Meet Joel Lava | Director & Creative Director

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

Hi Joel, what’s something about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?
For the entertainment industry, especially live action and post production, I don’t think people realize how nice so many of the people are. And creative. LA has a stereotype of flaky people who only use you to get ahead. But there’s so many creatives, supportive creatives. So much mutual backscratching.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My professional progression has been a long one, with the usual 10,000 hours. As a filmmaker, my art has a unique voice of being peppy and fresh – which applies well to comedy or fun fluid motion graphics. Each step up in my career was preceded by long sabbaticals, where I made personal films. Invariably, those films (or music videos,) would garner all sorts of notice and acclaim. My process went like this: work a lot. Start burning out. Get sick of trends that are defining my creative world, and get ideas for how I’d do a different twist. Take 2-9 months off and make that cathartic project of expression. I was able to do this, especially pre-parenthood. The world should know that my foundation of creativity and skills came from lots of experimentation, and lots of projects that honed my skills and gave me the confidence to try new things.

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.
As soon as my friend lands, we go to Versailles Cuban restaurant, that never fails. Then we go to one of the VR joints in town like The Void, because it’s such a wild experience and gives us more to talk about. We end our first day at Cheetahs, because it’s a good/kooky atmosphere without being lewd. After this, I’ll be more vague. It would be fun to snowboard and hit the surf in the same day. Do several of my secret hikes in Griffith Park and surrounding area trails. Hit Thai Town for great Thai. Hit LA Live for whatever is happening there. Go to Commerce and the “worlds largest poker room”. And see a variety of the museums, like Broad and LACMA.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’d like to shoutout a book, “SWITCH – How to change things when change is hard” My first foray as a Creative Director, I had never managed so many people, nor had I had formal training in leadership. The experience started really rocky, but I got the hang of it after a couple years. After that, I went on a deep dive of management books. SWITCH isn’t a classic management book – it’s topics are more wide ranging – but it definitely applies to managing. And being positive. And looking for solutions where others may not see any. It made me excited to go into work and fight the fight for what I knew would meet resistance, but would benefit all.

Website: joellava.com

Instagram: instagram.com/joellava

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joel-lava-08ba1b4/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/joellava

Image Credits
Self portrait taken at Popsicle Studio LA