Kaylynn Hunt: Building Stories, Creating Opportunities
3 min read
The author, screenwriter, and producer discusses her journey into filmmaking, creative ownership, and her vision for Skylar Publications LLC.
Kaylynn Hunt’s move into filmmaking began with a simple decision to help a friend. That opportunity with Tam Telling Tales led to new industry connections, hands-on experience, and eventually her involvement in the independent film No Strings. Now, she’s applying those lessons to her own creative projects and the future of Skylar Publications LLC.
Finding Her Way Into Filmmaking
Intellectual Ink Magazine: Your work moves across books, film, and digital media. What first pushed you to expand beyond writing novels and step into screenwriting and producing?
Kaylynn Hunt: There wasn’t one defining moment. It felt more like a natural evolution, with opportunities presenting themselves at the right time. It started when Tam Telling Tales was building her platform and needed support. As the supportive friend I am, I jumped in to help, and that’s when I first put on my producer hat.
The more time I spent in that space, meeting producers, directors, actors, and other creatives, the more curious I became about filmmaking. As an author, seeing my stories on screen appealed to me. I began researching what it would take, enrolled in a screenwriting class, worked as a background actor to observe productions firsthand, attended industry events, and focused on building relationships.
Then another opportunity presented itself. India Williams, an author I met through EyeCU Reading Book Club, was assembling a team and seeking investors for her film No Strings. I signed on without hesitation. That project opened even more doors and confirmed that this was a space I wanted to be in. Since then, I haven’t looked back.
The Importance of Creative Ownership
Intellectual Ink Magazine: As the founder of Skylar Publications LLC, you’re not just creating stories. You’re building ownership. Why was it important to create your own publishing company instead of working only through traditional routes?
Kaylynn Hunt: The simple answer is control. Maintaining creative control has always been one of the biggest reasons I chose the independent publishing path. I want my stories to remain authentic to my vision and the characters who inhabit them. My writing doesn’t always fit neatly into one category or one expectation, and neither do my characters.
Building Skylar Publications gave me the freedom to tell the stories I want to tell, on my own terms, while also creating opportunities to expand those stories into other forms of media.
Building a Legacy of Opportunity
Intellectual Ink Magazine: Your mission includes creating a legacy of ownership and opportunity in entertainment. Looking ahead, what do you want Skylar Publications and your larger creative ecosystem to become?
Kaylynn Hunt: I want Skylar Publications to become a pipeline for creative opportunity, no matter which path a creator chooses. Whether that journey leads to books, film, television, publishing, or other forms of media, I want the ecosystem we’re building to provide access, ownership, and support. My vision is for Skylar Publications to model multi-tier literature, where stories don’t stop at the page but can expand across multiple platforms, while creators retain a meaningful stake in their work and future.
Read More in Black Girl Magic
In Intellectual Ink Magazine’s Black Girl Magic, Issue 32, Kaylynn Hunt discusses the themes behind her fiction, her experiences working on No Strings and Too Messy, and what she has learned about adapting novels for the screen.
Read the complete interview, “Bringing Stories Beyond the Page,” in Issue 32.
Connect with Kaylynn Hunt: https://linktr.ee/KaylynnHunt
