Meet Lance Kawas

We were lucky to catch up with Lance Kawas recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Lance, we’re so appreciative of you taking the time to share your nuggets of wisdom with our community. One of the topics we think is most important for folks looking to level up their lives is building up their self-confidence and self-esteem. Can you share how you developed your confidence?
You have to have the mindset that you as a whole person, will never accept submission to failure. You can fail and be dejected, but you have to try again. And again. It is easy to fall and hard to get up. But you MUST get up. What this does to you over the years, it builds resilience, tenacity, fortitude, natural willpower, strength, and confidence. I claw my way up the hill each day. Those minute steps over time gets you up to the top, eventually. It builds self esteem…

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?
The very meaninglessness of life forces a man to create his own meaning — Stanley Kubrick. When you read this, there is a realization here on many levels. There is a reasonability here that we question as adults to figure out who we are, and what we are about. In any profession, at any point, you will reach a focal point in your life where you have to create your own meaning. Life is a fever. Cold and hot. Disappointments mixed with triumphs. Sickness, age, death. And as an artist, one draws from their surroundings as to what is the point? Wars, natural disasters, world economies, etc., develop an inert sense of numbness mixed with hope. Reality mixed with our own individual sense of happiness to cover the sadness and so on. I write film and direct them to cover the reality that surrounds us. We laugh. We cry. We hurt. We smile. Everyday. To me, film is life. Escapism. A happy place and a sad place. The orchestra of my dreams. As an independent filmmaker, I write what i feel, and add to it a bit of dreams, and pepper it with a dose of reality, in order to create some meaning, in this meaningless life. Sometimes, just having a coffee in the morning and taking in a breath of fresh air, while absorbing silence for a mere hour has more meaning than when you turn on the news. My coffee in the morning, and at night, are the pages I write. My freedom of expression is when I direct the screenplays I write.

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?
Reading. Read a lot about everything. Read the classics, read fiction, read read read… Get on a set. Any set. And work your way up. Learn from each department. The camera department, the wardrobe, be a Producer assistant, a director’s assistant, and an editor’s assistant, or even the music end of post production. Learn it and move up gradually in the area you want to be in. And if you want to be a screenwriter, read screenplays. A lot of them. Then create your own. Also, in this business, it is not just what you know, it is also who you know. Get to know those who are genuinely going to help you get to the next step. Get to meet REAL producers. Find a way to organically meet them. It comes from hard work. Good work. They will notice you. Don’t worry if you fail. Keep trying, if this is what you want to do. Yes it will take a lot of time. But if you go to film festivals, and submit your short, and keep getting awards, someone will notice. I have a youtube channel that has shorts too. One of them got 30 million views. I have many awards for writing scripts. I have done terrible movies. But the synergistic effect of all of this, got me noticed. I build on that. Took 16 years. Just Executive Produced a film with Mel Gibson and 5o Cent. Now I am creating my own voice as a filmmaker.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
In film, the number one challenge is finding the funds to make your film. It is soul crushing. Insulting. And regrettably, the most important catalyst to help make your film. You have to step on your pride, and ask those who have deep pockets to give you disposable money while the only collateral is a link on the internet once the film is done. A link. A cloud. A head scratcher. It is sick.  That is the only tangible return on your money. Film is risky. But there are people out there who like to have their names on the screen. Hang out with people who have the means. Collect bread crumbs until you have a pie. Learn to produce. Learn to hedge your film investment by getting sellable actors. Actors who have value. Find producers who will protect your money the best they can. Like i said, it is soul crushing, and you have to have the stomach for it. But if you have a script that is solid, and has awards, you can find a REAL producer who will believe in it enough to take it to the next level. And you build on that. I still make shit movies. But one day I will not.

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