Meet Nish Cancarla | Writer. Director. Producer

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

Hi Nish, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I originally worked in Marketing. I chose marketing because I thought it would allow me to work in a creative environment while not having to be a starving artist. But I quickly realised I was just making up stories for companies to sell stuff I don’t really care about.

I figured I’d rather tell stories of my own rather than for some corporation, stories that mean something to me, stories that would allow me to express myself. And film was always my favorite medium of experiencing stories. This lead me to down the path to become a filmmaker.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a writer and director. I’ve made short films, music videos and I’m currently working on my first feature film. I started out as a writer and this helped me value story above all else, essentially film is a story presented in an audio visual format.
Without a good story a film will not work, no amount of technical prowess or acting is going to save it. But with a great story you might just be able to get away with not being as proficient in the other areas as-long you have great collaborators who know their craft. But definitely I’d recommend at least having a basic understanding of all areas of filmmaking if you wanna be a great director, it really helps with visualizing and communicating with department heads.

I recently made a music video for Ayca Tilki for a her song ‘Gonlume Gore Ver’ along with Alexander Langsam and Ece Naz Kiziltan. Ayca is a Turkish musician whose music blends punk rock, grunge and pop. When she approached us to make a music video that was the theme she wanted. While we wanted to stay true to Ayca’s vision as an artist we also had to factor censorship laws in her part of the world. Elements of gore and punk were not welcome there and the fact that she’s a girl only makes things worse. So we we turned to what Alfred Hitchcock did for his 1960 masterpiece ‘Psycho’ to work around the Hayes code. I don’t wanna spoil the video, you can watch it for yourself on YouTube. But we tried create implied meaning using editing without actually showing anything violent and that actually turned out to be more powerful and helped us create a visceral experience.

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.
Los Angeles is great as you get access to some great beaches and mountains while also living in one of the biggest cities in the world. I’d s go to Malibu for a surf or to take a dip in the Ocean there are plenty of great seafood restaurants along the drive there. There’s also a bike path that runs along Santa Monica to Venice. There are plenty of hiking trails all over the city depending how adventurous you want to get, try Topanga state park, Griffith park or Mugu Peak if you don’t mind the drive.

My work involves meeting other creatives to collaborate on projects usually in cafes, my favourite spots are at Cafe Lily’s in The Hollywood Hills, Verve in WeHo or Cafe on 27.

As for restaurants some of my favourite spots include Elephante in Santa Monica for some Italian, Sun Ha Jang for Korean BBQ, There’s great Mexican food almost everywhere and Anita Gelato for some ice cream.

As for Bars I’d say Bar Lis, Saddle Ranch, Viper Room for live rock shows and the Bungalow or the Waterfront for Sunday afternoon drink by the beach. The Comedy Store has some great acts if your into stand up.

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 am mostly self taught in my craft. I learnt the art of making films by watching & analyzing the works of some the great auteurs. The likes of Stanley Kubrick, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese & Quentin Tarantino. Their films have inspired me to become a filmmaker. Analyzing and trying to mimic their work has helped hone my craft.

Instagram: @nishcancarla

Image Credits
Christian Park