We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Emilie Pesante a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Emilie, so many exciting things to discuss, we can’t wait. Thanks for joining us and we appreciate you sharing your wisdom with our readers. So, maybe we can start by discussing optimism and where your optimism comes from?
I’ve always been optimist in life. I guess it’s in me. When something looks impossible or hard to reach, I like to challenge myself and make things possible. Sometimes it takes time, but as long as you try and give your best to succeed, it’s the most important. For me, when you believe in you and think positive, you attack the positive.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Born in Marseille in South of France, I’m a creative Cinematographer.
From a very young age, I dreamed of living in Los Angeles and working in TV. A few years later, my dream came true.
I moved from Marseille to Paris to grab my chance.
I didn’t know anybody but I worked hard to make connexion and work step by step on successful shows watched by millions of televiewers. I worked more than 15 years in Paris
In 2017, I wanted to live new adventures and I moved to Los Angeles. I didn’t know anybody but like in Paris, I built through word of mouth my career in the industry.
In October 2019, I began working with the American channel FOX Soul, a new live and interactive streaming channel dedicated to African American viewers. I worked every day on 4 live talk shows. One of the director saw my work and He hired me to bring a fresh eye, my creativity and my French touch on his new game show “You bet your life with Jay Leno” aired on Fox.
I wasn’t just a Camera Operator. I gave him ideas to offer him more shots, more creativity, more movement. In the U.S shows are mainly static. I tried to change that and he liked my suggestions.
Since this show, my life has changed! I started to be known and called for my work. Now I work on renowned shows like “Pictionary” hosted by Jerry O’Connell aired on FOX, “Big Brother”, “The young and the restless”, “The price is right” on CBS, or “The Morning show” on Apple TV, “The masked singer”…
I always enjoy to look at a set, the program and think of what we can bring or do something different?
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I think that my persistence helped me to succeed. When I call a Production which send me a classic answer to thank “thank you but we don’t need a new camera operator”, I always say to my friends “they don’t know yet, but we will work together soon and they will love me”. It sounds like very confident and arrogant, but it means that no matter how long it will take, I will call them back as long as I need until they accept to meet me and give me a chance.
It’s a good start, but then I have to work hard and prove them that they didn’t make a wrong decision by hired me. I have to work well and try to bring something different. One day I came with a plexiglass to play with the reflexion. The entire set loved it! And they couldn’t believe that this little plxi made this amazing picture.
To finish, you have to be nice and friendly. We spend hours together so It’s important to be happy to work with someone. You can be the best but if your attitude is not good, they won’t call you back. In summary, believe in yourself, show your motivation, work hard, and have a good attitude.
Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?
I’m lucky because my parents always supported me, financially and emotionally.
They are not in the industry, and they were expected from me to have a classic job.
When I started my career in Paris, It was really hard but they never let me down.
Same thing when I moved to Los Angeles. My mom didn’t understand why I left everything behind me to start again in a new country, new continent, new language, and no work or family/friends. But they supported me and they never asked me to go back home even during hard time. He helped me a lot to succeed.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ep2video/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilie-pesante-2a236b9b/
