We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Noah Way a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Noah, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
When I realized life is ultimately meaningless. When I figured that out, I became free. I asked myself years ago “What if mattering didn’t matter?”. What would I be doing with my life? Originally I thought my purpose was meant to be successful, earning accolades, or gaining notoriety to display I was good at my craft. Except what fulfillment would that bring my soul, since it would never be enough? Very quickly I knew I’d never get to a moment in my career and say “I did it, I’m good. I fulfilled my purpose,”. These sorts of things don’t just happen for those of us with emotional or career-based wanderlust. So instead, I’m forced to walk this earth and create my own meaning for it all. Which is art. I don’t know how non-artists do it! How do you have something happen to you– like, love, death, heartbreak, arguments, or a tumultuous relationship with a parent, and then keep it zipped up in your mortal backpack like a ton of bricks? After the fact, what is the meaning of going through those things if not to use them– to make them productive or tangible creations. To heal, to suffer less, to cope with the trauma of being alive. Then expose others to the same notion.
Art gives my life purpose, because with it, I can make my experiences matter. Without it, I don’t know how I’d get by, in all honesty. So, now how did I find that exactly? Trial and error, I suppose. Noticing what I felt was lacking from life as a whole and dedicating priority to the things that made it all feel less pointless than it is. Sorry if I was supposed to say something like “I enjoyed making home-movies as a kid, so I knew I should become a filmmaker,”.
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?
When people meet me and ask what I do, typically I say I’m a filmmaker. That’s just an inclusive term to explain that I’m a director and writer, predominately. However, to me it’s not just a career label, it’s a way of life. Which is typically why I prefer being called an “artist”. Many acclaimed directors don’t just direct, nor do most writers just write. All the people I aspire to be can’t be summed up as one meager thing. They’re auteurs. Of course, I would never be pretentious enough to believe I could reach that status, so I prefer being an artist because it is a non-encumbering term that lets people know this is my life outside of my profession. None of it shuts off when I leave a set or I put the pen down. It stays with me always.
Where I come from, being an artist wasn’t a thing. So it surely wasn’t even a profession, much less a viable option for the future. Anything arts-related was a cute hobby meant to stop after high school so you could find a “real” job. Growing up in a hyper-religious, conservative bubble I didn’t have role models for a career in the industry. I didn’t even know what a director was as a teenager. Call me stubborn, but I wanted to prove people wrong; that this all could be a real job at the end of the day. I’m not a trailblazer by any means, but the way I grew up– I’m the only person I know doing what I’m doing now. In my youth, I did a lot of theater, as it was one of the few creative outlets offered to me. I knew that when I did theater, I felt good. I loved it and I wanted it to last forever. So I proclaimed I wanted to be an actor. That was highly discouraged from everyone in my life. Looking back, I’m glad it was, because ever since I was told acting was “unrealistic” I did something retroactively even crazier. I decided filmmaking was more grounded in reality and consistency and wanted to be a director. The person who makes the movies must have an easier time in life, right? This will surely please the masses.
Slowly but surely, I turned making YouTube videos in the backyard into a full-time career. With each video I got better and better. With each rung in quality, views started amassing. I remember when I was in high school I eventually surpassed 2 million views on my videos. The silly, little ones I would make with friends? Then I got a sponsorship from Audible. Which was followed by a series of checks from ads that played before those videos. All from my silly, “unrealistic” aspirations. Once strangers on the internet started giving me validation, it made me realize that perhaps– the people I once trusted were only trying to keep me in a box. So next I went to school for my craft, against many people’s wishes. That snowballed into connections and opportunities which built a repertoire of credentials and credits that eventually brought me out to Los Angeles when I was 20 years old. I’d say the rest is history, but I’m just getting started.
If you ask me what is special about what I do, from an esoteric, personal perspective– I’d say sheer perseverance and the mere fact that I am a full-fledged filmmaker with a couple of features under my belt despite all odds and cards I was dealt. However, I know what answer you really seek. Which honestly relates to the whole shebang. I make stuff for people like me. People who feel othered. People who don’t feel seen. People who think they are the only person in the world who thinks, feels, and exists the way they do. Although not everyone has everything in common, one thing that we do have is that we are all human. That is sometimes just enough to transcend any background, schema, or difference in our existence. It’s why I can watch “Barbie” and despite my gender, I can still relate. I am not Black, but I can watch “Moonlight” and feel like it was made about someone like me. I wish to make content that pulls on the heart strings of our existence and reminds us of our personhood. In a world of genres, boxes, labels, and lines in the sand– I attempt to create things that make those antiquated notions completely irrelevant, since they are.
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?
Perseverance; dedication; pure intention.
Perseverance. Not everyone has your best interests in mind. They have their best interests in mind– or at most, have what they think are your best interests in mind. Don’t ask anyone for advice or guidance who isn’t where you want to be in life. In my experience, a lot of people aren’t cheerleaders, they’re obstacles. Life is going to get in the way of your path and so are some people. You need to persevere if you want to get where you desire to be. Don’t listen. Don’t follow. When it gets hard, that means you are on the brink of what you’re supposed to be doing. Malevolent energy doesn’t want good people to succeed and do great things, so life will be hard at times. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. You need to persevere in adversity. On a physiological level, a muscle rips in order to become stronger. Let it all be part of your story. Every time something shitty happens to me, I don’t view that as permission to stop. I think of it as a future character arc in a screenplay or one more chapter in my future best-selling memoir.
Dedication. I’ve seen many people far more talented than I not get as far in life. They coast on natural talent, They might be handed things easier than their peers, or have a natural proclivity for their medium. However, I’ve found in my experience, talent can only get you so far. If you’re not dedicated to your craft, if you don’t have moxie, diligence, or fortitude you are only able to get so far in life. People say all the time “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”. I have beef with that sentiment. Who you know might get you in the door, but it’s what you know that keeps you there. I apply this to the virtue of dedication in an industry where talent is extremely futile. You can be the best actor there is, but if you don’t consistently strive for your betterment and actively work at your craft, nobody is going to just knock on your door to cast you in the next blockbuster. I’ve seen very talented people sit on their ass and never get work because they think their sheer existence warrants stardom. Dedication to your artistry and career is the only surefire way to make any sort of longevity for yourself in this industry.
Pure intention. Do we all know that person who’s like “I wanna be famous”? My initial instinct to that statement is always “for what?”. They’re not saying “I want to be famous for acting” or “I want to be famous for curing cancer”. They’re just saying something entirely superficial and narcissistic. Sorry, most of us aren’t interesting enough to be famous for nothing. Hell, even the people who are famous for nothing aren’t even interesting enough to justify their notoriety. Everyone should be asking themselves why they’re doing what they’re doing– and also have an altruistic reason. If you are making films or attempting to be in the industry because you want to be well-known or think it’s a lucrative endeavor, you’re a fool. There’s other ways in this world to make money that don’t involve film and television. Serial killers are often well-known, “famous” individuals too. In order to make it far, you need to have a reason outside of yourself for pursuing an artistic career. Van Gogh didn’t paint because he wanted to be rich or famous. He only sold one thing in his entire existence out of 900 gorgeous works. He did it because he had to. Because that was the only thing in life that made sense to him. Now, 150 years later someone like me finds comfort in his work– that behind such beauty, lied mental illness, struggle, determination, perseverance, and pure intention. Otherwise, it bastardizes the art. I don’t make because I think people will love my stuff. I make because of a story I need to tell, otherwise I’ll die unfulfilled. Do what you do because there’s nothing else in the world you can but that. The best work only comes from pure intention.
In the little that I know, following those virtues would be my best advice.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
Most likely “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell. As a creator, there is this expectation of perfection and greatness. Campbell’s philosophy is based on the fact that there are no original stories. It goes back to the dawn of time and the human condition. Nothing is new. Everything you have experienced in life has already been felt before. Therefore, every story ever constructed has been done before. Anything made will just be a rehashing of a previous iteration. Which in of itself is liberation, if you don’t view the ideology as redundancy. If it’s all been done before, then what’s the point exactly?
David Lynch once said, if a film were to be redone shot for shot, the script still identical line for line– it would still be wholly unique. Why? Because it’s you doing it. We’re the only person who can do what (and think how) we do. There’s not going to be another person who experiences life the same way we do, despite going through the same things. The uniqueness doesn’t come from style or content, but with us. Isn’t that phenomenal?
Reading Campbell’s work almost let’s me off the hook. It removes the expectation and pressure of perfection and originality from the equation. Plus, he talks a lot about the Hero’s Journey. A format that is used often ubiquitously throughout every story. There will always be a hero and there will always be a villain– even if sometimes the antagonist isn’t another person, but society or our own self. It gave a structure to my work to adhere to, and of course, attempt to break, since the best things ever created break the rules. I believe in Campbell’s philosophy, for the most part; no stories are original. However, humans are. Doesn’t that add an interesting dynamic to the process? It’s comforting. Everything I’ve ever thought, felt, and touched has already been accessed before. I’m not alone. Yet, because I am who I am, it will never be the same as anything ever done before.
Campbell also believes in crossing the “threshold”, which means– everything in life worth achieving is done by leaving the comfort we know. Does this not equate to real life? In order to do anything of value, we have to go outside oneself. I often find that the story structure laid out in “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” is parallel to our existence as human beings. We hear a calling, and we choose to listen or not, in order follow what life has beckoned– ultimately prompting us to grow and become changed, never going back to normal. I found the contents of this book not only helpful in my creative process, but that it pertained to my personhood, and therefore, had no choice but to submit; since both of those concepts are one in the same to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: linktr.ee/noahway
- Instagram: @itsmenoah
- Twitter: @itsmenoah
