We had the good fortune of connecting with Peter J. Brant and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Peter, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?
When I first moved to LA, I was under the impression that running myself ragged would equate directly to success. I said “Yes, what do you need?” to every opportunity and gave my time to anyone who had a remotely interesting project for me to pour energy into. To a certain degree, that willingness did allow me to gather relationships and prove myself to some key people.  The difficult moment was communicating that I wanted to transition to a more sustainable career that could have some longevity.  That decision was one of the best I have made in my career.  It sort of naturally shed a lot of the relationships that were based on sucking energy out of me and never really filling me back up.  I was able to establish an identity that was dynamic and true to myself.


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

I love pursuing film because it is music, drawing, and writing all melded into one.  These are disciplines that I have attempted to juggle.  People have often told me to focus on one practice or profession.  If I had taken that advice, I would have stopped a long time ago.  They all inform the others and sort of need to exist in unison.  When making and playing music stopped having momentum, I focused on film.  When filmmaking became nearly impossible, I focused on drawing. Etc. Etc.
So, most of my struggles in my career have come when I attempted to compartmentalize my creativity into some sort of commodity.  I’ve had a lot of revelations about society as a whole because of my experiences while attempting to make films.  In a lot of ways, the production world acts as a sort of microcosm of society.  There are overlords and minions. The beautiful and the ogreish. The qualified and the con men.  The rich kids and the riffraff. These epic battles of vanity and competition to be the greatest.
And then amongst all that chaos, there exist the dreamers and sincere workers.  The people who live to savor life and sing just because they need to sing.  I strive to be part of that group.


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.
Straight from LAX to the In-N-Out under the runway to watch a couple planes fly over.

Ethiopian food at Meals by Genet on Fairfax.

Drive up and over the Baxter street hump in Echo Park. One of the steepest city streets in the Nation. There are steeper in LA, but I wouldn’t dare.

Midnight tacos at Taco Zone in the Vons parking lot.

Dinner at The Magic Castle.

Griffith Observatory is necessary, but Barnsdall and Elysian park are the best for long relaxing blanket hangs.

El Matador Beach in Malibu.

A film at The Vista.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have been able to explore creative work in a number of fertile settings with supportive mentors and companions. The group of people I played music with (Ben Scott-Brandt, Juan Garcia, Chad Vickery, Joe LaGrand, Fred Thomas and David Brant), learned printmaking (Adam Wolpa, Erika Hanson), and gained a love of drawing and film (Sarah Scott, Matt and Susan Halteman, Brooke LaGrand) in Michigan and Indiana.

Then to be able to practice filmmaking and production in Auckland, New Zealand with the directing duo, Special Problems (Joel Kefali and Campbell Hooper). I also learned how to take my ambition to define my identity as an artist seriously during this time. Observing my friends, Kate Newby, Kelvin Soh, Sriwhana Spong and Maryse O’Donnell in their dedicated approach to living as artists and creatives.

When I moved to Los Angeles, I was taken in and guided by the production company, The Directors Bureau. I was able to apprentice under established directors and producers. Through those relationships, I have been able to work with the creative companies; Ways & Means, Epoch Films, Memory, and Rossi Films. I’ve also been able to work with musicians like Solange, Mt. Eerie, Nicholas Krgovich, and War on Drugs. It has been such a pleasure to create things with musicians that I have loved for years.

There are also so many friends and family through the years that offered small nudges of faith in what I have tried to accomplish. And those little encouragements have sustained me when opportunities stagnate or it seems like there is no way forward.

Most of all, I am grateful for my wife, Leah Hayes, who is an ever-erupting volcano of glowing life and art.

Links to mentors and friends:
Ben Scott-Brandt – https://www.benscottbrandt.com/
Adam Wolpa – https://shopsuukuu.com/
Erika Hanson – https://www.kasifarm.com/
Matt and Susan Halteman – https://www.instagram.com/lampsoflynch/
Campbell Hooper – http://campbellhooper.tv/
Maryse O’Donnell – http://marysebeauty.com/
Leah Hayes – http://www.leahhayes.com/
The Directors Bureau – https://thedirectorsbureau.com/
Ways & Means – http://ways-means.co/
Epoch Films – https://epochfilms.com/
Memory – https://memory.is/

Website: http://pppjjjbbb.com/

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

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

Other: https://peterjbrant.bandcamp.com https://vimeo.com/pjb

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