Meet Paula Lauzon

We recently connected with Paula Lauzon and have shared our conversation below.

Paula, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
Thanks for having me. This is a really good question. I read somewhere that recent studies had shown that optimism is 50% inherited from our genes, 40% determined by ourselves and the way in which we decide to live our lives and 10% by others (i.e. the environment in which we develop).

It could be genetics, my upbringing or culture. Growing up in a household where both parents were alcoholics, I learned to play with my imagination and our upbringing could be like. Spending time at the local library, I was not only into reading books but looking at those wonderful magazines; Seventeen, Vogue, Better Homes and Gardens. I would think to myself, wouldn’t it be great to live life this way?

Later in life, it made sense to me, that I could see the glass, always half full, and determine how I wanted to live my life.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am extremely happy to be a Creative Artist. I began as an Actor in Hollywood, and built my foundation there, working my way to being a Film and Music Video Director as well as an Acting Coach and Casting Director.

I don’t feel having a ‘regular job’ is conducive to someone in this Industry. We think, act, learn and do things MUCH differently than in the Private and Public Sector. I’ve had those jobs for well over thirty (30) years.

Prior to entering the film industry as an actor, I’d worked as a legal assistant and later as an administrator and business developer. Working in the legal field taught me critical problem solving and fast paced decision making, as well as the value of intensive research. Working in business development taught me analytics. It taught me how to observe and adapt in the field and how to gauge potential. These skills have proven invaluable in my work in the film industry.

My team and I finished production of a screenplay, entitled, “Consequences”, written by Matt Higgins who is a NC local. The film is about a former attorney who is asked to help an inner city teen facing jail time, but first he must confront his own troubled past. This project took two days to film in North Carolina.

I’m also in Post-Production for another Music Video for a local artist here in North Carolina; this will be my fourth project with her. As well, I’m in Development for a Feature Horror Film entitled, ‘Cell Block Z’.

I also have more screenplays in the pipeline with development funding as it’s available. I keep busy with the advancement of screenplays and script reading to make my selections appropriately that align with my production company’s mission statement.

I’m also a Member of the Television Academy and judge for the Burbank International Film Festival, and The Annual Daytime Emmy® Awards for ©The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

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?
Having my son was one of THE best things that’s happened to me on my journey. He’s my heart with arms and legs on it.

While the road hasn’t been smooth, he told me early on in this journey that, ‘Smooth seas never made for skilled sailors, mom’. SO much of what I’ve experienced in my personal life has contributed to me being where I am today. My upbringing with two (2) alcoholic parents who suffered from depression most likely added to the choices that I’d made along the decades. These learning curves as I like to call them, set me up in both my professional and personal life to have a thick skin in this Industry, along with my background as a legal assistant and later as an administrator and business developer. All of this has taught me critical problem solving and fast-paced decision making, the value of intensive research, analytics and how to observe and adapt in the field and gauge potential. I feel that this has proven invaluable in my work in the film industry. Now if only I’d applied all of that to the types of relationships I’d had in the past, I would’ve been more successful in that arena, right?

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Actually, my team and I are looking for folks to partner / collaborate with. While we have a strong foundation of in-house crew to get our projects off the ground, we’re looking for Distributors and Investors, to get HarLau Productions to the next level of producing feature films. I’m in possession of some great IP that I want to direct and get out there for the masses to see.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Photos Courtesy of: Getty Images Sheldon Botler Aliya Minter, Minter Photography

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