Meet Adam Kiss

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Adam Kiss. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Adam below.

Adam, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I believe that resilience and persistence are the absolute essential ingredients for success in any endeavor and especially in the arts. All artists face constant rejection and adversity, and if I would have let that stop me I wouldn’t have had the phenomenal successes that I have had. I’m far from the first person to say that success is not a very good teacher and I personally believe that you learn more from failure than from success. At least when you fail you know what not to do and you are one step closer to know what to do. In all honesty, when somebody tells me I can’t do something, that’s when I get really inspired and know that I can definitely do it. There is another old saying that I live by: “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re probably right.” The point is, I believe that in order to be an artist you can’t be completely realistic and you have to be a little delusional. The chances of success are so small that any sane person wouldn’t try at all and would do something else. Only the people like me (the people who have an intense passion for what they do and literally cannot imagine themselves doing anything else) are the ones who can make it. I am a big believer in having no “plan B” in life. Another saying I live by is “burn the ships behind you”. In other words make sure to fully commit so that there is no going back even if you want to.

In terms of my life, growing up I was extremely shy. I grew up in a musical family as both of my parents are pianists, and after my parents divorced I was raised by my Mom Christina Kiss, who worked very hard to raise me right. I was constantly bullied at school endlessly every day for years and years because I was “different” and wasn’t ever interested in sports or video games. I found out early, that the only time I wasn’t shy while performing. As a matter of fact, I was the complete opposite–I was a performing animal. People couldn’t believe that I was too shy to talk to someone one on one but would have no problem performing in front of a thousand people. I have never had any fear of public speaking or performing and have never had stage fright, but to this day I’m a very shy person in my personal interactions. Performing has always been where I am able to express myself fully. I was lucky that I found my calling in life early–no matter what I knew that it would involve performing. I was accepted into the precollege program of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC, where such movie stars as Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, Spencer Tracy and Robert Redford attended. All of them were idols of mine even from an early age. While other kids were playing video games, I was watching classic movies from the 1930-s to the 1960s. Some of my favorite stars were Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and Humphrey Bogart. I liked their old-school style and began to dress and act like them as opposed to more modern stars. They were honestly my childhood role models. I also developed an extreme love of Shakespeare and had read every single Shakespeare play by the time I was fourteen years old. It was also at that time that I discovered I could sing. And if it wasn’t for rejection I never would have become a singer. The story goes like this: at the age of fourteen in my freshman year of high school I decided to try out for my school’s “select choir”. I did the audition and was rejected. Instead of getting depressed I was just more motivated to become a great singer and proved them wrong. So I immediately told my Mom I wanted singing lessons and a few months later I auditioned and got one of the leading roles in the school musical. If I hadn’t been rejected in the first place I probably wouldn’t have had the fire and the motivation to succeed. Similarly, in my junior year of high school a guidance counselor told me I had a better chance of being on the New York Yankees than of being an actor or singer. I told my Mom that I am not going back to school and I dropped out. I then completed my last two years of high school homeschooled in six months and started college at Manhattan School of Music.

Then, I overcame adversity by getting into the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, a college that is the most prestigious music school in the world, where people like Leonard Bernstein attended. It’s more selective than Princeton or Harvard with a less than 4% acceptance rate. The first time I auditioned I didn’t get in, the second time I tried I was accepted as one of two people in my class who were accepted that year. There I performed several roles with Opera Philadelphia such as “Leporello” in Don Giovanni and “Bartolo” in Barber of Seville, and got to perform with the Metropolitan Opera Music Director Yannick Nézet Séguin. As I was on stage performing in front of 2,000 people in the title role of “Figaro” I thought back to my early childhood when my parents brought me to a music teacher who told them: “this child is tone deaf and will never be able to sing.”. I think it’s safe to say I proved them wrong.

Finally, I graduated from Curtis during the middle of the pandemic and there were no opportunities for performances. No live performances were going on and so I decided to use the adversity to my advantage. I started making my own short films and won over thirty awards from various prestigious international film festivals including six best actor awards. In the process of doing that I got into screenwriting and was able to write fifteen feature length screenplays and several novels in the space of a few years. I decided to stop waiting for permission to be creative. Most people wait for a big production company to produce their script, I decided to produce it myself with the help of my Mom Christina Kiss who also acted in the film and composed and performed music for it (she is a world famous concert pianist who has performed over forty concerts at Carnegie Hall).

So many people doubted me when I was making this feature film, and of course during a project like this there are problems every step of the way. I like to say that directing a movie is like being a captain. If you are directing a big budget studio movie it’s more like you’re the captain of a military aircraft carrier. If you’re directing an indie film it’s more like you’re the captain of a pirate ship. But either way you’re a captain and have to deal with leaks, enemies, bad weather, rough seas, crew mutinies, etc! I very much believe in “learn by doing” and I didn’t go to film school and learned everything about the technical side of filmmaking just by doing it. And because it was an independent production and I learned so much, I now know that I would be able to do the work of every single member of the crew myself which is very valuable. I find it’s important for a director to know a little of everything. In addition, this was my feature film debut as an actor and I was also the leading role in the movie! Most people thought I couldn’t handle directing writing and producing at the same time, not to mention being the casting director, locations manager, costume and production designer and many more. One time we were filming in NY and were traveling between two locations when we came upon roadblocks and realized that the President’s motorcade was passing through on the way to the United Nations. Our cars couldn’t get through so I had to take my cast and crew and walk ten blocks to the new location carrying just the camera, some costumes, and a few pieces of only the most necessary equipment. We had no supplementary light and I just ordered us to start filming. The scene ended up beautiful and looked very natural and is one of my favorite scenes in the finished film! Often it’s in the imperfection where the genius lies. Some people might have been upset or not started filming, but I believe in seizing the moment and going forward despite all obstacles.

If there is one thing you can guarantee about making and independent film, and any film is general, is that things will always go wrong. You just have to roll with the punches and be able to adapt quickly to a changing situation. Nothing will ever go as planned. And you have to pick your battles to make sure your vision for the project is realized. Making a movie is like a war. But the result is incredible. And my feature film My Last Words is Premiering at the Big Apple Film festival in Manhattan on December 10th 2024! My goals are to keep making more films, I am already planning my next feature film and can’t wait to continue telling stories!

The point is, in this life you have to create your own opportunities. I have always had to work for everything despite constant adversity and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I believe that struggle and pain are the only way—no pain no gain. And you have to love what you do. It’s a cliché but it’s true.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My Feature Film: My Last Words, that I wrote, produced, directed and starred in will be premiering at the Big Apple Film Festival. My goal right now is to continue writing, directing, producing and starring in my own films with my own Production Company: Adam Kiss Productions. A lot of films are made every year, but I make independent films, not studio films. There is no studio executive breathing down my neck telling me what I can and can’t do. The way my movies are filmed and written and edited is according to my vision and all the artistic choices are for the betterment of the movie as opposed to the demands of some big producer. There is a great freedom in that. There have only been a few names in the history of movies that have been able to write, produce, direct and star in their own films and I intend to be one of them. Orson Welles is one of my idols and if I’m known as a modern day Orson Welles I don’t think that’s such a bad thing! However, in truth I am not like anybody, I am unique. Even ‘My Last Words’ is a film that cannot be categorized. While it can be officially described as a touching romantic drama, at the beginning it starts out as a rom-com and becomes at various moments an intense drama, a mystery/thriller, a philosophical study and an arthouse film. It is a film that has a little something for everyone, transcending all genres and styles and is extremely unique and fresh. My primary cinematic inspirations for the film were the movies of such varied directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman, David Lean and Orson Welles. Being inspired by classic cinema, I wanted to make a film in a classic style but also add my own modern twist to it. I see the film as an exploration of life and relationships, the difference between fantasy and reality, and the different roles that we and the people we love play in our lives.

Additionally, I recently started a growing podcast called “The Adam Kiss Show” where I review movies and talk about filmmaking and the entertainment business as a whole. So those are some of the new and exciting things I have been up to!

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The most important quality is a persistent attitude. Talent, hard work, dedication, they are all for nothing without persistence. You may get lucky and succeed on the first try. But chances are that won’t happen, so persistence is the most important quality. Also you have to be adaptable. I often say that you have to have a strong vision but be prepared to throw that away and adapt to situations. This is kind of a contradiction to being persistent but you have to pick your battles. Never compromise on the important things but you may have to change the route you take to the same goal. And finally, for me personally, I always try to have a positive outlook. There are always so many reasons that you can be negative, but it isn’t helping anyone, especially not yourself to dwell on negativity. I always try to look on the bright side, cliche though it may be.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I believe that my mother Christina Kiss has been extremely helpful at giving me the right mindset to face the challenges of life. I always feel that she is there for me if I need her no matter what, and she always gave me the encouragement of going all in on your passion and never having a plan B. If you commit yourself one hundred percent, magical things can happen unexpectedly. She is performing her own epic project called The Liszt Cycle, where she performs live in concert all the piano works of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt, of whose music she is the leading expert in the world. That is a mammoth task comprising of over forty solo recitals at Carnegie Hall so far and through this project she has taught me a lot about hard work and persistence! She inspires me every single day! So I suppose being an overachiever runs in the family!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Christina Kiss, Douglas Gorenstein, Lev Gorn, David Beyda, Lara Barker, Kenna Beban

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where does your optimism come from?

Optimism is the invisible ingredient that powers so much of the incredible progress in society

Confidence
Stories of Overcoming Imposter Syndrome

Learning from one another is what BoldJourney is all about. Below, we’ve shared stories and

Resilience
The Power of Persistence: Overcoming Haters and Doubters

Having hates is an inevitable part of any bold journey – everyone who has made