We were lucky to catch up with John Varkados recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have John with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
I would have to say my parents. I was adopted from South Korea and grew up in the Poconos with my 3 older sisters (2 also adopted but from Oregon) and a little brother (who has high functioning autism).
My Mom is Irish/German and grew up in Queens, NY so you can imagine how fast-paced getting us ready to school, getting us to read independently, and dealing with our antics was really the source material of not only my stories, but a definitive attribute of how I carry myself, manage my time, and ultimately prepare myself for the Marines when I joined Active Duty at age 19.
The Marines definitely fortified the lessons I have gained in my upbringing.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
So as a millennial, I have quite a bit of different “jobs” to ultimately pay the bills and support what I love – writing and creating scripts and films.
The main job is with Accenture (I actually just got promoted so I am on cloud nine) where I help clients like Pinterest, Google, etc. either implementing strategies that drive revenue initiatives and help develop content to help increase a higher propensity for whatever call-to-action we need to drive to align with client objectives.
The passion job that is actually starting to make some revenue is my production house – iFilm Pro. I just wanted a platform for my content that sounded professional and calls for quality work and impactful storytelling. The main source of income from this 6+ year venture is renting out my camera via Share Grid.
On the side, I puppy sit for dog parents via Rover and Wag! – love dogs as my Mom helped with animal shelters and had us all be active volunteers growing up.
But what I am doing that is center of all of this is my upcoming project that I wrote and will direct/produce with the intent to pitch as either a full length feature (which just received an overall score of 7 on The Black List), or a television pilot series that I believe will be the next M*A*S*H of our generation – wish I can say more about it but I don’t wanna break the rules when I submit to some of the festivals.
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?
The 3 qualities that are most impactful in my journey as we speak:
1.) Set boundaries. Especially in the entertainment and film industries, you can easily fall in the trap to over-extend yourself and be a “yes man/woman” and before you know it you have nothing to show for the 200+ hours of blood, sweat, and tears…it’s not worth it if you lose yourself in the process. It’s okay to say no.
2.) Pick your battles wisely. Once you have your nose to the grindstone and have established yourself professionally, believe it or not, not everyone has your best interests at heart. You have to find the line in the sand and at times have to voice the elephant in the room that your village may have on their minds the whole venture. You’d be surprise how uncommon common sense is nowadays. Loyalty, integrity, and a positive attitude goes a long way.
3.) Remember the “why”. We may be spinning our wheels but if you cannot find the reasoning as to why you are doing the heavy lifting – take a step back to find it before moving to the next thing. You only have so many years in this world – make it count.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
I’m at the point in my career where I have to kick the doors open and find the high net-worth individuals that can help bring my vision from script to screen. It’s a harsh reality but student films and indie projects can only go so far. I think we all saw the Writer and Actors’ strike that creatives should be justly compensated for their work.
I want to be able to pay the ones who have shown time and time again unwavering loyalty and be able to find sustainable means to financially support the amazing work we have done over half a decade.
I’m almost done writing my 20+ page business plan, finished the look book today, and have a shooting script with a preliminary schedule and budget. It’s our time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7970293/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnvarkados/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnvarkados/
- Other: My production house – https://impactfilmpro.com/
Image Credits
The Webby Awards
