We recently connected with Alexander Shaak and have shared our conversation below.
Alexander, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
My movies aren’t Hollywood. I love some Hollywood movies and I love that mine can stray from that. I love movies that are raw in the best way and I like making things that wouldn’t necessarily get greenlit by studios, but that art still needs to be made. I think audiences are starving for new material like that, and that’s what I offer.
Alexander, 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?
Before I went to college my Mom told me I had to choose a career, so I told her I was going to be a pastor. She asked me “Do you even know what pastor’s do?” I said “Yeah they just stand up there and talk to people about God and stuff.” After she explained to me that you have to read a lot and go to school I said to hell with that, and I picked up a camera from one of the guys at the parkour gym which I trained at. It was my first camera, I got it used from Keelai for $600, and I started reading the pdf “Master Shots” which really captivated me. Just the simple way you could frame, and the examples they gave in the book were extraordinarily simple and effective, I felt like I’d picked up my copy of Buddhist Palm (Shaolin Soccer fan’s will know).
Then I spent the summer just filming myself, which I think I’ve continued to do for the rest of my career thus far. I went to school for about two years, reluctantly, but my parents were right. I learned a lot there that I wouldn’t learn working in the field. I dropped out after 2 years and lived in New York for the next year. After that, I came back home to MD where I decided to make my first movie.
“Guests Is The Title For Now” is my feature film coming out soon about my journey from childhood, through college, up until the present moment. Technically it’s about a “young filmmaker who struggles to make his first film,” but of course it’s more than that. I’m very excited for people to see it, it’s been a while since someone has made something like this and I’m so glad that someone out there is doing this film, and I’m extremely grateful to God that that someone is me and I got to experience the journey of an excellent filmmaker. I’m ready to make my mark on the world, and the world of cinema. I’ll be hosting the screening at one of my favorite hometown theaters, The Senator, which seats 700 people. If you’ve read this far I’d encourage you to come out and learn more about my story through the movie. Thank you so much!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
The story of the 1,000 squats. Basically if you’re a Naruto fan you’ll understand, Rock Lee. I played Minecraft for 8 hours straight, I watched a Tony Robbin’s motivational video, and then I did 1,000 squats. He said “you need to shock the body, energy just doesn’t come to you.”
So I got up and I did the first 100, and I didn’t break a sweat. I did 200 and thought okay. I did 300 and thought alright I like the number 4. So I did 400. Then I thought you know half a thousand wouldn’t be bad let’s do 500, so I did. Then I said well I think I can still do more so I got to 600. Then I said 7 is a lucky number so I got to 700. Then you know, the eight gates, Rock Lee, so I had to 800. Then I was like wow I’m only 100 away from 900 so I got to 900. And then there wasn’t anything on this Earth that could stop me from getting to 1,000 and I kept going. I stopped at 1,023 out of pure joy.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I just kind of do a lot of things in the exploration of my art and self and it attracts people. I like talking to people so I’ll go out in the street and film myself talking to strangers. Don’t get me wrong I’m nervous when I do this but I find it almost frees me up and makes me feel less afraid by doing it. I like to run towards what I’m afraid of and I think that also inspires people, draws them towards me, because they also want to conquer their fears.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://AlexShaak.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/shaakstudios
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/shaakfilms
Image Credits
Myself.