Meet Niki Iyer | Producer

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

Hi Niki, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
I think this industry gets a bad rep for being the home of cutthroat competition, disillusionment, depression– you know, the typical stuff you see when Hollywood is portrayed in media. Go onto any social media platform, and you’ll see that according to most of the world, Hollywood is obsessed with itself and with the stories it tells. But the singular thing that makes this industry special isn’t the films and television series we make. It’s that all of us are committed to and willing to sacrifice just about any semblance of sanity in order to play pretend. The only l that makes the previous sentence weirder is that we get paid to make these illusions. As much as industry people complain about lack of work-life balance, horrible bosses, and the fact that LA parking is the worst, we’re all in love, and dare I say, addicted to, the hustle. We love the chaos. We love the insanity. So while many people outside the industry think that we stay here because we love the stories we get to tell, we’re actually here because of the journeys the storytelling takes us on.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
If you had asked me to answer this question a few years ago, I would’ve started off by saying that my career is entirely accidental. But what I’ve since learned is that there is no such thing. Everything I’ve done and been through has led me to where I am today. Both good and bad. When I was 16, I was sure I was going to gun for Tokyo 2020 or Paris 2024. After that, I was going to become a coach or join the USATF organization. At 19, I retired and thought that I was going to be a writer. At 22, I landed my first desk job and thought I was going to be a creative producer. Now at 25, freshly graduated from the UCLA MFA screenwriting program, I’m certain that what I want to be is a creative-centric, filmmaker-first executive. My point is, dreams are just… that. They evolve as people do. They have to. What’s the fun in chasing a stagnant goal? Throughout my career, I’ve learned to be more self-aware. And that means understanding that my personal sense of satisfaction and fulfillment does NOT come from achieving goals. Thinking that way would plunge me into the achievement fallacy. My fulfillment comes from the journey to achieving goals. I’m in love with the process. I’m in love with setting precedents and trendsetting.

Arriving at this conclusion has not been easy. Like so many others, I did not have the easiest start to my career. I did not necessarily have the best people in my corner 100% of the time. And I didn’t have family in this industry to bank on. But what I did have is the tenacity, resilience, and ambitious drive that my sport lodged into my soul. I’m proud that in spite of numerous challenges including grief and personal loss, my ambition has only increased. So let that be the metric of success. The industry has not changed me. What is that Harvey Dent quote? “You either die a hero or live long enough to be a villain.” I already died as a villain the second I stepped out of the track and field world. So let this chapter be the one of the hero.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
You know what? I’m going to get a LOT of flack for this but I do not care. West side is the best side. Look, I know all the fancy fun stuff is more central and East but with life moving at the pace that it does, don’t you want to just… log off sometimes? The west definitely screams bougie, preppy professional, but it’s also where tech meets art.

I would avoid WeHo all together for a few reasons. And all of them have to do with parking. What the hell even is that? Culver City is where it’s at if you’re Indian. You got some of the best Indian restaurants like Annapurna on Venice and cute coffee shops like MillCross. On top of that, you can catch small cricket games on the weekends. Not to mention, Culver is also home to Sony Pictures, and yet, it’s not in your face. The lot is tucked in and traffic on Overland flows pretty well. That’s what I love about this side. You’ll see the billboards, the wild posts, and the marketing, but it all feels like background noise.

Does this make me cliché? But Santa Monica, YES. Venice Beach, YES. Hell, Manhattan Beach, YES. If you’re coming to LA, you gotta indulge in a beach moment somewhere. Manhattan Beach is like if Key West de-aged itself by 100 years. Santa Monica is the best of both worlds in terms of preppiness and laid back beach town vibes. And Venice. What does one have to say about Venice Beach that hasn’t already been said? It’s crazy. In the best way. Just make sure you get a tetanus shot if you step on a nail there.

And if one were to insist on going to the more touristy places central and East– I wish you well because I am so not your girl for that.

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?
The thing about living a life with quite a few evolutions is that you got many people to shoutout. So bear with me.

1) My sport, track and field. Track has given me the full spectrum of emotions. But more importantly, it’s given me my character. My resilience, my optimism, and even my belief that there is still room for trailblazing and trendsetting in this world. I’d like to shoutout the teammates I’ve learned from, the members of USATF that inspire me, my favorite coaches Allison Burzio, Patti Sue Plumer, and Rob Collins, and of course, my running icon: Mo Farah.

2) My mom. Let me tell you something, having an athlete parent is NOT like All American or Friday Night Lights. It is intense and filled with pressure, yes. Every single person you come into contact with will assume that you are where you are at because your mom’s magical running genes are running (pun fully intended) the entire operation. But, it is also a MAJOR asset. I grew up with the future as my present. I saw exactly what the sport could do to your mind and body twenty years into the future, in real time. My mom, a sprinter, and me, a distance runner, think very differently. But the thing that she has instilled in me from day one is my sense of fight. I’m not going down without a battle.

3) My mentors. Sev Ohanian, Dezi Gallegos, Madi Boll, Kalia Booker King, Hannah Baker, + Team Proximity. FilmNation, Perfect Storm, and HBO. The places where I got my first starts. There’s a lot of talk in town about what it means to be a “Prox kid” because that team has mentored and taught many, many people. Yes, it means learning how to pitch off the cuff when Sev is sitting in the middle of an airplane hangar. But the reality is that being a “Prox kid” means having confidence without an attitude. It means to be unafraid to use your voice to challenge the status quo. It means taking up space in rooms even as people try to push you out of them. It means excellence.

4) My community. Man, where do I begin with this one. The South Asians in Hollywood have given me the most important thing in life: my purpose. I’m not going to dare to list all of the great orgs doing the work because I guarantee you I will forget at least one of them. So I’ll mention a few that I’ve interacted with. The Salon (Bash Naran, Nik Dodani, Vinny Chhibber), Rickshaw, 1497, WGA South Asian Writers Committee, Product of Culture, and so much more. And to the incredible creatives I’ve met along the way who constantly push back on the media’s limited definitions of what it means to be South Asian–hats off. It’s my honor to champion you. Keep doing the good work.

Instagram: nikiiyer

Image Credits
JC Olivera