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

Arus, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned this “craft” through a combination of formal education, hands-on experience, networking, and continuous self-study. Of course it is always an on-going formation process, every day there is something new to learn. Looking back, I would have find myself a mentorship (whichI never truly had), finding a mentor within the industry could have provided invaluable guidance and insider knowledge. Talking about the essential skills in this job are: communication, organization, problem-solving, creativity, negotiation, and the understanding of art and business on the same level.

The obstacles that stood in the way are plenty especially in the last few years, giving the fact that the “industry’s old guard” is slowly retiring and the “new kids” are taking control is a good thing to take advantage of, even if there are still some concepts and rules that must be be break in order to create a new way of making movies and TV. The issues at the beginning are always the same: limited resources, competition, uncertainty, rejection and failure, which shouldn’t stop you to try again and again.

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 was born and raised in Bolzano, a town in the northern part of Italy. I moved to LA right after my high school diploma, first for English school then I attended Santa Monica College and after that UCLA. I got a couple of degrees, one in Film Studies and the other one in Film Production and Management.

I’ve always been fascinated with the movie industry, since I was a kid and while working in it I understand that I had to find the right balance between art and business, and it’s not always easy. I was lucky enough to work in many departments in the movie business underrating them from the bottom up and ending up doing production.

At the moment, we are working on a new project with our partners and we are keeping it under wraps.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

As a team we want to create something new, a better way to produce artistic content and to give opportunity to young people, such ourselves, to express themselves, make money, and make the whole industry more fluid and approachable for different talents.

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

The Anarchist Banker by Fernando Pessoa.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arus_motta

Image Credits
Daniel Von Johnston