The 25-year-old talent was able to turn a five-minute piece about a man’s struggles to mow his lawn, starring himself, into an eye-catching selection at the Northwest Ohio Independent Film Festival and The Indie Gathering Film Festival in 2012. The film, “Mowing Through Misery,” which can be viewed on YouTube, took third place for Best Drama – Micro Film at The Indie Gathering. It was after a showing of “Mowing Though Misery” that Russ Russo, an actor, director and screenwriter from Los Angeles, decided he wanted Boatman to be director of photography on his upcoming film, “Heat Wave.”