Lorie Conway

I definitely attribute my success to my parents. They were very hard workers and had a strong social conscience. They believed, they were small-D Democrats, and that means they were working class, and they really believed in the power of the vote and the power of democracy. They volunteered at the Board of Elections in spite of working full-time and raising 6 kids. They really believed in the power of democracy, and that hard work ethic certainly rubbed off on me.

The best career advice I ever received is that if you're going to get into something that you love, it's not always going to go the way you want it to go, and you have to work to make it work for you. You cannot expect it to just unfold in a linear fashion, it most likely will not. So be prepared, you know, have diverse skills, and definitely exercise, get your yayas out, because you're going to have a lot of frustration if you get into something like I do, because independent work is anything but independent. You're actually very dependent on other people. My husband, my kids, keep me thinking about ideas and keep my spirits up. Because if you love it, it's easier to pursue it in that kind of way, but you know, you can't give up, you have to be really tenacious.

I think if you have a passion for telling stories and you're determined to work really hard, then you can make it happen. But I would encourage collaboration, either by association or through a fellowship or a writing class, a film class, because that way you can feel very alone when you're an independent producer. You're the only one opening that computer every day, and often it doesn't have anything to tell you. You have to be a true self-starter. And if you're going to join, I was with commercial TV for 20 years before I started my company, and you have to know how to be a team player, and that was something I had to learn. I had some rough spots learning how to do that early on, but boy, does it ever help later on to know how to treat people well and manage them. Remember that you were very ambitious with sharp elbows at one point because you were struggling to make a name for yourself, and you know, I think you mellow out as you do more things and understand that to get the most out of people, you've got to learn how to be on a team. Don't be afraid to partner with people.

The biggest challenge is fundraising, because I'm an independent and I always have to find the money to create the project before I can actually produce the film. That's very, very challenging because everybody's looking for money now with all the cutbacks, because we have a government that is a regime and it's not supporting the arts or culture. It's supporting something that is anti-democratic. The public funding is not considered important anymore, which is a travesty, and as a result of that, we're all scrambling for the same dollars from the same foundations. I do a lot of human rights work and I try to raise money for stories that will enlighten us and give us insight, perhaps, on things that we're not familiar with, and it'll grant us a little more understanding. The pool of those funders, though, is small, and so you have to be very tenacious when you're fundraising.

I think the most important value is to just be kind and considerate of others. That was something my mom always taught us, and as Robin Williams said, always be kind, you just never know what someone else might be going through. I think if we all felt that way more often, we'd be a much happier world, a much better place. Empathy is very important, that you try to understand where other people might be coming from and you empathize with them. You don't pity them, but you empathize and you try to help them through whatever it is they're trying to go through, whether it's your kids or your spouse. Instead of being judgmental, I think developing empathy and understanding for others is a very big value of mine. It's something, it's a challenge at times, but as I've learned, it really helps you get through life in a much easier way and it's a healthier way to get through life. I also truly believe in paying it forward. I've had a lot of opportunity, but I've had a lot of challenges in terms of getting work done and personally, and you know, you just, I'm very tenacious. You can't give up on something you love.