, and directors,” Graves admitted.

With his newfound passion, Graves set his sights on getting his writing noticed. Graves eventually stumbled on a 2017 article about two screenwriters who pretended to be Seth Rogen to sell their comedic script, filmmakers Jeremy Spektor and Jonathan Witz. Graves reached out to the duo for guidance, and they became his first mentors. “It kind of proved a point that everyone [in Hollywood] loved their script, but they only messed with it when a famous name was attached to it,” Graves acknowledged. After reading Graves’ 86, Spektor and Witz encouraged Graves to move to the City of Angels to follow his dreams.

In 2018, as Graves settled down in Los Angeles, he attended regular mentorship sessions with Spektor and Witz while reaching out to other filmmakers via Instagram DMs. Through his digital pursuits, Graves eventually connected with LA-based filmmaker Byron Manuel, who became his business partner and close friend. While in LA, Graves started writing more movie scripts and working with influencers on YouTube sketch shows to strengthen his pen, including the 2021 TV series, Trifecta. “I got better ideas, and I started hitting up more people, then the rest was history,” Graves said.

Now, residing in Las Vegas after the 2023 Writers Guild strike, Graves continues to evolve his filmmaking skills, having been a Co-Producer on the 2024 award-winning Thriller film, Swoon, alongside Manuel and Film Producer Ryan Garcia. “Making movies and being a creative is all that I want to do. I feel I was made to do it,” Graves said.