Meet Anna Campbell

We were lucky to catch up with Anna Campbell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Anna, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

I didn’t start with confidence. I always felt like I had to do “better”, or “be perfect”. It wasn’t until I realized that perfect didn’t even exist that I started falling in love with what I had to offer. Because I struggled to bring more, do better, my work (still with vestiges of old mentality) now rises to MY standards – which makes me proud! It took therapy, soul searching, somatic work, the love of my friends and family, and finally the understanding that if I didn’t master self- love, no one was going to do it for me.

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 started my career as an actor, with a deep passion for what makes humans tick – although I could tell you that I loved storytelling or studying people’s psychology, there was also a desperate need to feel SEEN. When I realized that I always felt beholden to someone else’s story as an actor, I took charge by learning to produce and then also to direct, which gave me both more control over my career, but also over the kinds of stories being told. Now, filmmaking is my passion in it’s entirety.

I still love acting, but the career shift helped me understand even this part of the craft more completely. Learning to lead a team to a common vision means I understand the value of every team member, and I make it my goal to celebrate individual and common wins. My artistic philosophy is boiled down to my favorite phrase when a take is good: “Oh F*ck Yeah.”

My “brand” is to observe people as they are, normalizing and celebrating the wonderful world of being human, in particular being a woman. The details of interpersonal relationships fascinate me, as well as how our past forms our present and our future. I also believe we can change, and love to show characters on an arc of learning.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1) Know Your Worth. I have said “No” as much as I’ve said yes. I’ve followed my gut when I feel disrespected or scared, and I have avoided many of the pitfalls of being a young actress in Los Angeles (not all of them.)

2) Work With Your Best Friends. In a professional creative world, trust and communication matter. I treat my crew and actors as I want to be treated- as valuable humans worthy of respect and compassionate communication. Everyone should be met where they are, their triumphs celebrated, their weaknesses supported so they can rise to the task.

3) Follow Your Passion. Not everyone gets to do this. Not everyone knows what industry they are compelled to be a part of. But if you do? KNOW IT- love it! Research it, GET IN THERE, find a way to be near it, to believe that you belong where you’re dying to be. There are ups and downs, always. I’d rather have the ups and the downs near the art and the people I love most!

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

The entertainment industry is in turmoil as our distribution models shift and react inconsistently. The advent of streaming changed our business model in a fundamental way, and we are seeing contraction in opportunities as these companies develop new systems of profitability AND respecting the artists whose work they profit from.

In the hey-day of independent film, although it was difficult to MAKE a film, if you could pull it off, and get into the right festival, you could at least be in serious consideration for lucrative deals. But with the new wave of incredible digital products, it’s harder to be noticed as more and more people try their hand at an ever changing art form.

But we won’t – we can’t – give up. Right now, we are creating new systems as independent filmmakers to get our films directly to audiences after years of support from the major studios with excitement that they’ll find us again. As our industry finds itself, we are so excited to be able to get back to work, and so we HAVE to embrace the changes that have already come!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.anna-campbell.com
• Instagram: @annawillgram

Image Credits

Cel Jarvis
Adam Levy