Meet Mitra Shahidi | Director, Writer and Story Artist

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

Hi Mitra, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
The most important decision I’ve made is to team up with folks who are far better at creating than I am. Working with every single person on my films has been a real honor and a lot of fun too. I’ve been really lucky to collaborate with some absolute masters of their craft. Any success our work has seen is thanks to the skill and passion everyone poured into these projects. Good relationships and a positive working atmosphere are key to project health. The more excited and proud the crew, the more successful the project becomes, in every sense of the word. I have come to learn that the reason I make films is to get to hangout with people I love and respect all day and collaborate on finding meaning within the craft and the stories we tell.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My journey in filmmaking has been a very fortunate one. I love animation and storytelling and had the opportunity to immigrate into the USA from Turkey in my late teens. I studied at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco while making some wonderful friends, and eventually found my way into Pixar as a story artist after a few years working as an artist in games. Once at Pixar, the cooperative program was a gift that kept on giving, allowing me to make two films with the help of coworkers and other artists while using Pixar equipment but while having full creative control. The trickiest part has been to keep doing my story job during the day while making films in the evenings and weekends, and following through on the initial idea to bring it to the finish line. The best way to overcome challenges was to lean on my team to help carry the load of the project when I got too busy, or went on maternity leave. I learned that team, whatever the project may be, is the most important part of any film. With a good team, you have a good film. I am not sure what I want the world to know since I don’t have a set brand yet, at this point in my career I just want to be in teams and tell stories that I can look back on in the future and see what we have all learned from the process.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Jessica Heidt – she is a force of nature that is not only an expert in her field of filmmaking, but also a fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion on every project she is involved in. Her ability to foster a positive, respectful, fun and collaborative creative atmosphere brings out the best work from everybody. She is the reason Starling exists in the world, and I would work side by side with her in every project if I could.

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitrashahidi/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/mitra_shahidi?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfYqeRy3c4t70Yz2SKgfx_w