We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brooke Linsalata. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brooke below.
Hi Brooke, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
I have to say I get my resilience in who I am and my work ethics from my mom. My Mom went through a horrible domestic violence divorce, and I lived through it with her. I saw her go through very difficult times and she always got through it, her optimism was infectious as she showed all of us to keep our heads up and keep going. No matter what, she fought hard to make sure my brother and I were safe. I admire that and I think if she can go through that, I can get through whatever I’m going through. Learning at a young age to be flexible and determined allows me to work with my crew in a positive way, as I am all for collaboration with one another on all my projects. I truly love going to work everyday. I’ve always had my dream of making films and I’d never want to do anything else. I’m always daydreaming about my stories and I love writing. It’s my passion. I can’t see myself doing anything else, and I think that’s what gets me through it.
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 make movies. Ever since I was a young age of five, I loved telling stories and writing. I started in elementary school with making comic books. I hand drew each one and then would sell them to my classmates. Looking back now, I see where I was creating movies but in drawing form to entertain everyone. Making movies is just something inside that I knew I always wanted to do. I chose to make my ideas, my dreams, my visions into films to share them with everyone. What’s exciting is having a story that people can watch and relate to in their lives, to enjoy, to laugh, to cry, to wonder at as they see your story come to life. That’s what movies are about, and I think that’s what I do with my movies. I like to create movies that are fun to watch, but they also have a deep plot, and solid characters. It’s not just the writing, though, it’s filming as well. Casting actors for the parts, putting together the character’s wardrobes, location scouting, lighting the scene, gathering all the equipment, finding the crew, to then begin the next stage of lights, camera, action. Yes, making it the best it can be. There’s something about creating a story from start to finish and then finally seeing it on the big screen with an audience that is magical. I work with my mom on our movies, and our production company is BellaMoon Films. We assist others who wish to get started in filming their stories. Sometimes they just need a crew, and we have that. We help them walk through the process of filmmaking.
We create documentaries and narrative films that can be about any subject. We look to make good quality films. Films that you enjoy watching, as they tug on the heartstrings and make you want to root for the main character. We currently have two films in the film festival circuit, “Meet Me in the West”, which is a short western film, and “Gianna”, which is an Italian-American romantic comedy feature film. Presently, we are working on two documentaries and one horror feature film.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think the three qualities that are the most impactful in my journey is your eye for film, kindness, and collaboration. Your eye for film is your vision. It’s super important that you have your own vision for your film because it’s what makes you, you and it’s what separates you from other filmmakers. I have an eye for film, I know what I am looking for and seeking from the film and what I want it to look like. Kindness is also valuable. I know treating the cast and crew with kindness and just being respectable is very valuable to all of us. Building those relationships with everyone makes the filmmaking process easier and enjoyable. This allows for a beneficial time working together on set and lets people know that you value their opinion and the job they are doing. Collaboration is also impactful on my journey because I love talking with the cast and crew about how to make the film better. It is about creating the best film that all of us together can make, a team effort. Sometimes I get stuck on an idea or I can’t figure out how to move past a certain point in my story and someone will give their opinion. Because they have different ideas, they’re able to think of things that I never could. A lot of times, their opinion will be the answer I was looking for. Or maybe an actor has a thought about a character that I didn’t think of, or they want to try something out. I think it’s important to let the actor do that. To explore the character and get more out of it than what I wrote. Collaboration is fun and I think it helps make the film the best it can be. But you also need to know when to collaborate and when not to. Sometimes you have to make a decision as a director and stick to that decision and other times you can collaborate. My advice would just be to keep creating all the time. Work on your voice and your vision. And create things that you want to create because you love it.
Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
My Mom has been the one person who has taught and helped me to overcome challenges in my life and work. I look up to her in so many ways. She’s just amazing, she’s beautiful, tough, blunt honest, funny and smart. I learned a lot about life’s lessons and how to handle those lessons, and I wouldn’t be who I am today without her guidance in all of that. I collaborate with my mom with all of my writings and our movies. We have very similar ideas, and we know what we both like and dislike. So, when I need some advice, I just ask her and she always gives the best answer whether I like the answer or not, I know she has my best interest at heart, and will not steer me wrong. She’s also there for me when I’m having a hard time getting through the hardships in life. She helps talk me through things, as we all need a second voice to sound things out. Because she’s so wise and has so much experience, she’s able to tell, teach me, and share with me what she’s learned.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://brookelinsalata.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bellamoon_films/
- Other: https://bellamoonfilms.com
Image Credits
Adele Bellofatto Sunscreen Film Festival BrandCreativeCo.com
