May 22, 2013

Adam Reid

A lot of people say they want to make movies. Adam Reid is one of those people who actually does. In addition to working as creative director of NYC's Bodega Studios, the California native writes, directs and produces his own work. His debut feature film, Hello Lonesomea sweet story about six lonely people seeking love and connectionwas nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and took home the Best Ensemble Performance prize at the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival.

As his friend, I have always been inspired by Adam's passion, drive and work ethic. When I sat down with him for this interview in his Brooklyn apartment, it was New Year's Day. I was just days away from moving to LA, and Navy St. was just a germ of an idea. It took a little while to get here, but I am glad Adam's story is FINALLY making its way into my blog. Enjoy!

First job
"I don't think I really knew I was going to be a filmmaker until I got this production assistant gig at Comedy Central. That just blew up my world because suddenly I had a foot in the door, and it all seemed possible."

Learning the ropes
"My sister got me a production assistant gig on a TNT mini-series called Rough Riders. It was on location in Texas for four months. We were working six days a week with four hours of sleep a night. You're driving vans and doing lock-ups. It was a crash course in filmmaking."

The process
"Something that clicked with me pretty early on is that I have to love the work. I believe in filmmaking as the insane hobby. What 'hobby' means is that you are enjoying it on its own terms. You don't build a LEGO model and go, 'This will make me famous.' You're doing it because you enjoy the process. That is actually how you get to greatness because you're not afraid to take on something bigger knowing that the process will feed itself."

Doing the work
"I was so desperate to finish my first screenplay, and that was actually a good thing. It made me write it. I failed a bunch of times. I wrote half of screenplays a bunch of times. There are no short cuts. That's pretty much it. You have to do it. And even when you think there's a short cut, there's not. You're going to get smacked in the face, or you'll soon find out. Like there's a karmic law that says you have to do the work."

On creativity
"We have been brought up on this myth of overnight success. But it actually propagates something that is very untrue about the creative process which is that things don't come out that way. They have to evolve, and there are so many failures."

Motivation
"I didn't make [Hello Lonesome] to make money. I did it because I really wanted to make a movie I felt was in me. It was clearly something I had to do."

Finding inspiration
"I find the most inspiration from my own life and the wonder within it. I have constantly wanted to recreate some version of my amazing life. Trying to capture a little bit of its essence. I am really drawn to human stories with a light touch that have a sense of wonder and magic in them."

Words of advice
"There is almost no end to the stuff we can create and write and do. It's actually more important to just do it and not get so hung up. Allow yourself the opportunity to grow and to try things. This ability to bend and to grow and to learn from the process. That's how anything gets done."

>>>Come back Friday when Adam reveals how he managed to make a movie on his own. (It can't be that hard, right? lol.) 

(Photo by Nell Reid)

1 comment:

Kierra Makayla said...

So cool, congrats to him.

loveekierramakayla.blogspot.com