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

Alright, Krishna thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

On a lark, I started writing a short screenplay because I saw a Facebook post. It was for the Rocket City Short Film Festival of 2023. The submission deadline was approaching and I was determined to turn something in. So I started writing The Art of a Lie. It’s a simple love story about enduring love under the most trying of circumstances. The inspiration for this story was my in-laws. Their love and dedication for each definitely pointed the way for me.

I had never really written anything before so I wasn’t expecting to win or to even place. But my little short won second place at Rocket City and 5th at Sidewalk Film Festival in Birmingham. HAG Productions produced and filmed my short screen play. We did it earlier this year in January. I am so grateful for the work the entire cast and crew put in. That was so powerful for me – to see how so many people brought life to my words. The project is now in post-production. I hope to see it by the end of the year.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

After I graduated for high school, I did not know what I wanted to do. I did not really even know that I loved performance at that time. So I started college intending to be a doctor. It was a safe choice and a known path. I got to my third year and changed my mind after volunteering at an emergency room. I realized this was not for me. I was in my third year and really lost. I decided to take a computer programming class. It wasn’t common then and not an obvious choice. I liked it well enough and I was reasonably good at it. So I took enough classes to get good enough at programming before I graduated with a degree in Biology. I worked and still working as an Engineer after all these years.

Early in my career, I saw an audition notice in the newspaper (yes – the newspaper) for a play with one of the local theatre companies. That piqued my interest so I went to the audition. I did audition but I had no idea what I was doing since I had never seen anything like it. Needless to say, I did not get cast but I was definitely hooked. I went to more auditions until I finally got cast. I did about 10 plays in my twenties. I got married and had kids and had no more time for theatre. But performance was definitely in my blood. After my kids graduated from college, I decided to pursue acting again and by then, TV and film production became more distributed. There was so much going on in Nashville, Birmingham, New Orleans, and most definitely Atlanta. So about 6 years ago, I began to pursue film and TV work.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I spent decades working in engineering. While it was satisfying financially, something was missing. While my kids were still in college, I bought a piano and started taking piano lessons. A couple of years after that and after my kids graduated from college, I started pursuing Film and TV opportunities. Even though I still work as an engineer, my artistic pursuits feel more like what I was meant to do and less like a choice.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Clearly art in all forms is essential to society. We learned that during the pandemic. I believe we as a society have to make the arts a part of our life from an early age. Appreciation of the arts early will create opportunities for artists to showcase their work and also to earn a living. Many artists earn a living doing other things while pursuing the arts. I certainly do that. An overall goal for society should be to value the arts so much that artists can actually make a living doing what they love.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.krishnasistlaward.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/krishnasistlaward/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/krishna.s.ward
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@krishnasistlaward

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