A writing portfolio
Hawkins & Forsyth
Sounds like a law firm...
And not a particularly good one, so that's ruled out. But why "Second Skye"? Like any great origin, the name has multiple meanings baked into its super satisfying alliterative form. Hear from the creators on what it means to them:
KEEGAN
I’ll start on this one.
For sure.
IAN
KEEGAN
Part of the origin of “Second Skye” comes from my fixation on this particular moment I look forward to every time I fly. It doesn’t always work out this way, but if the weather’s just right, there’s this moment where the plane breaks through the lower cloud barrier, and all of the clouds sort of settle into their own landscape of rolling hills. So you enter this new world, where the clouds become the ground and there’s a second tier of clouds further up, and a new sky inbetween. I think that liminal space is really special. It feels heavenly, of course, but it’s also this world above the world where anything seems possible. Like an untethered playground where the issues and struggles and structures of the world below are simply a reflection—they don’t control this new space, but they feed into it like any good story or fantasy. So for me, I guess it’s really a place of possibility.
That's great. So for me, I was picking Keegan up from the airport after he quit his job and he told me about this celestial space between the clouds he called "Second Sky." I was a little concerned but thought it was a pretty good metaphor for this writing thing we're trying to do, and I didn't have much else to add. My only contribution was to add an "e" at the end. Second "Skye".
IAN
KEEGAN
...
What? Do you want me to do another take?
IAN
KEEGAN
I don’t think we’re really doing takes, it's just all going on the "about" page or something. I mean, what you said was all true, that did happen. I won't fault you on accuracy. But there was a little more to it than just adding the "e" on a whim!
Okay, fair enough. Let's see...where to start. Forsyth is a Scottish name, through and through. Now, I’m a California native who had his coming-of-age in the Philadelphia suburbs, but I’ve always had a special draw to where my last name calls home. That draw narrows in on a particular isle on the northwestern coast of Scotland: The Isle of Skye. Skye is a place where cows are orange, furry, and have punk rock bangs. As if a cute teddy bear, a Texas Longhorn, and a Wild Thing from Where the Wild Things Are had a love-child. On the geological side of things, jagged rocks pierce through bright green hills like daggers, and there's a constant fog from the ocean that weaves over those same hills, through brown cliffs and orange flowers, like the stitching of a Scottish tartan. It’s basically a Windows XP screensaver, but much cooler. Every frame is a painting you can relish in or a postcard you’d send back to your mom. The whole isle is sacred ground, but it's open for all people to enjoy. So it’s mystical and real, all at the very same time. And quite honestly, that’s what film feels like to me.
IAN
KEEGAN
What makes film that way for you?
Well, take away the magic of the theater, and film is just a series of stills, one placed after the next. But if you treat them like a flip book, and start rolling at 24 frames per second, those images display a realistic motion. If the script, acting, set design, music, costumes, and directing are all amazing, then audience members will never forget the first time they saw it. Kind of like the first time I saw Skye.
IAN
KEEGAN
"Skye" not "Sky". That "e" is special.
It is. Because someday—maybe someday—I'll write stories that feel and look like the isle that my last name calls home.
IAN
Keegan & Ian
Keegan Hawkins (right) lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Bayley. Keegan graduated from UCLA twice, once in Psychology (B.A.), summa cum laude, with a minor in Film & TV, and once again at UCLA Law for his J.D. specializing in Media, Entertainment, Technology & Sports Law (where he was inducted Order of the Coif). Keegan then worked at a top Big Law firm for a whole year, barely, before he decided to step away. Now he's here, taking a shot at this writing thing full time. So that's cool and definitely not depressing in any way.
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Ian Forsyth (left) lives in South Pasadena with his wife, Sienna, and their two kids, Abram and June. Ian graduated from Brigham Young University once (hallelujah) in Advertising (B.A.) with an emphasis in copywriting and he currently works as a creative at a global advertising network. Ian's been fighting critical adversity since his youth, like when his third-grade teacher told him his writing lacked "pizzazz". Granted, at the time he thought it was an alternative pluralization of "pizza", but still. Ian's done a lot of growing since then...physically. At heart, he's still a bright-eyed kid who loves a good slice.
