We recently connected with Kalyan Sura and have shared our conversation below.
Kalyan, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
‘Purpose’ is a loaded word. I don’t know if I found it yet, but I have been fortunate to discover a small intersection of things that I am passionate about and I am good at. That intersection is STORYTELLING.
I grew up in South India in the 90s when Cartoon Network and Hollywood invaded Indian cable TV. As a kid, I filled school books with Pokémon drawings and wrote Indianized Star Wars stories; I would reimagine everyday events as scenes from sci-fi and fantasy movies and visualize epic, alternate endings. I participated in various creative writing and extra-curricular competitions throughout my school years. I remember writing my first essay in second grade titled “My Mother,” which moved my teacher to tears. In 9th grade, I wrote a Sherlock-esque horror thriller novella for which I was picked to represent my school in a nationwide creative writing contest. In quick succession, I landed a role in a children’s movie, which I quit just after my first day on set. My mother maintains that I was frustrated with the director and complained he had no clue what he was doing (I was a diva!). Despite my love for writing, the specter of engineering weighed heavily during the latter part of high school. I followed the popular trend and enrolled in additional classes for Math, Physics, and Chemistry to get a head start for the aptitude tests. The extracurriculars fell to the back burner and became more of a hobby.
Ironically, while studying Computer Science Engineering, I rediscovered my passion for storytelling. As a member and later the President of the Creative Activities Society at my Undergraduate university, I dived back into writing, drawing, and painting and taught myself animation to express my stories. In my junior year, I enrolled in a filmmaking elective course and co-directed a documentary about food wastage with my then-girlfriend (who is now my wife). Our film, titled NASEEB (meaning Fate) not only won awards, but led to policy changes in our university, and showed me the power of storytelling to bring about meaningful change. In my senior year, I taught an introductory course on 3D Animation, becoming the only undergrad instructor in my university.
My love for animation and my passion for storytelling led me to DreamWorks Animations, where I worked on critically and commercially successful films, and later to the University of Southern California, where I graduated with a Master’s degree in Film Production. Over the years, I have had the unique opportunity to work in every department – from storyboarding to sound mixing in live-action and animation filmmaking. After working with some of Hollywood’s most decorated artists and studios in various capacities, I realized that Writing/ Directing is my preferred tool for self-exploration and expression. Writing and Directing lets me create fictional worlds to influence the real world around me. And for now, that is my purpose – to create stories that entertain and inspire my audiences.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Conflict. Drama. Catharsis – these are the cornerstones of what I do.
As a storyteller, I love exploring human emotions and relationships through stories across science-fiction, fantasy, dramedy, and animation. I have several projects in development to be shot in India and the US, and I’m excited to share them with the world!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Throughout my filmmaking journey, I have picked up several technical and creative skills; be it problem-solving, effectively communicating my ideas, or the patience to sit in front of a computer screen for hours to edit images and sounds.
However, beyond these skills, three essential qualities continue to aid me in my journey as an artist. They are desire, discipline, and determination.
Everything starts with desire. A desire to tell a story, a desire to be heard, and a desire to create meaningful change. Desire is what fuels the fire that will develop into your passion.
Discipline is by far the most important quality to achieve anything. There are days when desire may falter and motivation may forsake you, but if you have cultivated the discipline, you will always find yourself on the right track to get out of a slump.
And last but not least, determination to face adversities and get back after a fall – because in a creative journey, there are bound to be more failures than successes.
These three, among many other qualities, helped me build resilience to face failures and keep fighting toward realizing my goals. I hope they can help other creatives find the fortitude to face the challenges along their journeys.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am always on the lookout to meet and collaborate with like-minded creatives. Currently, as I’m developing a slate of diverse projects across genres and formats, I’m looking for Producers and Writers who deeply desire to create stories with an impact.
They can reach me through my personal website – https://www.kalyansura.com/ or my Instagram – @jk.sura
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kalyansura.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jk.sura/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sjkalyan/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jksura/
- Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6568567/
