We were lucky to catch up with Christianna Carmine recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Christianna , 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?
Hmm. I would have to say my resilience grew out of a combination of my childhood experiences and my inherent nature. I was a mixed-race kid in an all white suburb and faced some intense bullying from a young age through my teens. It didn’t help that I was also diagnosed with ADD with processing disorder either. I repeatedly heard from peers, teachers, even my guidance counselor, that I wouldn’t amount to much because of my neurodivergence – which they just saw as me being dumb. Thankfully, my parents believed in my abilities – despite the fact that I made them crazy with how all over the place I was!
As I got older, I encountered one kick in the gut after another, but there were wins and successes too. I believe that those “wins” kept my fire burning hot enough to keep going. That, and some level of sheer stubbornness. The more I heard “you can’t do xyz” the more motivated I was to do it.
It never occurred to me that I wouldn’t eventually meet some success in my life – what that success would be I didn’t know, but somehow, I always knew that those days weren’t going to last forever. I believe that’s where the nature part came in. I was just born hopeful I guess. For me, there is no other option. If I don’t have hope, I’m in deep doo doo.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a filmmaker and an acting coach. As you can imagine, the dual strikes this year haven’t been great for business! That said, it’s given me time to work on some projects I otherwise wouldn’t have time for.
As a coach, I work primarily on sets with tweens and teen actors. Earlier this year, I finished up a action comedy film starring Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. It was great fun working with the young actors on the set, despite the weather being lousy for most of the shoot! I also coach actors privately on auditions or just to keep their acting chops sharp and focused. Coaching some of the young actors I’ve been lucky enough to work with has been nothing short of amazing. To see their natural talent take center stage or to be privy to their skills getting better with time has been a tremendous honor.
As a filmmaker, I have found my niche in the dark comedy space, although I’d like to think I can tackle any genre! I’m presently in development on a psychological thriller (TV) series based on a novel I have the rights to. My producer and I are beyond excited to see where this journey takes us as the book is pretty phenomenal.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I would say “peopling” well would be the number one skill that has been most impactful on my journey. Make no mistake, as a neuro-diverse individual, peopling can be very, very taxing. However, the combination of what I learned in graduate school along with observing how my father interacted with others has provided me with tools that I’ve been able to utilize throughout my life. My dad is an expert at interacting with others and can talk to anybody about literally anything. I observed him in awe for much of my young life, and believe I learned a thing or two from all that observation. In my opinion, being able to relate to others in a kind and respectful way can only bring good. It’s also truly necessary when you’re working in entertainment, or any field for that matter.
Being able to navigate a crisis or, as I like to call it “the ninth circle of hell” with grace and calm is also one of my super powers. My philosophy is, as long as nobody’s injured or dying, then I can find a solution to whatever comes my way. This is particularly true when working on sets. At the end of the day, we’re making make believe! This job, while very stressful at times, is also predicated on storytelling and for the most part, storytelling is supposed to be fun. If we allow for all the moving parts to stress us out, or affect our health or family life, then, that’s a problem.
There is no better compliment than the ones I received during filming on my last three projects. As with most productions, the sh*t is bound to hit the fan – and as expected, it did. An associate producer on one of my recent projects commented on my ability to handle the chaos that erupted on set and get things back in order with humor and calm. They may have well presented me with a 10 million dollar check, I was so honored and delighted to receive that kind of praise!
Finally, (and I’m stealing a phrase from Stephen Covey here) I try my damndest to listen with the intent to understand, not with the intent to reply. I try to do this in every area of my life, and while I’m not successful 100% of the time, I remain conscientious of the times I failed.
For those who are early in their journey, my advice would be to introduce mindfulness into your life. It’s not woo woo stuff but a science backed philosophy that allows us to move throughout our lives with intention and purpose while being aware of our thoughts, feelings and sensations. If we honor ourselves and others, we can be more intentional in our daily lives rather than being with people or in environments that are not good for our wellbeing. Being mindful also allows us to be aware of how we’re affecting others – good or bad. We can still be strong, capable leaders AND be mindful. Here’s what I can guarantee: nobody wants to work with someone who’s difficult, selfish, out for themselves, high strung or lacking empathy. So while you’re busting your butt to make it in whatever career you choose, practice mindfulness too. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Also, get your head around the fact that life is not a meritocracy. It just isn’t. There are hundreds of college basketball players who practice every day, eat well, lift weights, get enough sleep and bust their asses to get a shot at being an NBA draft pick and yet, only a handful are drafted into the NBA. Read Robert Frank’s book Success and Luck which puts this into perspective in a digestible way. Practice gratitude, talk less, listen more and don’t be a d*ck.
We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?
There’s no doubt that going all in on our strengths is a good bet when pursuing our dream career. That said, by ignoring the areas where we aren’t as strong may also bite us in the rear later on. I’ll use directing as an example. If you’re a talented “actors director” who actors love working with, but a lousy “technical director” who crews loathe to work with, you’re not going to be as attractive a candidate to studios or producers as the director who is loved by actors AND technically savvy. For example, if my DP (director of photography) asks if I want to shoot a particular scene with a “17 or a 24” and I look at them like a deer in headlights? The whole crew is going to be thinking “oh shit”, and that’s never good. The crew needs to trust you and needs to know you can lead a set. If you don’t know you’re stuff, particularly as a female, you’re setting yourself up to receive a lot of eye-rolls, or worse, a lack of trust and respect. On one of my sets, I had two crew members who made the assumption that I didn’t know anything about lighting and proceeded to light a scene without me or my cinematographer present. When I gently explained to them that they were going to need to re-light the set and that they needed some additional fill light, they went and asked my (male) cinematographer for verification! Thankfully he responded with; “what Christianna just told you”. Because I took the time to acquaint myself with lighting a few years earlier, I was able to demonstrate that I had enough knowledge to make that request.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.christiannacarminedirector.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ccarminedirects
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiannacarminedirector/
- Other: threads https://www.threads.net/ccarminedirects
Image Credits
Richard Galli James Stroud David del Rio
