We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brian Farrell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brian below.
Brian, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I heard someone I admire once say, “the muse will only visit you if you show up.” For me, that means I need to sit behind my typewriter or laptop, turn the machine on, put a piece of paper in the typewriter or open Final Draft on my laptop and put my fingers on the keyboard. Sometimes the muse doesn’t show up haha, but the more I show up, the more the ideas manifest. I keep my creativity alive by having the faith that if I show up and just start writing, something interesting will end up on the page. It’s fun when that that process happens. The more I test this theory, the more I believe it to be true.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m an independent filmmaker and I love making films. I love the process of having an idea that starts in words on a page and then ends up on a big screen that can be experienced and hopefully enjoyed by an audience. The collaboration involved in making a film is thrilling. People have speciality skills and when you get a group of individuals who are really good at the specific thing they do and work together towards a vision, it’s nothing short of amazing. I have a short film called South Pasadena 4 that I’ll be screening in film festivals this year and I can’t wait to be in a theater with an audience watching it on the big screen. A lot of extremely talented people worked on this film and it’ll be fun to see how it plays in front of an audience.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The the first skill that has been most impactful on my journey of making films is standup comedy. Having done standup comedy for so many years, I’ve developed the ability to communicate what’s funny about an idea. So much of making films is articulating your vision to the people you’re working with.
The second skill is acting. When I’m directing, I feel like I work well with actors because I am one. I have a deep respect and love for actors.
The third is writing. I write all the time and I have for years. – letters to friends, essays, articles, screenplays.
My advice to anyone who wants to improve on these skills is to just do them as often as possible. If you want to do standup, there are plenty of open mics in most cities or if there aren’t, create you’re own open mic. The audience will teach you and let you know what’s funny.
If you want to act, act anywhere you can. If improv looks fun, take an improv class. Audition for student films. Take scene study classes. Write and act in scenes that you shoot with your phone. Read the book An Actor Prepares. Study actors you admire and what their process is like.
If you want to develop writing skills, sit down behind your typewriter or laptop or in front of a notepad and write. Write every day and you’ll get better..
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
I like to meditate. There are some excellent guided meditations that I listen to and I can usually overcome feeling overwhelmed if I step away from the situation and meditate. The calmness that I feel after meditating allows for the next right indicated action to become apparent to me and life feels more manageable. I like the Insight Timer app. There are some great guided meditations on that app.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @boopityba
- Twitter: @boopityba
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@southpasadenafilms?si=FEmhPYpSi888FESW
