Alexandra Cesar

I always say my biggest accomplishment is how I've grown and developed. I set out to be a producer intentionally. I believed in what I wanted to do, I believed in my capabilities, and I refused to let anybody tell me otherwise. I started off in this industry from the inside of filming, dealing with the lights and getting lights ready, but I didn't really understand the whole concept. But when I came back to the field, I had made a determination that I knew myself as a person. I was incredibly strong, being resourceful, and I knew how to connect the dots between the missing pieces that had to be tied together in order for something like a film to come together holistically. And obviously, I believed that I had a creative eye on top of it. I spent a large part of my life building up to get to where I am today. I'm still not done. But I would say, for anybody that is determined, like, for me, I just refuse to give up, and I feel like that's a huge accomplishment to go from just being a grunt worker to leading and molding future productions.

Find a different industry. Find something else to do. No, but if it's truly what you want to do, don't wait on anyone to create what you want to create. You need to have the drive and the determination to go out there and do it yourself. Be resourceful. Find ways to make it work. Find people who believe in your vision and will help you. Jump in and film something, and it doesn't have to be perfect. The point is get started now. And of course, everybody is saying that right now, but that is literally the hardest part. And if you don't know what you need or what you are doing, reach out to someone in the industry, and just be kind and approach them with a sense of humility, and say, look, I am trying to learn how to write a script. Do you have any website suggestions or whatever that you can provide me that I could look into. Do the research, do the homework, but don't be afraid to go out there and put just, ask for help from the community, because you'd be surprised how amazing they can come back and help you out.

I'm a sizable feminist. I'm huge in supporting women. For me, surrounding ourselves with women who can be a collaborative sounding board is so crucial. That's the piece for me, on top of really understanding what you're trying to do in terms of branding. People say, oh, you can figure that out later. Yes, you can figure that out later, but what is so essential and crucial that people, I think, tend to forget about is really understanding what's your vision, what is your goal, what are you trying to achieve. Because if you can't understand what direction you're headed into, you don't know who to pitch to. You don't understand, you don't know who to market to, and that's how you get lost. So, understanding and getting a mentor or a coach to help you understand what your objectives are is essential as well, as you can find within the female community.