Filmmaker and director Seyi River drops in to discuss music composition, how he got into the industry and his upcoming new film One Hit Wonder in the first Style of Business episode of 2018.
-Podcast Show Notes-
Episode: 31
From Music to Filmmaking with Seyi River
Summary:
In this new episode of SOB: Style of Business podcast, Keetria interviews Seyi River, a musician, composer, sound designer, writer, director, filmmaker and entrepreneur. Seyi shares with Keetria how he went from becoming a professionally trained musician because of a desire to score films – and then expanded his skillsets by becoming a self-taught filmmaker in the process. Seyi also is generous with his advice to people who are serious about filmmaking, the strategies that were involved in writing and directing his own projects, and also his personal assessments of where the motion picture industry is headed.
Show Notes:
- Keetria gives an overview of Seyi River.
- Seyi started his music career by attending the Berklee College of Music.
- He is a self-taught filmmaker who spent time watching movies, reading screenplays, and reading books.
- “If I Die Tonight” was a film Seyi created about police brutality named after a 2Pac song.
- He makes films based on what is meaningful to him and what questions need to be answered.
- “One Hit Wonder” is in the “magic realism” genre and is about a bestselling writer whose second book flops.
- Seyi’s lets his multiple writing ideas marinate until one is ready to write and focus
- Relatability is an important element to telling a story to Seyi.
- It is vital to learn the craft of film, become a visual person, and study human nature.
- Seyi predicts a lot more diversity when it comes to filmmakers and that Hollywood won’t remain the center of creative and original storytelling.
- Movies need to be good enough to deserve the price that audiences pay to experience them.
- You have to wear multiple hats – creative and business- as an independent filmmaker.
- With music scoring, it is very internal when composing audio interpretations of the emotions and themes of a movie.
- Sound designing and enhancing audio is another skill he has to offer.
- Seyi is motivated by striving to add onto the history of film in a positive way.
- Writing down goals is vital to his strategy towards success.
- Be honest about your assessment of your abilities in comparison to the highest level of your industry.
- Health, eating right, being a nice person, sending out good vibes, and building up your stamina is important to be able to have the energy needed to work hard.
3 Key Points:
- Filmmaking is not just pointing a camera – it requires mastering the craft.
- Diverse stories and storytellers are going to become much more normalized.
- While investing in your career, don’t forget to invest in your health.
Tweetable Quotes:
– “I was born a musician…but I became a filmmaker.” – Seyi River.
– “The important thing now is to gain craft, and to gain craft you have to do a lot of hard work and understand the medium that is film.” – Seyi River.
– “Become a visual person, like go to a museum, look at paintings.” – Seyi River.
– “With film, you have to be insanely patient, because films take a long time.” – Seyi River.
– “Surround yourself with really, really excellent people doing what they do.” – Seyi River.
Resources Mentioned:
- IMDb – IMDb page for Seyi River
- Linkedin – Linkedin page for Seyi River
- Quora – Quora page for Seyi River
- OneHitWOnderFilm.com – Website for “One Hit Wonder” film
- Twitter – Twitter page for Seyi River
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