We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christina Diamantara. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christina below.
Christina, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
Though it’s been a journey trying to discover the tools that could help me boost and maintain my resilience (why don’t they teach this kinda stuff at school?), I have come to appreciate the small but very impactful practices that get me through stressful or difficult times. Developing and maintaining a steady routine that works for me, eating healthy, exercising daily, meditating, breathing exercises, and reaching out to loved ones are things that may sound redundant but have a major impact on maintaining a positive outlook which ultimately is the only thing that can get you through adversities. As we go through an ongoing strike that majorly impacts the entertainment field, many of us feel lost without the stability of work to fall back on. During this time I’ve started questioning how each of us can create that sense of stability for ourselves and the answer I’ve found so far, is to listen to and take care of our bodies, which in turn will allow our minds to ground as well.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I am a Film and Promotional Media Director, currently living and working in Los Angeles. I was always enamored with the world of filmmaking, as I really enjoyed watching films during childhood, but I also saw the world of entertainment as a constantly growing space where evolution never ceases. Originally from Greece, I came to LA 6 years ago to earn my master’s degree from the American Film Institute Conservatory and since then I’ve been freelancing as a promotional media creator for clients ranging from big corporate companies to small business owners. I’ve also spent a significant amount of time as a Voice Director, coaching and directing voice performers for English dubs, video games, and animation. My background is in narrative filmmaking and I’m always developing larger stories like features and TV shows but at the same time, I really enjoy getting to direct smaller projects where I can feel that my impact is more immediate. There’s nothing I enjoy more than getting to spend time with clients, picking their brains and understanding what their preferences are, and then creating something that honors and advocates for their work or product. So if you have a business/skill/service that needs promotion, hit me up, I’d love to get creative together!
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?
I believe my most important quality which generated other important qualities as well, has been my commitment to find ways to make my predominantly creative profession, a financially sustainable one. Creativity and financial stability seem to have been in battle for centuries within our society so I’m definitely not saying that I know all the ways to completely bridge the gap between the two. But having other dreams outside of my “dream job”, and trying to get my work to support this other part of my life as well, rather than having my life be in constant sacrifice for the sake of my job, has pushed me to be more grateful of the work itself, to not be afraid to get my hands dirty, and to take on projects outside of my typical range, discovering completely new creative fields.
My advice for younger filmmakers is to love and be passionate about their creative projects but to remember that this is also a job. And like any other job, you need to take breaks from it, you need vacations and you need to be able to get excited about things that have nothing to do with your professional role. Society has us believe that because we have a “fun” job, we should have no problem doing it all the time, maxing ourselves out and letting other aspects of our life stay neglected. So it’s up to us to set our own boundaries, take pauses and breaks, and develop all other aspects of our lives that have nothing to do with our work.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
A book I’m currently reading is “The Myth of Normal” by Gabor Maté. It has been incredibly insightful in how it analyzes the relationship between body and mind as well as the disconnect between our current civilization model and true human nature. One thing that has really stuck with me from the book is the way he analyzes ideas we have about our own species. We often say that it is human nature to be competitive and cruel. However, we never say it is our nature to be empathic, loving, and compassionate, even when faced with clear examples of that. Maté argues that as humans, we have both those tendencies within us and we develop one or the other more as a consequence of our environment. However, research shows that we are in our most thriving state when surrounded by loving, interconnected communities and not when we have to fight others for our safety and stability every day. I highly recommend it, it has been a game-changer for me in the ways I perceive humanity and Western culture!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vimeo.com/user58660422
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cdiamonddd/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christina.diamantara
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-diamantara/
