Can you describe your journey to becoming a producer?
Becoming a producer is as unique as your journey onset may be. The allure of making an acclaimed film that will be long remembered proves irresistible. I knew early on that I wanted to be a film producer. To set myself on that path, I immediately sought out jobs working for other Producers. I slowly worked my way up from an internship to a studio desk and then into a major European film company as an associate producer. Every step of the way was fulfilling in different ways, and I grateful to my mentors. A career in cinema does not come with a plan: it’s about being flexible, creative, and open to endless possibilities and saying ‘yes.’ You go with your gut instead of your logic.
What do you look for in a script when deciding whether you would like to join a project as a producer?
Anything unique, mysterious, and adventurous as long as it’s intelligent and emotionally honest with deep dialogues. I look for authenticity on a script representing the lifestyles, cultures, struggles, and joys of real people.
With all the artistic opportunities to choose from, why producing?
Producing is an outlet of creative expression, and it is a multifaceted role. For me, that was the career that truly aligned with my personality and opened new windows for me to express my creative talents. Producing offers amazing opportunities and sensibilities that few other jobs do. You get to meet influential people, travel to breathtaking destinations, or accomplish ground-breaking things with state-of-the-art technology. You get the really emotional tight bonds that come from high-stress, hard-deadline projects for short periods of time. You get to go to film festivals like Cannes and Sundance every year. You have the privilege of working with individuals from different facets of life who are some of the best in the world at what they do and are driven to prove it. Cinema takes time and effort. A typical film career takes about seven to ten years to build, sometimes even more.
Describe to me a typical day on the set?
A typical day on one of our films starts between 8 and 9 am. The crew arrives and prepares the set. Then the cast arrives and changes into costume. The makeup artists prepare our actors. I often oversee several functions and sometimes work with the Director of Photography to set the shot’s framing. Overall, each day is unique yet always busy, full of surprises and challenges. It’s like an orchestra where everybody is focused on performing their task perfectly, and then, the end product becomes extraordinary, like a symphony born out of chaos and performed cohesively.
