Meet Evan Cohen

We were lucky to catch up with Evan Cohen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Evan, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Having a sense of purpose in my work is now so deeply integrated into who I am but for a long time was a real trial and error process. On a personal level, I’ve always considered myself a spiritual person and political activist and felt it was important to be of service to my community and to give back to those in need. In my career, I’ve worn many hats and taken different roles as I went through a variety of ebbs and flows. Out of college I used to direct music videos and worked as a cinematographer for mostly commercial projects. I used to think this is what I wanted to do forever. As time went on, I felt progressively more passionate about finding ways to align my ethics with my art with my career. Several pivots in my career later and I found myself directing documentaries, both on a personal level and as branded content for some non-profits and brands that I loved. My dreams of being a well known music video director began to dissipate as I found in the documentary space I could bring my vision, ethics and heart into a space and give people a platform to share that were in need of it. I could listen, learn, and and share my perspective all at once while creating a piece of art that was grounded in social or community messaging. I found it incredibly powerful and as I progressed in my career I found that my art grows and evolves as I grow and evolve on a personal level. I’ve now found that purpose-driven documentary work is a strong part of my raison d’etre and I feel deeply fulfilled getting to help communities, social groups, and folks in need through my work.

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 am a documentary director and editor based out of the Hudson Valley in New York State. I own a boutique video production company, TOPAZ Creative, and my work focuses on purpose-driven content.

I help bring visions to life for clients and brands and tell heartfelt stories through the medium of documentary. I work through my company and with other production companies, agencies and on my own personal work. I am currently in pre-production of a new short film and am developing a feature length documentary.

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?

In retrospect I really believe that technical skills are secondary to personal skills. In my life and career I’ve found it most important to be open and flexible, to learn how to collaborate with others and to be deeply intentional in my work.

My advice to anyone early in their career is to keep a vision of what you want, always collaborate with others to build a strong network and to stay humble, flexible and persistent.

Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?

My greatest area of growth has been becoming even more diligent, patient and detail oriented in my work. Each documentary I do seems to test my patience so the more work I do, the better I become at learning how to ask questions, how to engage with my subjects, how to create a space that feels safe, vulnerable and open. I’ve also learned how to continue to push myself to delve deeper into stories and not accept what I see or experience at face value.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.topazcreative.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topazcreative