We had the good fortune of connecting with Asif Khan Ranan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Asif, what makes you happy? Why?
Since I was 15, I have always followed my heart. No matter what anyone said, I always did what I felt passionate about. I wanted to pursue a career in business and marketing, I went to school for my first Bachelor’s degree in Business. I wanted to be a vocal, I practiced and became the vocal of the craziest underground metal band in Bangladesh. I wanted to help people in my community, I worked as a volunteer for multiple social organizations. Then I wanted to run an entertainment business, so I created my own event management company. All these small steps led me to my first job in film production as an assistant director at Flybot Studios. Eventually I made countless commercials, music videos and short films as a line producer or executive producer. I wanted to become a creative professional, I started investing hours and learning under the tutelage of Best of the Best by Spike Asia, Creative Director Shafiq Alam at his design studio People of Design. I wanted to learn more about film making, so I went to Full Sail University for my 2nd Bachelor’s degree. A lot of people asked and still ask me, why not go for a master’s degree. My answer, “I wouldn’t learn enough in a year, rather now I’m thinking of going to animation school for another bachelor’s degree! Because cinema is my passion, I want to learn and explore everything about it.” To summarize, what makes me happy is, “to be able to wake up in the morning and do something that I am passionate about because I do it for myself.”

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 my journey in the Bangladeshi media industry with “Flybot Studios” as a production assistant, even though working in the media industry never even crossed my mind before that. Soon, the studio promoted me to line producer because of my business background. My time with Flybot Studios taught me the basics of film production and I had the opportunity to make music videos, short films and commercials for national and international brands. While working with Flybot Studios I came in contact with the infamous Best of the Best by Spike’s Asia, Creative Director, Shafiq Alam. Soon after, under his tutelage, I started exploring the thought process of a creative and an artist. I found myself at the crossroads of passion towards being a creative and an artist myself. While working with Shafiq Alam at “People of Design”, I had the opportunity to work on various creatively unique brand identity projects for brands across the globe. Soon I realized, I wanted to learn everything about film production and become a film producer. Shafiq encouraged me to follow my passion and come to the US for my bachelor’s degree in film. When I was leaving Bangladesh, we were in the middle of creating brand identity and world building for the Polynesian themed water park “Mana Bay.” Even though I was in the US, I kept working on the project, helping to create the characters and the world building.

I graduated from Full Sail University with my bachelor’s in film in 2021. Soon after that, I was offered the position of Producer and Screenplay Writer for the Film franchise, “The Rain and Max Saga” created by Mariah fox. While creating the pitch deck and the mood-board for the first film “The Mysfits” I realized the vast expansion the franchise had to offer, from AR books to a metaverse and how the original lore of the books can enhance the audiences’ experience into a completely new virtual dimension. When I shared my ideas with the team, Mariah Fox, Simon Vandi, Robert Keegan and I decided to start our own creative ecosystem Synergistic Media Development aka SMD. At the moment, we are shopping for investors for our next cycle.

When I started adapting the novel “The Mysfit” for a feature film screenplay, I decided to reach out to my former Screenwriting Techniques professors Dan and Charles and they invited me to audit the class. While my time in auditing the class I came up with a logline for a short film about an American traveller, Lina who gets lost in Japan’s infamous forest of the dead and crosses paths with an introverted suicidal Japanese manga artist. My former professors Dan and Charles loved my pitch to a point, they asked me to write it and eventually executive produced it, my directorial debut “Hemlock.” Making Hemlock was the biggest challenge I faced in my career, as the story was very personal and nuanced in its own right. Hemlock just got selected for the Orlando Film Festival and CineWorld Film Festival 2023. We are also looking forward to a few more international festival acceptances across the globe. Hopefully the film will be publicly released next year Q4 after the completion of its festival run.

While working on Hemlock and The Mysfits, my mind achieved acceptance. This state of feeling crowded my mind with more new stories like explosions in the sky on the fourth of July. I lost my sleep, started dreaming with my eyes wide open. Thoughts, ideals, perspectives, characters and late night long conversations with my cousin Zubayer. I started writing and now I am simultaneously writing my next three feature films and a tv series, which I plan to make under DNA Studios’ banner.

The reason for sharing all of this is because, in 2020, in the midst of covid I was scared and worried of not being able to complete my education and pursue a career in filmmaking. After graduating in 2021, when my first job in the US as the creative producer at a Museum didn’t pay my salary for 3 months, I was scared, again and these two don’t even make it to the list of the top 10. But I never lost hope, my family and friends never let me hit rock bottom. I knew I had to pay my dues all over again. I fell in love with the intoxicating struggle.

When life got unfair, frustrating and unbearable I listened to the song by ACDC, “It’s a long way to the top (If you wanna rock n’ roll).”

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First of all, hit as many breweries every day! At dusk, Griffith Observatory, just sitting there and watching the lights turn on in the city of angels while reminiscing about our early 20’s. Walk around the Huntington library and art museum. Visit the Broad. Hike to Eaton Canyon Falls. Lastly, most important, hit as many as local family owned restaurants!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people in my life that I want to thank for everything they have done for me and helped me reach where I am right now. I have had the opportunity to work and learn from some of the most amazing human beings in my life, who believed in me. They pulled me up and gave me the honor to stand next to them shoulder to shoulder. Creative Director Shafiq Alam who motivated me to come to the US and pursue a career in filmmaking. My family from Washington state, Robert and Connie Reese, who accepted me into their family and has always fed me. My Indian family in Winter Park, Priya and Neeraj Jagtianti, who have always been the best friends humanly possible. Mariah Fox, my boss and my bestie who found me worthy enough to adapt her novel, “The Mysfits” to a feature film screenplay and pushed me to believe that I can write. My professor, business partner, big brother and friend Daniel R. Gomez who inspired me when I almost gave up on my career, who loves my unhinged philosophical film ideas and executive produced my directorial debut “Hemlock.” Thank you Dan, may we always have a cold beer in our hands, while we plan our next unorthodox film idea. Lastly, my parents. My mom for being my best friend and always supporting me with everything I needed. She’s a very simple human being, keeping a roof over our head, education, safe and fed has always been her only priority in life. Even though the life path I chose has always been a mystery to her, she always made sure I get everything that is needed to follow my passion. My dad for giving me dreams, the knowledge of history, art and culture, for all the dinner table conversations and stories. About a month ago, dad realized I was going through some really frustrating times. He called me in the middle of the night, and in brief he said, “Not everyone will understand what you are trying to achieve because it’s intangible. The meaning of happiness is perceptive. You find happiness in your art and stories. An artist sacrifices their life in the search of true art, some find it, some don’t. But true happiness lies within the journey.” Those words were from one artist to another. I was fortunate enough to be the only person in the entire world to have that conversation with him. A true conversation.

Website: hemlockshortfilm.com

Instagram: asif_khanranan

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asif-khan-ranan-a0a019205/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/asifkhan.ranan.5

Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13320381/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_0_nm_1_q_Asif%2520Khan%2520Ranan Hemlock Social Media links: Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hemlock_film Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hemlock_shortfilm Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HemlockShort Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@Hemlock_shortfilm Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@HemlockShortFilm IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21205490/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6_tt_8_nm_0_q_hemlock Website: hemlockshortfilm.com

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