We were lucky to catch up with Sean Mann recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sean , thanks for joining us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

This isn’t very objective, but I’m going to go with First Gen. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always grateful to have any work at all, but producing your own work hits differently. Seeing it come to life has been both the scariest and best feeling in the world.

It’s a personal story about a first-generation man who doesn’t want to take over his family business because he feels like he needs to prove that he can make it in life on his terms. I made it as a proof of concept as a TV series. I think represents the emotional juxtaposition that a lot of first-generation kids are in. On one hand, we all have our own identities, dreams, and desires, and on the other, we’re so scared of being judged and we don’t want to let our parents down. A lot of times, we take on an identity that we hope will make them proud. Sometimes, this works out great and is very harmonious with the family and their child’s values. But the other side of that, it can lead to a life in which everything we do is to prove that we’re worthy of love. So there’s a good portion of people that end up doing the thing we think will make our parents happy, especially in the South Asian community. First Gen examines what the consequences of that mindset can lead a person to do.

And the whole experience of creating from writing, directing, acting in it, and just being there every step of the process has meant so much to me because even though it shows a very unique side of the South Asian experience, we have a story that has resonated with people from all walks of life.

Sean , 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 started acting 12 or 13 years ago because I was honestly just bored with life and I always knew I wanted to do it. I worked at a movie theater when I was growing up and anytime I was working and a movie would be ending, I’d stand in the hallway and watch the endings of every movie and just casually say to myself “I could do that.” But I didn’t actually do anything about it until years later.

After I did my undergrad, I tried working at a corporate job, and then a start-up, and it all felt so monotonous. So one day, I was in my cubicle and I guess I snapped because I calmly walked over to my manager at the time and asked her if she could fire me. She very nicely said no, so I put in my two weeks and never looked back.

After that, I did some soul searching, traveled a little, and had a friend who suggested I try modeling, so I tried and wasn’t really into it. But in that process, I joined a casting site and one day I got an audition notice for a Japanese re-enactment show, so I went to the audition and ended up getting the part. I remember I got paid $1200 for like 1 day of work and I was like “I could just do this a couple of times a month and get by,” which was very naive of me, but hey, yolo, right? I did do a semi-smart thing and reinvested that money into classes and headshots.

The classes felt like the therapy I didn’t know I needed. I was learning so much about myself, the craft, and the human condition in general and it just opened me up so much as a person and really kickstarted my journey in helping me address a lot of my own issues.

So for about a year and some change, I did everything I could creatively. Plays, short films, a feature film, sketches, commercial work- whatever I could. Then I decided that I wanted to really give it a shot as a career so I moved to LA. Moving to LA, especially if you don’t know people is like getting kicked in your ass and punched in your gut at the same time. I had a really tough time adjusting to everything and it took me about 3 years just to not hate it. But after about 3 years, I started dabbling in creating my own material. I’d do one-person sketches and write everything I could think of- stand-up sets, scenes, skits, scripts and from this, I found out I could make money writing and producing explainer videos for companies.

So to support myself, I started my production company, Blue Star Media, which I’m very proud of. A lot of it has been focused on working with businesses, but it’s also taught me so much about the filmmaking process and the importance of efficient storytelling, how to manage budgets and people, how to stay organized, and most importantly, it’s allowed me to keep a roof over my head in between jobs.

So overall, I’m just proud of the fact that this whole process has taught me how to use the resources I already have, and be a better problem solver. If I hadn’t gone through this whole process, there’s no way I’d have been able to make First Gen or have the confidence to start making things on my own.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I think the biggest thing has been to learn the art of detachment. I’ve tended to get attached to things and this whole experience has taught me to be more comfortable with uncertainty and just focus on the things I can control. I remember a director I worked with years ago told me “never to be attached to anything in this industry” and I didn’t fully get it at the time, but now I wholeheartedly agree.

Every time I attached myself to some result, I’m super disappointed. It’s hard to learn because we’re so emotionally driven and put so much of our soul into getting and creating work. I still struggle with it, but it’s managed more healthily now. Recently, I did a small part in a TV series that I really enjoyed working on. The writing of the show, the set, the atmosphere, everyone was so fun and cool to be around. After we filmed, I was told by my agent that I was written into another episode, only then to be told a week later that there was a rewrite and my character wasn’t in it anymore. It crushed me at the moment, but I got over it quickly because I don’t let myself ruminate over things like I used to.

So I always remind myself to detach from the result, attach to the process, control what I can which is effort, output, and attitude, and let everything else fall into place.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The whole journey requires resilience because it’s a constant battle. You’re up against so much- rejection, the inevitable politics, nepotism, and all the other -isms for that matter. But the last 4 years have been extra challenging. The pandemic essentially took 2+ years away, plus the SAG and WGA strikes, and now the aftermath of all that is still being felt in the industry. Not to mention all the personal stuff that happens in life like managing relationships, death of loved ones, unemployment, etc, etc.

I guess a specific story that illustrates this has been the process of getting First Gen made and in front of the buyers. Aside from producing it, I used a lot of my own money to make it as a proof of concept to pitch as a TV series. It started off promising, because it won the Audience Award at Stareable Fest in LA, which is a festival that takes independently produced proof of concepts and connects the filmmakers with production companies. So from that, we had some initial meetings but when the strike started, the momentum just stopped because it stopped all communication between creators, production companies, and studios.

And now that time has passed, you just have to rebuild that momentum and hype. So much of this industry is built on hype and when you lose it, it’s really hard to get back. So this is just one small example of the resilience that’s required and you can imagine how much resolve you have to have to keep going. You have to be your own biggest fan, know that your work is worth being seen and just not take no for an answer. It’s always super difficult, but ultimately, super worth it because you realize that everything we do is bigger than us and once you realize this it brings a certain peace to the whole process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sean-mann.com
• Instagram: cmonmann

Image Credits

Skylar V. Smith