We recently connected with Valéria Costa and have shared our conversation below.
Valéria, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I believe that good work ethic comes from having a clear sense of ownership of your responsabilities. Often times people tend to avoid taking full responsability for a task or a process because they are afraid to fail and being blamed for it, but I feel that this lack of commitment will also keep you from learning and becoming better at what you do. Nobody is perfect and everyone makes mistakes, obviously, but being someone that is able to deal with the consequences of your choices and decisions is true gold to me. And that’s how I try to act as well, not only at work, but in my personal life too.
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?
I act in a very specific niche of the film market. I’m specialized in assisting American or foreign companies that wish to shoot productions in Brazil, as well as Brazilian companies that wish to film productions in the U.S. Due to my experience in both markets, I’m able to understand my client’s expectations when they arrive in Brazil or when they plan to have a city in the US as a filming location. So, besides having the usual responsibilities of a Film Production Manager, such as building and managing the production budget, sourcing qualified local crew, overall costs negotiation, overseeing risk assessment and production insurance matters, managing the production’s legal paperwork, monitoring deadlines and the production schedule; I also advise my clients on the local filming requirements of the country that they are looking to film at and align their expectations based on the limitations that their chosen location imposes.
I’ve been doing this for 6 years now and I’m extremely thankful for the opportunities that this niche has brought to me. I’ve already had the opportunity to work with very different project formats, from Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore to Moonshiners and Ex On the Beach, and I feel that this variety keeps me from settling and getting too comfortable with what I think I know already.
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?
Resilience, humbleness and capacity to adapt / keep your mind open. It’s quite simple, but I deeply believe that keeping those qualities/skills in mind can take you really far. For me, they all complement each other and they will basically make sure that you stay focused, on the move, but avoid thinking that you know everything or know better than other people to the point that you neglect their input on a situation. You also need to trust your gut and your experience, of course, so exercising your judgment is very important as well.
All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?
My biggest obstacle has been to manage my expectations towards people doing things in a particular way or acting like I would in certain situations. It’s hard because I know from experience that having different personalities in your team is essential for a succesful outcome, but often times I have to take a step back and get the control freak that lives inside of me under control (which is very ironic hahaha) before acting on impulse.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @valeriacostaa
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/valéria-costa-012a8142
- Other: IMDB https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7805209/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6_tt_0_nm_8_q_Valeria%2520Costa
Image Credits
All images named “Stormwind” should be credited to Paul Abell.
