Meet Kayvon Derak Shanian | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kayvon Derak Shanian and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kayvon, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking

It’s not only taking risks but the amount of attempted failures that one can handle before you start doubting your abilities to continue the passion you love. A good correlation would be a couple that is trying to conceive a child, how many times have they tried before they succeeded? Same concept with film or any other business. Keep at it and learn from your failures.

The number one factor in anything you want to achieve in life is determination. Are you willing to put in the effort?

I have seen many people who jump into a project not knowing anything about it and slowly learn as they progress. The flip side, people who know how to make films, overthink it and it gets blown up to a massive project that never gets made. The key is don’t look at the overall picture and the many steps it takes to get there. See what you can do today that will get you closer to the end game.

Even though I’ve always had a passion for directing, it’s good to learn the other aspects of making a film. While I was going to film school for some reason my classmates came to me when they needed an actor, even though I sucked at it I gave it a shot. I worked at a distribution company for a few years, ran a film festival for 12 years but my heart was always into directing. I made many films, some failed and some were great success no mater what the outcome, I never gave up.

I get asked by film students , if you can give me one piece of advice, what would it be? The answer is pretty simple, if you are trying to Direct/Produce. It’s all about who you know and if that person trusts you to complete the project; where does it start from? The college you go to? Go to a school that you can have the best chance at making those connections. The most important is when you are at that school, contrary to what your parents believe (once you have a degree you can get a job or what the school tells you,). The best case scenario only 1 to 5% of the film student will make a good living out of it.
So my advice to them is work on EVERYONES project, be everyones friend so when the time comes and those few people become successful they will take you with them.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I just recently finished filming 2 projects that I’m exited about. One is a narrative about an Iranian teenage boy who is traumatized from an incident that happens to his father after 911, so much so that he’s afraid to leave his house and through a series of events he’s finally able to face his fears. (based on real life event) This is one of those films that everything fell into place. We got lucky to have had 12 great actors who nailed their parts. The boy was played by the most talented teen actor, Nour Jude Assaf and the mom by a veteran actress, Kathleen Wilhoite and the father portrayed by Arash Mokhtar. All three gave an emotionally gripping performance. I’m hoping to start the festival circuit by the end of the year.

The other project is a documentary called “Shura” tilted after her first name . Is about an elderly woman that has dedicated her life to saving migrants crossing the border. The documentary explores the condition in which the immigrants are faced with and to what extent the volunteers will go to help these people in need. This is a film that will enlighten people who are not aware of the situation that happens on the border and explores the kindness of one human being to another.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?

I spend most of my time between West L.A and South Orange County depending on where I am and what my friends and family are into. I have many favorite spots that I like to hang out at. They all tend to be near the ocean.

I really enjoy Persian food and the best restaurants which unfortunately are not ocean side, are all in Westwood. My favorite place is a little restaurant called the Taste of Tehran, and for some reason or another I end up there almost every night and even have them cater when I film in L.A.

In terms of the favorite cities in LA that I go most often go to are Malibu and Palos Verdes. There are unlimited amounts of great restaurants with an ocean view. But the ultimate place for me is Laguna Beach. I think I have visited all the restaurant and art galleries there so they need to hurry up with the new construction thats going on so I can explore restaurants and BTY they need to add a Persian restaurant with a view:)

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?
Only one person who comes to my mind is, My wife Renee! No matter what crazy concepts I have come up with throughout the years she’s always been supportive. I remember the first film I wanted to make, I had written the entire script on a note book and didn’t have a computer nor was fast enough type it. One night she went to work after hours and she typed out the entire 90 pages, God knows how long it took her but that’s the kind of warm hearted and loving person she is. She always jumps at a chance to help people in need. And to be honest I don’t think I would be where I am today without her.

Website: https://www.flowcode.com/page/kevinderek

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-derek

Image Credits
One photo is taken by Photo Credit Kai Vargas The one of the teen standing in front of a camera