Meet Cem Ertunc

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

Hi Cem, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?

I hate a blank white page. Someone once told me that it is impossible to find inspiration on an empty white sheet of paper. You look at it, and look at it, and look at it, but never find anything; you get lost in its infinite hollowness. Every time you turn a new page in a notebook, open a new document on your computer, or scroll down to the next page of your never-ending script, it will be a blank page. So I fill it. I scribble, draw, write nonsense, and sometimes sketch a stick figure waving at me, but I always put something on it before doing anything else. If I’m writing a script and the new page feels scarier than ever, I tell myself, write a line, one sentence, one dialogue, and it will be enough. It is always enough to get me to continue. You can find inspiration in emptiness; all art is imitation. You need to look at the world to find it or create yours to see it.

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

I am a filmmaker. I produce my own work as well as work on other people’s productions. I mainly direct and/or edit. Under the name Kirchhoff Productions, we have produced over six shorts and one feature film, “One Way.” We are currently developing our next two projects, both feature films. This is my dream job—it always has been—and I’m very privileged to be able to pursue it. Being able to watch, on a big screen, what you have dreamt of every night for years is the best feeling in the world.

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?

Work, work, and work. Talent has little to no effect on whatever you want to do in life. It is up to you to make your dreams a reality. To do that, you HAVE to keep working. You need to put one foot in front of the other every single day, even when it feels impossible, and keep working on it. My old basketball coach would say that a game is won in practice. If you don’t practice, you won’t win. Your dreams have to be your priority but don’t mistaken me, your health and loved ones is the key to success. Without health, you cannot keep the game going, and without any loved ones, you have no one to share your victories (or losses) with.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Always! In this field, you can’t do anything alone. You have to have support and assistance. What makes films so special is that everyone gets to include their creativity and spice to create an art piece that can last for generations. I’m always on the lookout for passionate and hard-working filmmakers to collaborate and make history together. If anyone is interested in that offer, you can find me through IMDb or Instagram, and I would be more than happy to have a chat.

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