An Inspired Chat with Lada Egorova of Los Angeles

Lada Egorova shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Hi Lada, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What are you being called to do now, that you may have been afraid of before?
For a long time, I was someone who waited for someone else to give me a chance, to approve my script, to accept to produce my film or series. I was waiting and hoping to get the opportunity to receive a greenlight.
Different experiences and moments in my career made me realize that I could be the one giving myself chances but also giving other chances. I never thought I could be on the other side of the table, being the one to greenlight a project. I thought you needed something special, that I was not ready or qualified to sit in that seat. Now I’ve discovered that all this time I’ve had the skills to be the person to greenlight my own projects, to be independent from anyone’s decision-making. I realized that the rejections I received were actually a blessing that lead me to the path of becoming my own opportunities creator.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Lada Egorova, a director, writer, and producer based in Los Angeles, and the co-founder of Pocket Cinema, a streaming app dedicated to bringing cinematic storytelling into the world of short-form and vertical series. I’ve written, directed, and produced several original genre projects for the platform from action and sci-fi to westerns each one created with the same care and passion I would bring to a feature film. For me, Pocket Cinema is more than a company; it’s a creative movement built by filmmakers who believe that meaningful, emotional, and visually powerful stories can live anywhere, even on the small screen. My work has always been about exploring identity, resilience, and human connection and through Pocket Cinema, I want to continue proving that true cinema isn’t about format or length, but about the feeling it leaves behind.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
I always thought that I would forever stay a shy person, that I’d never become comfortable speaking in public, that I would blush anytime I’d have to speak in front of a crowd or meet strangers. However, overtime, with maturity and experience being in leadership positions and surrounded by crowds I have learned that public speaking, being comfortable around big groups and expressing myself in front of strangers can be skills you develop the more you are exposed to experiences that put you in those situations. You may not always be born a naturally-born public speaker but the more you experience at work or in your personal life moments where you have to expose yourself to crowds and speak publicly the easier it gets. I am still an introvert and feel more comfortable surrounded by small groups or one on one conversations however speaking publicly or being surrounded by crowds feels easier and less stressful. I’ve also learned over the years about how real the spotlight effect is and not to care so much about what others may think about me, I put more importance on what I think about myself and make sure I am proud or satisfied with how I present myself and behave and who I am.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
The pain of rejection opened my mind to new paths I would have never seen if I had succeeded in a specific endeavor.
My company and app Pocket Cinema was born partly from my deep love of telling stories similar to the movies I grew up watching and that made me madly fall in love with cinema, but it also came from being tired of the gatekeepers and the traditional “Hollywood success path.”
It made me realize that the end goal is not the please the gatekeepers or have their attention, they are not my end goal, my end goal is to reach audiences, and if I can find a way to reach out directly to audiences, I wouldn’t even need those gatekeepers to approve my work or who I am because they wouldn’t be relevant anymore.
This is how I realized that I wanted to create Pocket Cinema, so I could reach audiences who love cinema as much as I do, directly instead of going through gatekeepers such as other platforms, festivals, distributors or other producers.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I’ve been working on Pocket Cinema for several months now, I truly believe there is a space for it in the vertical space, particularly because we are differentiating ourselves from the typical vertical apps that only focus on vertical content and romance/drama series.
With Pocket Cinema we focus on strong storytelling, we develop genre-driven series and we curate and develop each series with a focus on quality and impact rather than just making fast content.
It was also created by indie filmmakers whom I believe are the best people suited to take on this growing trend because of how resourceful they can get and how smart they can manage what they have and create something incredible on any budget.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. Are you tap dancing to work? Have you been that level of excited at any point in your career? If so, please tell us about those days. 
These last few months have been some of the most exciting ones, at Pocket Cinema we’ve been developing our launch slate, filled with exciting series, from various genres and completely different worlds. My inner child rejoiced immediately, it feels like getting your spark back and falling in love with cinema all over again. I’ve been feeling the same excitement I got when I just started getting into filmmaking as a teenager and creating my first projects.
Everyday is a new set of challenges but also opportunities, there is so much to be done but the purpose feels so great and authentic, coming from my heart that working doesn’t feel like work, it is fun and thrilling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pocketcinema.info/app
• Instagram: pocketcinemapp
• Linkedin: Pocket Cinema
• Other: Founder:
  Instagram: lada.egorova_
  LinkedIn: Lada Egorova