Meet R.A. Hemsley: Writer, Director, & Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with R.A. Hemsley and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi R.A., we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
The film industry is risky business. Honestly, it’s designed that way. My entire career in the creative space so far has been one long story of risk. As a writer and director, I risk people ridiculing my work, or risk not having a stable income. As a producer, I risk tainting my reputation on a project, or even wasting other people’s money and time. Indeed, every time I create a script and see it through to completion then send it out into the world, there is no certainty of whether it will become profitable, be appreciated, or turn into what I had intended.

However, over the years of my building a business as a writer/director/producer, I have decided to approach this challenge of the Industry with a different perspective. When I “calculate” risk, if you will, the answer always comes out the same: either I put myself out there and this particular opportunity or path doesn’t work out, or I could have the time of my life and accomplish something extraordinary. Failure is truly in the eye of the beholder. If that series I pitched to Netflix doesn’t work out and sits on the shelf forever, sure I”ll be disappointed. But there are so many more opportunities that may succeed where the first failed, and I could be taken further than I had thought possible. So I just have to go after those other opportunities.

In my own business as a freelancer, choosing to spend my time taking risks in order to pursue a career I not only crave, but can be proud of far outweighs the temporary feeling of defeat if something doesn’t work out.

When I began producing, did I know what I was doing, really? No. I was completely out of my depth. In fact, the only projects I had produced up until my first official “job” were $300 budgets at most. Suddenly, I found myself being asked to creative produce a project with a budget of hundreds of thousands of dollars. But, if one doesn’t leave the safety of a comfortable situation, then one could end up with a mundane, sub-par career. And that wasn’t an option for me. So, I would say “Yes, I can do that” to everything, and figured out how to do the job in a way that only I could. Sure, I failed at times – but I learned form the mistakes and went above and beyond the next time. I allowed myself to learn the job and ask for advice. During every project I took on, I risked how my colleagues, friends, and family saw me. But if I hadn’t stepped off that ledge to see what I could truly do, I wouldn’t be where I am today – having produced, written, and directed content for companies like Disney, Warner Bros, DC Comics, and many more.

Professionally and personally, risk is my calling card. As for my own creative projects, I specialize in stories where cliches are flipped on their heads, and explore pushing the glass ceiling of the female voice. What role or character have we not seen a woman in before? How can this story take a turn in ways no one has done before, and how can we make the audience ask profound questions that they’ve never considered before? I have written for pretty much every genre – and constantly stretch the boundaries of genre in general. Talk about risky business. But it’s a business I gladly step into every day. It is a business I am diving headfirst into by attempting to start my own studio in the next year or so. But I’ve calculated the risk, and life is just too full of opportunities to let failure bog you down. Give me a risk — it’s the only way to live.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I started life as a writer. And I do mean “started life” – telling fantastic stories to anyone who would listen as a small child. As a writer, my love is telling stories for general audiences of characters who face incredible twists and turns in life, even if that simply means facing challenges within themselves – specifically female characters. In every story I create, I pride myself in pushing the envelope of genre, flipping cliches on their heads, throwing together combinations of situations, worlds, or people that you haven’t quite seen before, and infusing it with a profound statement or question about humanity. If most of my stories have happy endings, it’s because I believe showing people overcoming, finding themselves, healing, and grasping hope are the stories our world needs… are the stories I need. As a writer and director, and even creative producer, I look at stories the way Sherlock Holmes looks at a crime scene: what is hiding in plain sight that everyone else is failing to see? What unique details are going to put this together?

I reached this place as a creative by honestly being disappointed with commercial entertainment. The majority of films and television coming out today on the studio scale has fallen from predictable to regurgitations with no real heart behind them. I have always written from the female voice, but in recent years my ache for quality content for audiences of all ages that is not only original, but smashes through what has been done before has honed my voice to be what it is today.

But writing only took me so far. What good were my words on a Word doc or Final Draft? So I decided that there was absolutely nothing holding me back from going and making my own dreams happen. No one was going to hand it to me. So I began shooting proof of concepts for shows I was developing, I went out on weekends and shot spec footage and short films with my friends who shared my passion to get things done, and I pursued the job titles that I wanted – I just simply BEGAN.

All that said, the biggest challenge I face is my own mind. I will rationalize myself into complacency: “I shouldn’t do this project until I have the money for it,” “I shouldn’t show this screenplay to the distributor until the conditions are perfect to shoot it,” “I shouldn’t approach this investor because I don’t know if this series will ever get picked up,” “I don’t know if I can pull off directing AND starring in the lead role.” Daily my battle is putting my hair up, drinking my tea, and just DOING things, even if my logic tries to convince me I have no business doing them. I have to make the decision every day that if I fail, it will be because I have something further to learn, or for reasons beyond my control. And I will get another chance tomorrow. And trust me, there are days that I lose that mental battle. Miserably. But the days I win have outnumbered those so far… and that is my plan moving forward.

In the coming years, you will see me start a studio of my own that has departments for film, television, new digital media, and animation, with a branch specializing in women telling women’s stories. I am determined to use what I have been given in life to empower others to create and to tell stories that will inspire the world.

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?
Favorite spots in the city have to be mostly in the Valley. The Valley has this magic that feels like old Hollywood is knocking on the door of suburbia, and you can find vintage gems everywhere you look. I would have to highly recommend Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. Not only can you find boutiques and restaurants of adorable aesthetic and diversity, but the whole strip feels more like a neighborhood than a, well… strip.

Hiking is one of the unusual parts of LA that I enjoy. Though I’ve only been to a few trails myself, there is no shortage of hidden gems like Bee Rock (Old Zoo Hike), Eagle Rock Hike, Runyon Canyon, etc. And getting out in nature during these times is my favorite way to escape and get away from the hustle and bustle of LA. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Huge thanks to my parents and brother, who have encouraged me since birth to go after my dreams, no matter how big, and who have made me the steadfast woman I am today. To Virginia Tucker, actress and director, who is my constant cheerleader and creative partner without whom I could not take the risks that I do. To Karen Covell PGA – a mentor not only in the professional sense, but in the spiritual and emotional, who has helped pave the way for women like me. And to all the passionate colleagues and friends I have worked with over my career, who have proven to me that with inspiration, faith, determination, and ingenuity, anything truly is possible.

Website: https://rahemsley.com/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-r-a-hemsley-7a913446

Other: YouTube channel with our new comedy sketch series coming soon! Will be announcing on my website.