Independent filmmaker Madison Hatfield finds Atlanta the perfect place to thrive in the film industry

In 2021, City Lights began our series, “Speaking of Art,” to highlight our city’s many diverse visual artists. We have since expanded our series to include “Speaking of Music,” “Speaking of Comedy,” and “Speaking of Dance,” and we’ve recently added “Speaking of Y’allywood” to our collection. Atlanta is known as the Hollywood of the South, and with our newest “Speaking of” series, we are honored to highlight some of the many local professionals that help keep our city’s film and TV industry thriving. Today we feature actor, screenwriter and independent filmmaker Madison Hatfield. 

For Hatfield describing a typical workday is a challenge because no day feels typical. “Sometimes I’m on set; sometimes I’m not on set, sometimes it’s my set; sometimes it’s someone else’s set. I think that one of the things that I really enjoy about doing this is that every day is different…” Hatfield says.

Before entering the film industry, Hatfield worked as a high school science teacher. As a way to make friends as an adult, she started doing comedy around town and then realized how much joy she got from making people laugh and feel different kinds of emotions. “I took a leap and left the classroom and was so fortunate to get to work with a lot of independent filmmakers around town first and slowly but surely build up my resume as an actor, as a writer,” Hatfield recalls. “…to be able to do this full time feels like such a gift and feels like what I’m meant to be doing.”