Meet Betsy Chasse: Award Winning Filmmaker, Best Selling Author, Entrepreneur, Mom

We had the good fortune of connecting with Betsy Chasse and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Betsy, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?

Discipline, determination, knowledge and planning.   It all starts with discipline.  When I set a goal for myself, I know that it is up to me to make it happen.   I am a big believer in dreaming big and the notion that one can do anything they set their mind to.   It takes a lot of hard work and determination to achieve your goals and it is important to start out by planning each step while keeping each step in the process realistic and attainable.  Creating a cohesive plan with a timeline and budget in mind is crucial to the process.   I know it’s unlikely I can do everything or know everything. That’s ok! I do extensive research and/or reach out to others in order to gather a team that can fill in the missing pieces needed to be successful.  When everything is in place, it is time to hit the “go” button and let the journey begin.  

When I work with my clients, I find that most forget the crucial steps of creating a solid business plan, even for a film or a book.   The idea gets ahead of them, and they often find themselves stuck in the weeds and realizing that they have spent too much money or did not manage their time appropriately.   They often don’t take the time to do the “boring” stuff.  It is important to spend time on detailed planning and thinking things through, step by step, in order to be successful.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I started working in the entertainment industry at a young age and grew up watching professionals in every aspect of filmmaking work their craft.   It was a blessing for me to be able to watch and learn so much from them and that has been a huge benefit for me to achieve my own goals and jumpstart my career.   So much of what we need to know in the industry isn’t taught in a class or school and can only be learned from experience.   Oftentimes the failures and mistakes are just as important to grow as the successes.  No matter how easy things may seem at first, there will always be challenges.  If you accept that mistakes can and will happen from the start and you remain determined to follow through with your planning, the setbacks won’t cause you to fall so far down the ladder.   

I accepted early on that my goals were going to take time and hard work and I would have to be fully committed to succeed.   In the entertainment industry it’s often about your credits and connections so I took whatever job came my way.  Early on I decided to learn about all the different aspects of filmmaking, from accounting to marketing, so that when my time came to be a Producer and Director I could be an effective and inspiring leader.  

I was patient and eventually the patience paid off.  I had great success in my 20’s as a Line Producer and Production Executive for a mini-studio that prepared me to produce and direct my own films and start my own company.  I produced and directed the successful documentary “What The Bleep Do we Know?!” which opened the doors needed to begin to create my own projects and start a sustainable career as a filmmaker.  

At 40, I decided it was time to explore another part of my creativity and begin writing.   Starting with small projects, fine-tuning my craft and building on my success as a filmmaker, published my first book “Tipping Sacred Cows”.   Being able to work with a big publisher gave me the opportunity to learn more about the publishing industry and enabled me to add publishing to my media company (Rampant Feline Media).   Today, I own all of my intellectual property and produce, publish, and distribute my own content and am able to support my clients to do the same.   

About me

Award-Winning Filmmaker, Best-Selling Author, Change-Maker, Mom. Best known as the Co-Writer, Director and Producer of the hit film What The Bleep Do We Know?!. Her new book out March 2021 is Killing Buddha! She has also produced the award-winning Song of The New Earth, Pregnant In America, Radical Dating and The Empty Womb. She has authored multiple books, including The Documentary Filmmaking Master Class, Tipping Sacred Cows, and What The Bleep Do We Know?!, Discovering The Endless Possibilities to Altering Your Everyday Reality. In addition to several Best-Selling Self-help Compilation books. She also enjoys consulting with multiple clients to develop multi-media content for world-wide distribution.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

One of my favorite things to do in LA is a scavenger hunt. It’s the best way to see an area of the city. Downtown has Angels Flight, Walt Disney Concert Hall, MOCA and then its awesome to eat dinner at the Grand Central Market.

A stop at Little Tokyo for lunchtime Sushi is awesome!

Another great day is can be spent driving PCH, looking for dolphins, kayaking near Malibu with dinner at the Malibu Farm Pier Cafe.

And a hike to the labyrinth in Topanga Canyon to take in the stunning view of the coast and then lunch at Inn of the Seventh Ray.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
One of the best books for any creative, who wants to make a living with their creativity is The War of Art by Steven Pressfield and for story tellers, The Power Of Myth – Joseph Campbell.

Website: www.betsychasse.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betsychasse/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/betsy-chasse-41408149/

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