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

Ashna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I’ve been fortunate that I have been a part of several meaningful projects in my career. However, the one I’m most proud of is the one that I am currently producing called Shame.

As an Asian woman, I feel like we’re brought up having to feel shame since we come out of the womb! And when you think about it, shame is a social construct. It makes situations worse and make people feel guilty when they didn’t do anything wrong. The short film is meant to assist with suicide prevention and sexual assault awareness. Both topics of which are deeply personal to me and not typically spoken about, let alone together. According to RAINN, 33% of women who are raped contemplate suicide while 13% of women who are raped attempt suicide.

It was my first time crowdfunding and we were fortunate to be green-lit to move forward with the two day shoot. Now, we are currently raising money to help assist us with post-production so we can complete our film and share it with the world. If you’re interested in supporting our women-led team, please check our page out: https://shametheshortfilm.wedid.it/

Ashna, 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?

I always wanted to be an actor, but my family was not comfortable with me pursuing the industry so I couldn’t take acting classes. I didn’t let that stop me. After I graduated with a business degree, I worked in corporate for a few years. Realizing I was unhappy, I started submitting myself for projects so I could audition and I booked my first audition!

After I went on set for the first time, I realized how much I loved it so I kept auditioning. As I kept booking, I started getting better. Eventually, I realized that maybe God was giving me a sign…so I packed up my bags and moved to Los Angeles to pursue it full-time. It’s been six years in LA although I don’t feel like it’s been a normal six years because of COVID-19. The industry hasn’t quite recovered, but I have no regrets about moving here.

By the time I got to LA, I was SAG-E and had reels so I found an agent to help me get the larger auditions I couldn’t get myself. I started taking acting classes at Actors Workout Studio with Fran Montano so I could learn the basics. Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to act in a ton of projects including sketches with Lilly Singh, Our Flag Means Death Season 1 finale, BET Twenties, and more.

When we were in a lockdown, I wrote and produced my own 14 episode anthology quarantine web series. Several of the episodes were entered into quarantine competitions and film festivals and we won! I realized that I had more to offer than just acting. Writing gives me equal joy because I was able to write the stories that I wanted to be in, but also use my writing to tell stories that enact positive change. I’ve volunteered a lot in my life with different organizations so being able to combine my advocacy into the stories I write has helped me realize this is what I’m meant to do. If you can even help one person in this world, you’ve done something right!

Right before the strike, my TV pilot and feature film were optioned by two different companies. Since then, I have four more feature films scripts and one TV pilot screenplay that I’m hoping to pitch soon.

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.

When I decided to leave home to pursue my journey as a creative, some people I knew didn’t respond well to it or thought it was a “phase.” I can’t help but be creative, it’s the way I’m wired. Yes, I may be more in tune with my emotions as a result, but pursuing a creative life is extremely difficult. To pursue any kind of artistic profession is to be raw and vulnerable because you put a part/all of yourself into art. When you watch actors on a screen, people think “oh, it is so easy.” It’s not! The reason it looks easy is because those actors are so talented. Plus, those actors received so many rejections before they booked that one part. No other industry is as competitive as the arts.

Another misperception is when people see your face on TV or in a commercial and they immediately think you’re rich. Art or any sort of creative life doesn’t really pay until you get to the top. And even then, it’s a constant hustle. You have to continually prove to others why you’re still relevant. For a whole year, people saw me in a commercial all over the country and messaged me about money…I made a flat $200 for that part and they used my face everywhere.

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

Art is extremely important to society, it moves us in profound ways. It is a way to connect with humanity and for people to feel seen. My recommendation is to go to the movies, an art gallery, or a play. Also, watch indie cinema! It’s easy to get caught up in our mundane day-to-day routine, but art is what reminds us of who we were, who we are, and who we will be. There’s all this talk of AI, and I think artificial intelligence is great for roles that are numeric or logically based. However, when you write a story or act in a story, you are showcasing all of what humanity has to offer (the good and the bad). AI can never truly replicate that because if they could, there would be no difference between us and AI.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7906675/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashkash009/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashkash009/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/ashnasharan
• Other: https://www.youtube.com/asthecollectivela
• Current project: https://shametheshortfilm.wedid.it/

Image Credits
Connor Clayton, Karim Nasser