Meet Pamela Peak | Award Winning Inspirational Filmmaker & Artist Coach

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

Hi Pamela, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Early on, when I first came to Los Angeles, I took acting lessons from the great director Milton Katselas, an Academy Award winning film director. And his motto was: Validate Your Own Passport! So, when I’ve wanted to do something, I’ve always said, “Why not me? Why shouldn’t I do this? I’m willing to take the risk.” And as long as I had the skills to do it, I’ve never let anything stop me. And that meant . . . taking risks!

If you feel it within your heart and your intuition, go for it! Swing the bat! Go for the homerun. If you don’t do this, you’ll only regret it later. And you may have missed a truly wonderful opportunity that could have changed your life big time.

Does this take courage? Are you risking everything? You bet! But validating my own passport has made life so much richer, more fun and so much more rewarding. In other words, don’t wait around for anyone else to tell you, you can or can’t do something!

Milton Katselas told us that he came from a small Greek island and one day, when he was just a teenager, a Hollywood film crew came to his small island to shoot a movie. He did everything to help them make their movie. He became the “go-to kid” and really delivered. He reached out of his comfort zone. He wanted to get off that small Greek Island badly and do something great with his life. So, the Hollywood film crew grew to count on him. And after they were done, they said to him, “Milton, if you’re ever in the U.S. look us up, okay?” And guess what? He got the courage to come to America, went to that studio and worked his way up to what he became: an Academy Award Director for the beautiful movie, Butterflies are Free. And he touched so many lives with his beautiful work.

So anytime I’ve wanted to do something that I can feel will make a difference in my life and forward path as an artist, I hear Milton’s voice saying, “Why not me? I can validate my own passport and not wait for someone else to do that for me. I accept the risk. I find a way. And then. . . I move forward.

Oh, I’ve fallen off the horse a few times. But the times I’ve validated my own passport and then walked forward, well, those are the times that made all the difference in my success and in the success of my projects.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am an inspirational screenwriter and filmmaker. My brand is writing about great and courageous stories and people – stories so profound they deeply touch the human heart.

There’s a point where we as human beings all feel the same thing – that’s the point I want to gently bring my audiences to. This is what I want to share with them emotionally.

I feel I’ve accomplished my mission as an artist when I’ve held a mirror up to the souls of people, both good and bad. What’s the moral of a story? What do we learn from it? And to do that in a way that just “sneaks up upon our heart”. That’s the art.

And life is that way, isn’t it? Profound lessons we learn in life often just sneak up on us. They often just dawn on us, after going through something that we never thought we could overcome.

I’ve lived enough life to know that sometimes the valleys that seemed so difficult and dark ended up being my greatest teacher – they ended up inspiring a character or an entire screenplay in me.

Rising above the darkest challenges in my life has given me the courage and inspiration to communicate well with the actors I direct and the students I coach and teach acting to.

I got to where I am professionally by telling stories from my own heart – using the people, places and things that mean the absolute most to me as a human being. I feel that this is where we should always be coming from as artists. It’s what makes us who we are. It’s what makes us each so unique. And that’s what the public wants – a human experience that their heart can relate to.

And that’s my brand and my story: Telling stories that touch the human heart profoundly. Those undeniable truths that are still there . . . even though they may seem totally covered up.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, Hollywood and the studios of course. That’s where all my relatives want to go when they come out here. But taking them to a beautiful concert at The Greek Theater on a beautiful summer night, going to the Observatory. These are wonderful places!

And there’s nothing like a beautiful drive through Topanga Canyon that opens up into the Pacific Ocean. Gosh, I have great memories of doing that. I’m from Michigan and lived in New York City, I so appreciate these beautiful things that I didn’t even know existed when I was growing up. I never see a mountain surrounding Los Angeles that I don’t appreciate.

I’ve loved going horseback riding in Griffith Park! 4th of July fireworks at the Rose Bowl – those are the best I’ve EVER seen! And the beauty of the Rose Parade – all the detail and love put into those floats is something I’ll never ever forget and something I’ve taken my friends and relatives to see.

I always cherish these Los Angeles experiences.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I’ve had several incredible teachers in my life that made a huge difference in my success. In fact, one was my Detroit elementary school social studies teacher Alvin Bell. He was the only black teacher in an almost all white grade school, and he taught us young kids to look through the eyes of another person. He touched our hearts by telling us what it was like to be a black man during the Civil Rights Movement. And I knew sitting there at ten years old, that what he was giving us was so wonderful and profound, that all of America should see what was going on inside his classroom. Thus, when my little class reunited in our 40s with our beloved Mr. Bell, our story was so moving, because he had touched all of our lives. And each of us collectively realized that because of him, we had all done something personally to advance civil rights.

And our little grade school reunion was picked up by Diane Sawyer and ABC News and this led to me making an award-winning film and screenplay called Colorblind, about this wonderful man and all he taught us. And the documentary film aired on 132 PBS stations and all across PBS in Canada too! So Alvin Bell inspired me greatly and still does. He’s almost 90 years old now, and we’re setting up for another reunion this spring!

The second teacher that I’d like to give a shoutout to was Sanford Meisner – I was 18 when I had the courage to go to New York and study his beautiful acting technique at the Neighborhood Playhouse. He taught me to be truthful and act from my heart, not my head. And these principles are exactly what I use as a director and acting coach. Sanford Meisner’s technique changed my life profoundly.

I learned screenwriting from Hal Croasmun at ScreenwritingU for many years and he is an incredibly brilliant teacher. I would sit there at my computer (in this on-line class) tears welling in my eyes, his lessons about creating a moving screenplay were so valid, alive and truthful. He handed me tools – technique upon technique – to use in my screenplays. Again, all of this in an on-line setting. I’ve never met the man in person. But his brilliant way of breaking screenplays down – his insights – made all the difference in the awards I’ve won as a screenwriter.

And last but not least, I’d like to give a major shoutout to my caring and talented mother Vivian Peak. She had passion, strength, joy and lived her life to the fullest. She went to work as a Realtor to pay for all my studies in New York City so I could become the actor I became, and the director I am now. Her lesson to me was, “live you life to the fullest! And if you fall, get back up! Start again and never stop!” Thank you Vivian Peak for being my biggest fan and supporter. Your lessons live on in my heart every day of my life.

Website: https://www.pamelapeakproductions.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pamelapeakproductions/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pamela.peak

Other: https://www.pamelapeakproductions.com/awards https://www.pamelapeakproductions.com/god-guts-and-grit

Image Credits
All photos are taken by Pamela Peak Productions and Pamela Peak has full rights and permissions on each photo.