We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jonathan Akkawi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Jonathan with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I get my work ethic from my immigrant parents. They sacrificed everything to move from the Middle East to the United States (my father in the 80s and my mother in the 90s after they married) to give their future children a better life and more opportunities than they both had in the Middle East. Growing up, I have witnessed their dedicated work ethic in order to provide for us and build their careers up from scratch and fight against the tribulations of racism, sexism, discrimination and xenophobia towards us – something that has been instilled in me to always overcome. I let that fuel my fire to prove to people I deserve to be where I am and that I deserve to be at the same caliber as any other dedicated person.
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 multi-hyphenate artist – a filmmaker, actor, producer and screenwriter that also dabbles in stand-up comedy, script doctoring and film festival programming. I started my entertainment company, Bougie Arabs Entertainment as a means to start my #ArabsBreakHollywood movement to allow Arab and other Middle Eastern artists to reclaim their voices in the entertainment industry and tell our stories properly rather than the one-dimensionalized and stereotyped portrayals of our culture and people. I have already produced two short films that are hitting the film festival circuit soon – “Alitisal” and “Angel”, both stories about POC families experiencing grief and mental health crisis in their own ways.
I also run two different podcasts – “The Hollywood Chai” and “The Script Doctors” (both available on Spotify and Apple Podcast). The former is an interview show in which I invite fellow creatives to talk about their journeys through the entertainment industry and their experiences trying to break through, allowing them to spill their “chai” (tea). The latter is a podcast that takes popular films or TV pilots and my co-host Jon Cooper of Cooper Home Entertainment and I discuss things we’d fix or change about the script if were at the helm.
I went to UC Berkeley for my undergraduate degree but studied Molecular & Cellular Biology and Theatre Studies with an Emphasis in Acting because my Middle Eastern background made me want to study something more grounded and tangible as a career in the arts is more difficult. But after graduating and working in corporate for a little bit, I went back to study at UCLA for screenwriting, enrolling in their graduate professional program for screenwriting…then enrolled twice more – one for TV Writing for Comedy and another for TV Writing for Drama which launched my career through connections made and understanding more of the craft.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The three most important skills that have been impactful for my journey are: perseverance, flexibility and problem solving.
One of the most important pieces of advice I have for folks early in their journey is to find your people. Find your tribe as some say in the entertainment industry but that can also be attributed to any industry and career pathway. You want to find the people that constantly uplift you and support you no matter what the job is. Burnout is real but having a core group of people (whether friends, family members or colleagues) that you can always come back to and that remind you why you are doing what you are doing and the importance of your work is a great reminder. It helps your perseverance.
Flexibility is also key – you have to learn to be flexible cause an industry like this is very unpredictable. One day you are on set for a gig and the next you are out of work. Or one day you have everything going right for you and the next day everything is ruined and you have to build yourself up once again. Having flexibility and understanding that this is the process of the industry will thicken your skill and teach you how to manage these sorts of things.
Problem solving is also a key skill to have because there are always going to be issues that arise for any project – especially as a producer or filmmaker and you have to be quick on your feet to find a creative solution instead of just complaining and letting a project fall apart.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me? Supporting me and pushing me to be my best, no matter what form that comes in. Having immigrant parents can pose as a culture or generational barrier between a first generation American and their parents. My parents have lived in the United States for more than half of their lives and I know although they sometimes long for home and being with the rest of our relatives (although my family is quite international, living across all 6 continents), they know that moving to the US has allowed for my brother and I to purse our dreams and in return push us to do what they cannot do. My father wanted to be a doctor but due to the university system/acceptance had to switch career paths but he is a well-known and highly respected Civil Engineer in the Bay Area. My mother always wanted to be a teacher and even had modeling and artistic endeavors thrown at her but she declined due to the culture and is now a well-respected teacher within the Bay Area school districts working with Autistic and Special Needs Students as well as teaching Arabic to the community. Showing me their dedication to their own respective careers as they supported me in following mine and ensuring I was grounded has truly made my life for the better.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @thejakkawiarab
- Twitter: @thejakkawiarab
- Other: Other instagram accounts: @bougiearabsentertainment @thehollywoodchai @thescriptdoctors
Image Credits
Meramees Nino, Michal Urbansky
