INTERVIEW: Sebastian Soler & Co. Talk LEGO and Local Filmmaking
- Mikey Smith
- Sep 23
- 7 min read
Updated: Sep 24
The crew behind Spanish Moss discuss their vision on creating a feature-length brickfilm
With numerous festival selections, a handful of awards, and an NPR interview under his belt, Sebastian Soler is already an artist’s artist. Fresh out of Kennesaw State University, this filmmaker uses a miniature medium to tell larger-than-life tales—and he’s about to be the next big thing.
In April 2024, I saw his short Turbo Treadmill at Canton’s Peaberry Film Festival. As a longtime fan (and oft-attempted creator) of brickfilms, I was blown away. LEGO stop-motion is no simple feat, but Soler makes it look easy.
Nearly a year later, I encountered Soler again at the Kennesaw Film Festival. During a guest lecture with Christopher Escobar (executive director of the Atlanta Film Society and owner of the historic Plaza and Tara theaters), KSU faculty asked Soler to present the trailer for his feature-length brickfilm Spanish Moss. Like everyone else in the audience, Escobar was floored. Then, he offered a hefty proposal: “I want to screen this film at one of my theaters.”
Fast forward six more months, Escobar proved to be a man of his word: Spanish Moss screened at the Tara Theater in front of a packed-out audience. After the event, Art Seen ATL had the pleasure of sitting down with the minds behind the film: writer-director Sebastian Soler and assistant directors Tyler Herren and Andrew Ben King.
What led you all to pursue working in animation and film?
Sebastian Soler: That's a good question. As a kid, I really liked playing with LEGO, and I was really inspired by these Lego YouTube stop-motion videos. I taught myself how to do stop-motion on an amateur level at first, and then I just kept going with it all the way through high school. I started submitting into these film festivals, and they started to go international. Now, here we are at the Tara!
Tyler Herren: [When I got] into film, I was working with my grandpa at the time. We were looking at some action figures, and we were like, "hey, let's make a movie!" From then on, I fell in love with making film. The biggest thing that I love is storytelling. I love putting together a story and putting it on screen for people to enjoy. I think what ultimately inspires me is seeing people's reactions to the story: watching their eyes sparkle as they watch the screen and just seeing how my story can influence and inspire them.
Andrew King: I started off as a content creator when I was a lot younger. I would make YouTube videos; a lot of them [were about] gaming. That’s how I learned a lot about editing and visual effects. I actually got into film from these two guys, Sebastian and Tyler. They knew that I was an editor, and they needed some help on the TV show Finding Kate: Hawaii. Through that, I was brought [on to learn] how production goes and things along that line. From there, we've moved onto a few other projects, such as Spanish Moss.
For years, Atlanta (and Georgia as a whole) has been known as one of the filmmaking capitals of the world. Has this city helped or changed your creative process at all?
SS: I used to go to Georgia State University (GSU), and that's actually where I met some of the cast members [for Spanish Moss]. I transferred to Kennesaw State University (KSU) during my sophomore year. Professor Matthew Terrell was the one that really inspired me and encouraged me to go through with this project. I had never done a feature film before, and he really pushed me to try it. I'd say my experiences through those two colleges, GSU and KSU’s Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences, definitely helped shape my perception of my filmmaking processes.
TH: Being in Atlanta and Georgia, a community based around media and creation, I've gotten to be inspired and influenced through some of my local classes that I've taken, specifically at Georgia Gwinnett College when I was there. I took a film class, and we had some local professionals come in. They were able to speak into what local filmmaking looks like and were able to help us understand like, “this is how you can make a film based in your local community.” Experiencing that as well as getting to submit my own short films into local film festivals and then going more international, I was able to explore more of what it looks like to showcase my films to a wider audience.
AK: I am a senior at Georgia State University, and I am in the CMII program (Creative Media Industries Institute). A lot of what I'm seeing over there is how to tell stories. They bring in a lot of locals, reporters, or just film/game design experts from around Atlanta to kind of navigate us through those things. Even walking around Georgia State, I'll see a lot of the films going on there, and they'll close off roads. These are big time productions. It's really inspiring just to see that in your local town and being able to do that yourself.
Sebastian, the first project of yours that I saw was Turbo Treadmill at the 2024 Peaberry Film Festival. I remember being so blown away by how engaging it was, not just as a brickfilm, but also as a story in general. Were there any major changes in your style from making shorts to creating a feature-length project?
SS: The biggest challenge for this one was having voices. This is the first time that I've ever tried doing lip-syncing or voice acting. This was the first time that I had ever done voice acting in a film as well. It was definitely a challenge to direct those actors—especially virtually, because I actually wasn't in the room. I sent them the directions, and I wanted them to have their own perception of the character. Overcoming that challenge was definitely very fulfilling because I can't really imagine this film without having the cast that it does.
What are some films or filmmakers that inspired Spanish Moss?
SS: Ooh, so the two filmmakers that most heavily inspired Spanish Moss would be Christopher Nolan and Quentin Tarantino. Films like Inception with the time jumps, those heavily inspired this film. Also Kill Bill and Django: Unchained. Those are like my top movies that I love. Those are my favorite movies, so being able to put that into my own vision and through my own lens was a really fulfilling experience.
Who are some current creative minds in the Atlanta film or art scene that you want our readers to know about?
TH: I would personally like to highlight all the cast and crew of Spanish Moss, specifically those who worked on the voice acting within the film. Being able to portray a character in just your voice takes so much time and effort. The amount of dedication that they had to the film was incredible. Yeah, I would love to give a shout out to all the cast and crew.
AK: Same here. A lot of the people who worked on this film are Georgia-native from either Kennesaw [State] or Georgia State, and I'm sure that they're trying to find their own way in the film industry. Everyone who worked on this had a great passion for it and really love what they do in film.
When creating this kind of project where you’re working with a smaller crew, how important is collaboration and teamwork?
TH: Teamwork and collaboration, especially within the film industry, is vital. Coming from a filmmaker who has done a lot of films on my own, I cannot nearly put out as good of content just by myself. Over the past couple of years, specifically the past two years, Sebastian and I have gotten to work on a couple different projects. Spanish Moss being one, as well as our own digital marketing agency, Shock Social LLC, along with our other production, Finding Kate: Hawaii. We found a great team that is able to work together. We're able to communicate and use our passions in film, media, and storytelling to come up with creative and engage in content.
SS: It’s immensely important. This is definitely the biggest cast that I've been in charge of. It was a really cool experience figuring out everybody's work styles. When it all came together, it was magic. I'm very grateful for the cast and crew that made this happen.
What's next for Sebastian Soler and Soler Vision Studios as a whole?
SS: For Sebastian Soler himself, I want to continue pursing a career in screenwriting and directing to learn more about film production. For Soler Vision Studios, hopefully we can turn [Spanish Moss] into live action. It was written for live action, and I mean to turn it into live action one day.
Any final words that you would like to leave readers of Art Seen ATL with?
TH: Everybody has a story to tell. Everybody just needs to figure out the medium in which they want to tell it. Just continue to pour into the passions that you have and pour into the skills that you're continuing to acquire. Never stop storytelling.
AK: It’s hard sometimes taking the first step to working on a project. You may think you're not good enough for [it], or that you don't have the perfect vision. From my experience and what I've talked to Sebastian and Tyler about, it's so important to just take that first step into saying, “Okay, this isn't going to be perfect, but I'm going to make it my own way, and it's going be my own project.” I think in any creative media, that's really key to your success. Not being afraid to fail but taking those risks and learning from them.
SS: If I had to give any advice, I'd say just be persistent. Keep going, don't give up on what you want to happen. You have to have that vision first and then figure out a way to make that vision a reality. So far, it’s worked for me. It’s not been a smooth ride, but it’s been a fulfilling one.
Spanish Moss will screen at the Peaberry Film Festival in Canton, GA, on Thursday, October 2nd. Purchase tickets here: https://filmfreeway.com/peaberryfilmfestival/tickets. Follow @SolerVisionStudios on Instagram for updates on further screenings.
