Meet Kayla Sun

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kayla Sun a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kayla, appreciate you sitting with us today. Maybe we can start with a topic that we care deeply about because it’s something we’ve found really sets folks apart and can make all the difference in whether someone reaches their goals. Self discipline seems to have an outsized impact on how someone’s life plays out and so we’d love to hear about how you developed yours?

I was never a very organized kid. In school, I never studied until a few days before the exams. I’ve always known about the virtues of self discipline, and I was often tempted to be like those who scheduled out their whole days and stuck to their plans, but always failing after a few attempts. After I graduated from college, as I started to gradually take full responsibility of my own life, I realized that every person is different and to be proactive and organized, I had to find a few tricks that worked for myself.

The first thing I found was that seeing one’s growth could motivate oneself to work harder. If I didn’t record what I studied and what I worked on, I would miss the chance to reflect on those progresses. So I spent time developing my own system to track my daily work. How one tracks one’s growth can be highly personal but I recommend everyone take the time to explore. Personally, I don’t like details. I prefer simple and visual records. So on a monthly calendar, I would write in different colors the books I read, the scripts and films I worked on, together with my workouts and other things that were important to my goals and progress. Looking at my monthly calendars always helped me realize how much I’ve changed and I would be very motivated to stay proactive and be ambitious.

Another thing that worked for me was forcing myself to act before thinking. I always think too much. I debate whether to write a script or a novel, or whether to write them in Chinese and English. I weigh the pros and cons too much to a point where they become an excuse to procrastinate. As a Chinese native, to read and write in English was always a little more demanding than it was for others. But once I forced myself to stop thinking about the possible problems and just start writing, things became much simpler. A task may seem impossible before you begin, but once you start, soon you realize that you’re halfway through. And next time you start a similar project, you know that you can do it. You’ve done it. A few times later, they become easy.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a writer-director represented by Bellevue and CAA. My work includes writing scripts and overseeing the making of a film. Some are projects at production companies, and others my original stories.

I was always drawn to storytelling and wanted to do something creative. My family encouraged me to do what I’m interested in but in the first few years of my adulthood, there was still a lot of pressure from society in general and from myself to not take such risks. I studied economics and art at Vanderbilt University and briefly worked in an art gallery before deciding to follow my dreams. I began exploring filmmaking on my own, creating and directing projects independently. A short film I shot in New York led to my acceptance into USC’s graduate program for filmmaking, where I committed to writing scripts and developing stories regularly, applying to numerous grants and fellowships. I was fortunate to receive the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Production Grant for my thesis film, “The Code of Family”, which tells the story of an Asian grandmother secretly learning computer science. The film was well received and won multiple awards on the festival circuit.

In addition to this short film, I had scripts that placed well in various competitions, and my feature script, “Boy Girl Fig”, won the Academy Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting, which helped me connect with my manager and agent.

I have directed short films and music videos, edited feature-length films, and have several scripts in development. I primarily focus on developing original stories, collaborating with production companies to package projects, and pitching for assignments as a writer or director. I gravitate toward grounded, high-concept stories, especially in the fantasy and sci-fi genres. With a strong sense of storytelling and proficiency in Chinese and Japanese, I also hope to bring a unique perspective to narratives that explore Asian culture.

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?

Voice – It’s important to have something unique to say. Don’t follow trends and try to replicate other people’s successes.

Motivation – In the creative world it is always hard in the beginning. It’s hard to be recognized, hard to be understood, hard to get paid. But if know this is really something worth pursuing, you have to find motivations yourself especially during the difficult times.

Ability to research – It is hard to know what you don’t know. But nowadays with the internet, we are allowed access to much information we didn’t have before. Know what you need to learn and areas of improvements, and do your research.

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

Should we focus on enhancing our strengths or improving our weaknesses?
It highly depends on what career you’re trying to have, but in the creative world, so far I think focusing on our strengths can generally stimulate better work. If we compare ourselves to millions of other creators, of course we will always see some weakness. We often ask ourselves, why can someone else do that, but I can’t? But as one individual we can not excel in every aspect. Instead if we focus on our strengths, they become our unique voices.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kayla-sun.com/
• Instagram: sun_kayla

Image Credits

©A.M.P.A.S. All rights reserved. No reproduction allowed without prior written permission.