We were lucky to catch up with Bessy Adut recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Bessy , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
The most meaningful project I am currently working on is called “Searching for Goodness” I came up with the idea in 2018. I was working on a documentary film project called “The Dissident” as well as the Academy Award winning Netflix documentary “Icarus” in Santa Monica with Bryan Fogel. It is interesting how I got drawn into documentaries in time. I was initially an escapist who mostly liked watching horror movies, science fiction and fantasy were my favorite genres. However in my work life aside from working in commercial, independent feature films, short films, music videos I got some of my best opportunities in documentaries as a production coordinator. When I went back home after graduating from CalArts, Film Directing program, it was a documentary directing opportunity brought me back to Hollywood. I get to direct “Mysteries of Cinema” and hosted it. I got inspired by these documentaries and considering my budgetary and time limitations I have decided to make my 1st feature film a documentary then turn it into a television documentary series and that’s how it all started. My original idea was more about spirituality then it evolved into being an equally balanced scientific documentary concerned about climate change, global warming issues as well as current topics such as ai.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I write, produce, direct and act. These are my 4 main wheels. However I worked in many film & television productions as an Assistant Director, Production Coordinator, Associate Producer and several different other crew positions. I really like being on film sets whether it is my project or I am helping other filmmakers bringing their visions to life.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Yes, it’s been very hard to not give up under my circumstances. I haven’t been here under any privileged conditions. My only privilege has been to be able to come to Los Angeles in 2006 with a Fulbright Scholarship I was rewarded with so I could complete my graduate studies in Film at one of the top film and art schools in the world that is California Institute of the Arts however I am also proud of the film school I went back home in Istanbul, Turkey. Film school life was relatively easier because we get to use film equipment from film cage and our student friends would give us a hand. However after film school finding the means to make films has been the most difficult. I was able to make a few short films earning grants and through crowdfunding however when I needed bigger budget for my feature film I got stuck for many years. My resilience has been finding the solution to manage my limited time and resources to make this happen. I only have a handful of friends helping me with the project right now filming and editing, I am very thankful to them. I decided to go ahead make an episode of each interview turn it into a doc series and broadcast on youtube as everything is so far free and within reach. I also decided to go with a podcast hand in hand thinking 2 birds with one stone. I hope to be doing this for awhile, make a feature film out of it as far as I can get then submit to completion grants for the feature film to be able to make it to Antarctica to film and turn the doc series to a platform such as National Geographic, Netflix or such a bigger platform because I would like to be able to reach the masses.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I am re-exploring adobe premiere and other programs thanks to a good black friday deal I got this year. I appreciate the free stock footage websites and public domain music websites. Anything is available out there is still challenging but helpful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bessyadutofficial.com
- Instagram: @sfgdoc and @bessyadutofficial
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bessy.adut
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bessyadut/
- Twitter: bessytwits
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtJoUBKp1G77xB_gKCbr3dg
- Other: https://bessyadutwrites.wordpress.com
Image Credits
Bessy Adut