We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Aaliah Hartley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Aaliah below.

Alright, Aaliah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

I think Corporate America in my industry, or Hollywood specifically, gets many things wrong and simply sets a bad standard. There are countless shitty options of tv and film that saturate our televisions and movie theatres. I find it mind boggling that so much money gets pumped into productions with stories that have been told over and over or just don’t resonate with anyone.

I implore everyone that enjoys films, to go to film festivals or watch more independent films, and I’m saying this to myself because it’s so hard to do that when you’re being bombarded with mainstream content everyday. The times I feel so amazed by films is usually by an independent filmmaker that makes an amazing piece of art, that will unfortunately go unseen because they’re not funded as well or it doesn’t hit the main-streaming.

So I think my main gripe is that it is very difficult for independent artists to get their foot in the door, get the resources they need, and be paid well for the work that they’re doing. But it can be done and you don’t have to go through Hollywood red tape to produce something that you love, again talking to myself haha. My sister and brother in law have produced and directed a few films that have been great successes and have even ended up on Amazon Prime, and didn’t have to sell their souls to do so.

I’m also not well versed in the Hollywood film industry. I’m a small business owner that works on branding documentaries, photography, and occasionally will freelance on film sets, but I know enough to know that independent artists need more funding and compensation for the brilliant work they put out, and Hollywood needs to stop pumping money into the next sequel of an overdone story that makes it to theatres worldwide.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a Visual Storyteller. I’m a Video Producer, Photographer, and Filmmaker, and own my business Exalted Productions, which I named after the meaning of my name. That’s a lot to say, so I like to say I’m a Visual Storyteller.

I’ve always loved films, and knew that I wanted to work closely to the industry in some way. Right now, I primarily produce branding documentaries for my clients that range from small and local businesses, non profits, artists, and individuals. I love doing the longer form branding documentaries, but I also do promo videos, reels, and photography for my clients that range from portraiture to event photography. When I’m lucky, I occasionally will freelance on short and feature films, sometimes as a Producer, Assistant Director, a PA, or whatever role I can fill. The majority of my work is documentary style productions, but I love narrative films as well, and hope to produce and direct my own film some day!

My main goal with my business and work is to tell empowering stories, and to work with folks and organizations that are really serving their communities and are doing some good in this world. I don’t want to get stuck telling stories for corporate, big business, main stream entities, they have enough marketing and I really don’t see a lot of these corporations having any kind of social responsibility.

I would love to work with more individuals and artists who have a story to tell, perhaps about their history. I love history, geo-politics, and how the world works and people’s different views on the world. I also love the people that are making a change in the world, whether it’s through their business, activism, or viewpoint. I grew up undocumented and it’s a big deal for me to one, be self employed and do what I love, and two, tell other people’s empowering stories and wonderful ideas, because that wasn’t afforded to me for a long time.

I’ve been in video and film production on and off for the past decade. I worked at a local PBS media station, went back to school in my thirties to get my Film Production Studies degree which I created, and started freelancing as much as possible. I won a local Emmy Award for one of the first productions I co-produced at the media station I worked for in 2016, and after that I knew that telling stories professionally is what I want to do. I started my business, Exalted Productions, in 2018, and had to retire it when the pandemic hit. In March of 2023, it was time to return to my passion for self employment and visual storytelling, and I’ve been operating Exalted Productions ever since.

There have been many challenges along the way, but owning a business and telling stories is what I’ve wanted to do for so long. I haven’t hit my financial goal just yet because it’s still very early, but I know I will get there soon.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I was born in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in Miami. I was undocumented until the age of twenty five. My resilience was born from a young age, specifically when feeling the effects of being undocumented came into play. It was extremely difficult to get a higher education after high school or go to college for film, journalism or history like I planned, nor was I able to work legally, drive, or travel.

This put a huge road block up for me for many years, and forced me to give up on dreams I had for myself. I had an overwhelming feeling of depression, of feeling broken, and not being free. I continued everyday though to pursue a life for myself. When I got my papers, I got my Veterinary Assistant certification, worked in animal hospitals and also worked in restaurants to start to build income. After some time, I got back on track to pursue my dreams and started doing every little bit I could to pursue film and video production.

I can’t quite explain it in one answer, but my resilience and tenacity pushed me through all of that oppression, and I continued on to become the Visual Storyteller and Business Owner that I am today.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I think non-creatives may struggle to understand why I do what I do. I may not make as much money as someone in a non-creative field, in fact I know I don’t, at least not yet :)
To me, it is much more important that I make my own money, be self employed and own my own business, than to make more money at a job that doesn’t fulfill me or is stifling my soul.

Because I was undocumented, I want to live out my career to the fullest potential, no matter how hard it may be to sustain a business. I want to try and fail rather than not try at all, but I certainly think I can succeed at this point.

Telling stories, producing video and photography makes my heart happy, it’s as close to feeling like a kid again and producing art. The drive for me to be creative and self sufficient is something I was born with and plays in my head and heart too much for me to ignore.

I don’t want to be cliche and say follow your passion and hopes and dreams to a dead end, but following my heart has usually not let me down in the long run. It’s important to plan ahead and be realistic if you decide to go out on your own. I’m both a realist and an optimist, so as long as I’m trying, I know I’ll eventually get there. The trick is to not be fooled by societal norms and think what you’re doing is not worth it, because it totally is. Everyone has a story to tell and a part to play in bettering this world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://exaltedproductions.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exalted_productions_/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaliah-hartley-205151b8/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ExaltedProductions