Meet Marko Grujic

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Marko Grujic a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Marko, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I have always been into arts. When I was a young kid living in Serbia, I went to a music school for piano. Somewhere at the same time I started playing in a Rock band. That was everything to me. I really enjoyed being creative, writing and composing songs with my band. We ended up recording two albums in a professional studio. I was 13 and 14 at the time. We were so proud that we have made something on our own. And people liked our songs. Even today, I can play a few songs from those albums to people. Those songs stood the test of time. I am still proud of how young we were and what we have accomplished. Later, when I moved to United States I started making movies. I really didn’t have friends to make music with, and it was a big adjustment for me coming from a foreign country. I just didn’t fit anywhere. Luckily, the high school that I went to had a film festival and it got me curious. I thought to myself, maybe I can get a couple of my friends to make a movie with and submit it. We ended up making movies for 3 consecutive years and winning most of the awards at the festival. We became the cool kids! I became a cool kid! All I wanted was to make movies. There was a movie we made called Exit which became very popular and it got me thinking that there might be a career for me in making films. It was creative and I was good at it. So after high school, I went to Columbia College Chicago for film directing. After college I moved to Los Angeles. I have made a choice that this will be my life. And every time it got hard I turned to movies. And every time it was good I turned to movies. It has never failed me. I found myself in this world, both in good and in bad.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I have been making movies for 20 years. I have written, produced, directed, edited and acted in them. It wasn’t the same involvement in all of them, but I was always the driving force behind it. The newest thing I have been working on is a Pilot for a TV Series called The Valley, and a documentary A Tribute To A Rock Star. The Pilot was written by my friend Aleksandar Adzic and I. It’s based on stories about our lives living as filmmakers in Los Angeles. Many are true but there are also some that are fiction. The documentary is about an impersonator; Bono impersonator to be exact, the singer of an Irish Rock band U2. It’s so fascinating that the impersonator looks exactly like the real singer. People can’t tell the difference. They approach him anywhere he goes and they want to talk to him, get a picture with him and get his autograph. It’s really bizarre and yet so interesting. We started filming that documentary back in 2014. , when I first moved to LA. So, it’s been 10 years in the making. We are almost done with it!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think perseverance is the first on my list. No matter how hard it gets, don’t quit! Sooner or later things will catch on and it’ll all be worth it. The next thing would be to create from your own experiences. I feel that people can recognize and get attached to art that they can believe in. Something they can also feel. Sometimes when I am stuck, I just take a look at my life; and believe me there is a lot of material already there just waiting and screaming to be used! And people will appreciate it more when they find out that it’s a true story. The third thing would be your community. Surround yourself with people that are also creating and understanding your world. They will help you get there.

To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?

My father bought me my first keyboard and my first camera. That’s how I started! Also, my parents have been very supportive in my choice to be an artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.markogrujic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markog51/
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@grujicmarko51

Image Credits

Brankica Bujic for the feature image.