Meet Alix Jean-francois

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alix Jean-francois a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alix, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I don’t believe I’ve ever had imposter syndrome. My abilities come from looking at life in a realistic view from multiple angles. Imposter syndrome is when one does not believe their success is legitimately achieved as a result of their efforts and skills. Reality, when I can’t achieve a task, it’s usually because I haven’t learned it or concentrated on achieving it. If I’m asked about something I don’t know, I state, I don’t know. People believe an expert should know all the answers and that’s just not true. No one knows the answers to everything and if they say they do, they are either fabricating, or their ego is way too big for reality. Life is infinite, it’s OK to be celebrated on your merits and not add achievements that aren’t real. Then you never have to worry about being found to be a fraud, or an imposter.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I am an artist first and foremost. What I am always looking for is the next level. I have a fascination with moving pictures, the framing and composition, the depth of the color and a great heartfelt story. My journey started with telling my daughters bedtime stories. Some nights when we didn’t feel like reading, we would make up amusing and funny children’s stories.

During a brief period of unemployment, I answered ads in Backstage as a background extra. After awhile, just walking back and forth and not being seen, I met my friend John Trapani. John suggested I perform in Black Box theater. It was an amazing experience for me. The feel of live theater, the audience reactions, the nervousness just before you go on stage. It lead me to want to write and produce plays and enter theater festivals.

As with all things, theater can only be successful as it’s weakest link. The actor that doesn’t come to rehearsal, the actor that shows up late, the actor that can’t remember their lines. Producing for theater, while rewarding, was difficult. Though we won awards at the local theater festivals, the lack of some actors disciplines took a lot of joy from the work.

On my last theater production in 2002, a friend suggested I put the actors on film. I wrote, produced and did a minor acting role in my first full length film, “Love’s Sweet Thing'” which won an Honorable mention in the 2004 “Through Her Eye’s Women of Color Film Festival” and was an Official Selection of the 2005 “African Diaspora Film Festival.”

I presently stream this project on my OTT channel “INdie Channel” on Roku stick.

My present focus is concentrating on developing “INdie Channel” (https://channelstore.roku.com/details/bccb40c4b130019564f238fc995adce1/indie-film-makers) and finding new and interesting content. I encourage new and young filmmakers to submit their projects for streaming by contacting me on my website at OMACFilms.com. It’s a good way to build a following, get exposure and stream your content.

I also created a company, Beyonimation.org which concentrates on Special effects, green screen and animations. Our most current project is a series of short films on the solar system, space exploration and astronomy for children.

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’ve found the three most impactful traits that have contributed to my longevity were, ingenuity, determination and a thick skin.

I say ingenuity because if talent and good looks were all you needed in this business, there would be a lot more actors winning great roles and performing in major motion pictures. I always say, “There are 200,000 registered actors in the unions. Everybody is doing the same thing, no one is getting anywhere.” Be original, think outside of the box, create your own vehicles.

Determination is very important, fame and careers don’t happen over night. every time a door closes in your face, you have to evaluate the work, process the rejection, re-invent, create and learn. It’s rare someone is discovered and creates a life long career without training or education.

Have a thick skin, being an actor is about hearing “no” more often that not. If you know your work, you’re confident it competes well with other peers work, brush off the many loses and keep moving forward and finding other avenues to promote yourself, because there is a right job for everyone and sometimes that’s the spark that lights the fuse and leads to a cascade of work.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am always searching for partners, peers and others to collaborate with. I believe our strongest strength is working together as a unit. Most of my collaborations were with other filmmakers whose film companies had equipment I needed, or needed equipment that I possessed. I have worked with writers, editors and actors who are not considered main stream, because there’s always a unique angle I can provide, or they provide me.

What I look for are four qualities, selflessness, love of the art, longevity and patience. Selflessness means once committing to a project, they understand if they leave, they’re not just leaving me, they’re leaving the cast and crew hanging in the wind if they decide to walk out in the middle of the project. Love of the Art means understanding sometimes there is no reward having completed a job other than it being well done. Longevity also means sometimes it will be a long haul before any of the rewards for our hard work gets back to us and foremost, patience, because there will be many people that will hold you back, delay your projects, or outright try and sabotage the work. Karma has a flow to it. Karma will guide you to the answers you need to finish your projects, you just have to be patent enough to wait until it reveals itself.

I am always looking to stream work, I am always looking for actors and crew looking to collaborate, I am always looking for other filmmakers and companies interested in creating a project or developing a storyline in pre and post production. I can be reached via my websites Admin@OMACFilms.com Admin@Beyonimation.org, or info@NYFilmmakersAwards.com

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Rachel Ma, Hiroko Yonekura, Akiko Tokuoka, Kenn Black Dawn Vicknair

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