Meet Jacqueline Postajian | Filmmaker & Podcast host

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

Hi Jacqueline, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Being a creative means confronting risk every single minute of every single day. In any subjective line of work, when there’s no true right or wrong answer about whether your ideas are good, if they are going to connect with people, if they are too abstract etc., you have to come to terms with the fact that pretty much everything is a risk. As an artist, you need to have enough confidence in yourself and your vision to take the leap, you simply can’t deal with risk without it. Sometimes it’s taking the risk of quitting a job that makes you really unhappy, or investing money in a project your passionate about, one you know might satisfy you artistically but probably never make that investment back. The point is, you have to be ok with that; identify the risks, picture the worst case scenario, and see if there’s still value in it for your own experience, well being, and growth. The biggest risk I took was quitting my corporate industry job and deciding to produce a short film I had written. Not only was I dealing with the risk of never finding another source of income, but more greatly that the talented people I had working with me were wasting their time: that it wasn’t going to be worth it. There’s no straightforward answer as to how I dealt with it, it just comes down to having hope and listening to the advice of people much more experienced than I was.

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.
Discovering that I didn’t fit in any of the more traditional careers Armenian kids are conditioned to want to choose was tough. However, I got through it and realized that I’d rather try with all my effort to be what I really want then do it as a hobby while being miserable at work for most of my day. I took the traditional Hollywood route of starting as an intern at several companies then making my up to executive assistant at a talent agency, workin gin the literary department. It’s a tough job but it was the best way to get to know how the industry really works. I’ve been writing screenplays since I was in college, but it wasn’t until I felt like I had made the connections I needed to make that I decided it was time to bring one of my short screenplays, Lazy People, to life. Those five months of prep, eventually shoot, and post production, were definitely the hardest but most rewarding of my life. I was lucky enough to have an incredible team behind me and the support of the community. The film was shot on location in my hometown of Glendale, it’s the center of the Armenian community in the United States. It was written out of a place of feeling helpless during the Artsakh War and told through the characters of one of many all-Armenian apartment buildings. The success of our crowdfunder showed me just how anxious Armenians are to have their story told in an accurate and respectful way. We’re one of the largest minorities in Los Angeles yet we’re practically invisible in film and television, a big picture goal of my career is to change that.

At my core, I’m just someone who really loves movies. It’s no secret that due to streaming, and the commercial prospects of intellectual property, the significance of film in culture is at an all-time low. With my podcast, Scene and Heard, my co-host Greg and I watch one movie a week off Sight and Sound Magazine’s Top 100 Greatest Films of All Time list. the hope is to get people interested in world cinema by approaching the list in a casual and fun way. As someone who studies film it has always been a dream of mine to be a film critic, podcasting is a relatively cheap and simple way to get started.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’m very bias towards Los Feliz. Growing up, it was the hip area I wanted to always be at. You can never go wrong with a trip to the Griffith Observatory and lunch or happy hour at Figaro Bistrot. I just love how walkable the area is which you don’t get in most parts of LA. I’m also a huge nerd for that Old Hollywood feeling, Musso and Frank, Tam O’Shanter, El Coyote, Formosa Cafe, and The Smokehouse, are all some of my favorite old restaurants. After dinner, bar hopping in Silver Lake is always a fun night out. The best part of living in LA is the amount of revival houses and repertory movie theatre we have. The work the American Cinematheque does is absolutely incredible and I love seeing restored classics at the Aero or Los Feliz Vintage. Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly Cinema is always a good time, if you love a movie and it’s playing at the New Beverly, the experience of seeing it on the big screen there will be unmatched. Also not sure if this really counts because it’s technically not LA but going to Disneyland is still and will always be one of my favorite things to do ever!

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?
I would not be able to do anything in life or in work without the support and love of my family. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to do something against my family’s wishes and every day I’m grateful that I don’t even have to worry about it because they always have my back.

Website: https://www.sceneandheardpod.com

Instagram: jacpostaj

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jacqueline-postajian

Image Credits
Matt Araquistain Caitlin Cooper