Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alex Kovacs. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alex, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I used to love having sleepovers at my grandparent’s house as a kid. My nana would let me stay up late and we would play card games by candlelight. Pop, a former draftsman, would let me assist in his workshop. Nana, who was Irish, and Pop, Italian–like oil and vinegar–would occasionally have a good old bickering session during my visits. However, the one thing always in agreement was creativity and imagination.
Nana had a way with words. She’d paint incredible images with them. So much so she that she would chronically submit her poems and stories to various sweepstakes–often winning something in return. Pop was not only a hell of a cook (he too would enter contests and win), he also was the original MacGyver–either fixing things with nothing more than a shoelace or concocting new devices to make a difficult task easier. Like most people with active imaginations, they too loved movies.
During my many sleepovers, we would all watch “Movie Magic”–a show from the ’90s that documented how movies were made: the city miniatures from “Bladerunner,” the dinosaur animatronics from “Jurassic Park,” the death defying rigging from “The Edge,” the famous bus crash from “The Fugitive” in which Richard Kimble makes his escape–it was all mesmerizing. I remember each episode to this day as vividly as I remember sitting at their kitchen table surrounded by bold vinyl flooring and 1950s formica countertops.
I was aglow with excitement. Jobs like these exist? And you get paid to do them? Music was always in my blood, but it was time spent at my grandparents that, as a young child, opened my eyes to the possibilities of what I could do with it.

Alex, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a composer for Film and TV. I moved to LA to pursue that career and have been fortunate enough to be doing that for sometime. As is anything, it has been a journey. I began as an assistant, and while working as one, furthered my experience and education. Over the years I have worked on larger projects with bigger budgets that have in return given me better credits, a widening network, and much more opportunity. The net that I have been able to cast has grown and continues to.
As a composer for Film and TV, the job basically entails complimenting the imagery in some way–helping to evoke emotion through music that is inextricably tied to moving picture. As are so many other film composers, the ability to dance between certain (or all) genres seamlessly is a necessity– something I, too, pride myself on. However, the big ticket item that is often overlooked, primarily by younger composers, is the ability to be “light.” A former employer and good friend instilled that in me and I have attempted to get better at that over the years. Essentially, no one wants to work with someone, especially creatively, that is “heavy”–burdensome, know-it-all, defensive with feedback, entitled, unenthusiastic, indecisive, pessimistic, etc. If you are “light,” others will be able to–will WANT to–lift you up and be your champion and in return more opportunities will come.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I can clearly remember buying a one-way ticket to Los Angeles and making a “leap of faith” move across the country from where I was living at the time in Boston. We, my wife and I, barely had secured an apartment before moving (which was locked upon our midnight arrival requiring us to sleep at a friend’s house), both of us without jobs, very little money, and no car in a city of automobiles. In retrospect, that wasn’t the hard part though. After miraculously getting a job for the person I really wanted to work for, I soon realized how much knowledge I very clearly lacked. As in most cases, school had prepared me for what was on paper, the concrete things of music–the things that could be taught out of a textbook. But out in the real entertainment world, I realized how much I did not know–technology mainly, the sheer process of the job from start to end, the hours and commitment that were required, sometimes demanded. I think that was my first taste of utter, abject failure. I felt that if I could not even cut it as an efficient assistant, how would I ever progress to doing what I wanted to do? I would call my mom late at night on my drive home–three hours ahead, she’d always take the call. I’d sob into the phone about how I didn’t even know how to do simple tasks wondering if I had made a grave mistake to try to make it out in LA. Both my wife and my mother were always good at talking me off a ledge. There were more days after those first few months, but they soon dwindled the more practice and knowledge I had and the more comfort I felt. I needed to give it time.
As creatives, I think there is always a nagging sense of not being “good enough.” I feel it often still in some way or another, but it doesn’t debilitate me as it once did. I try to experience it as an opportunity to learn and grow. To understand where that feeling is coming from, if it’s founded or not, to find a way passed it.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I’m an avid reader and so there have been many books that have helped influence the way I deal with people or that have aided my approach to a project or even a problem or that have greatly improved my overall mantra to life. A few that come to mind are “Pre-suasion” by Robert Cialdini, “Blink” by Malcolm Gladwell, “Reboot” by Jerry Colonna, “The Ride of a Lifetime” by Bob Iger and most recently, “The Body Keeps the Score” by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk.
I have integrated many of Iger’s revelations into my own life: “People are not motivated by pessimism,” “Fear of failure destroys creativity,” “The way you do anything is the way you do everything,” “Can not let ambition get ahead of opportunity,” “Do not lay our problems without offering solutions.” It’s great advice no matter what you do in life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alexkovacsmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexskovacs/
• Other: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm2075042?ref_=hm_nv_usr_prof

Image Credits

Larry Mah, Kevin Leighton, Matthew Justmann