We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ashley Parsons a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ashley thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve been creating films and interested in photography from the age of 11. It was something I never thought could be a career, because I never had the right influence around me to tell me it was anything but a hobby and I need to get a real job when I’m old. A hands dirty kinda job, creating art was to easy and fun to be something that could make me financially stable. But then as I grew older, job after job, my heart was never in it. Until I got the chance to work as a runner on a Rte crime tv series set in 2017 and I was instantly in love with the atmosphere, the people and just seeing the process of creating film/tv professionally. It was a combination of being on set and meeting a tutor in college who opened my eyes to the career of a female film director, If she could do it, so could I .

Ashley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hey, I’m Ash.

A Writer, Director, Video Editor, Artist & all round creative human.
I know they say “A jack of all trades is a master of none!” , but I love every element of creating films so I’ll never be able to give myself just one title. What’s in a title anyway? A measure to be judged? Film is not about being judged, but a means of expression, understanding and developing a narrative that will give the audience a window into another world.

I have a HND Degree in Film & Television production, as well as a MA in Film,Television and Digital Narratives from SRH Hochschule Berlin. The genres of film I focus primarily are Experimental, Psychological, Short doc’s and horror.

I’ve worked as a trainee on Netflix and Disney productions as well as being a short film writer director based in Dublin Ireland.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

This is a great question and straight away what came to mind was “ feedback is not personal” and you are only shooting yourself in the foot if you think it’s an attack on your creativity. Words that haunt me from college “ You’re gonna have ideas you think are good, but doesn’t mean they are” Oh those words hit deep. What do you mean my ideas aren’t good? Then what’s the point?
The point is, this is true, not everyone will like or even understand your ideas, but it’s up to you to fight for them , use your passion to show them it is a good idea. If not, you need to take on the feedback and move on. You will have no ideas. I’ve learnt that to brave the creative industry, you need a tough shell and the mindset to defend your work , without being offended.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Start in the schools, make a career in the arts a path that students can actually visualise themselves in.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/filmbiography_ashley_parsons?igsh=bnAyd2NuNXUxeGV3
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashley-parsons-aaa700150?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app