We were lucky to catch up with Vishnu Vinod Pillai recently and have shared our conversation below.
Vishnu, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
I do that by reading books at every chance that I get. I believe that to be a good writer you should be a voracious reader first. Although what I write are screenplays I have always felt that fiction helps me imagine better and has also helped me in updating my vocabulary, which is very important in writing.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a writer, director, editor and producer based out of Los Angeles. I graduated with a Masters in Film and Media Production from New York Film Academy, Los Angeles. I also happen to be an IT Engineer with about five years of experience as an automation tester. However, my passion had always been movies and about two years ago I took the decision to switch to the entertainment industry. My first step in this major change in career was to attend film school in order to gain knowledge about the filmmaking process, and also to create a network of like minded people whose ambition in life was movies.
After graduation I have worked predominantly as Film Editor on short films as I fell in love with the art of cutting while in school. This has helped me in honing my skills as a director and writer as well, because I believe that the process of editing gives you insight into what works and doesn’t work in a movie and also gives you a different outlook on how to approach a story.
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 qualities I would say are curiosity, courage and film knowledge. Curiosity is important as that will keep you updated on the changes in the industry. No matter what type of work you do, you have to be aware of how the world and industry is changing. Otherwise you shall not be able to adapt to changing environments in the long run and become obsolete.
Courage will help you keep going when the going gets tough, which it will. You just have to have the courage to ride out that storm.
Film Knowledge, for I believe you have to know the history of movies if you wish to direct them. It’s the same philosophy I have with respect to writing. If you wish to direct and edit movies, you have to watch more and more movies. And they should also be movies outside your comfort zone or interest as they will teach you a lot about what’s happening in industries around the world and not just around you.
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
Firstly the Harry Potter series (which I’m crediting as one book here). It made me wanna become a writer and motivated me to sit down and find the time to start writing. Even to this day it is my reference and also the cure to my writer’s block, for every time I finish reading one from the series I sit down and start writing immediately.
Second is the non-fiction book “Rebel Without A Crew”, by Robert Rodriguez. It chronicles Rodriguez’s journey as he finds the money to fund his directorial debut, “El Mariachi”, for $7000 in 1991. The book is an inspiration to anybody wanting to become a filmmaker as it motivates you to overcome any challenges you are currently facing. Rodriguez basically tells you to embrace the obstacle, for it will help you in finding a creative way out of it and make the best version of the film possible. It taught me to understand the challenges I might have and to make the film about that, rather than trying to erase it which is impossible with the money I have to make the film.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vishnu_pillai_7
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vishnu-vinod-pillai
- Other: VIMEO: https://vimeo.com/user183862485
