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

Hi Brian , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

While overall they taught me to be a good person, probably the biggest lesson I took to heart was to think for myself.

Did they think I maybe took that idea a little too far when a twenty-five year old version of me announced that I was moving from our home in Upstate New York to Chicago, doing it by bicycle and staying with a friend of a friend when I got there? Sure, but they supported me, trusted my decision and told me I was welcome home any time.

Chicago ended up being very good to me. I enjoyed its Midwest feel for seven years and met my wife Jill. We shared the same outlook, began a life together that took us to all corners of the country and had two beautiful daughters, Katie and Sammie.

Hopefully we’ve passed these same traits down to our daughters. I do one one thing for sure. They’ve adopted that think for yourself mentality and like to remind me of it each and every day. 😀

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I dipped my toe into the performing world as a younger person (last century). After completing the Second City Training Academy, doing VoiceOver work and some theatre in and around Chicago, I realized I didn’t need to be the center of attention and left that world behind.

Flash forward twenty years, I missed having a creative outlet and thought I had some stories to tell. While reading an article about the differences in how to handle secrets in novels versus screenplays, I read “The Usual Suspects” script and fell in love with the format. The brevity. The white space. To create a world using as few words as possible but make it come alive in the reader’s mind.

I dove in headfirst, read screenplay books, took classes and attended seminars. Did my best to attend events and festivals in order to meet as many like minded creatives as possible. Read every screenplay I could get my hands on and wrote. And wrote. Badly, at first, but consistently. I kept in mind that it’s a marathon and took joy in every kernel of validation, each incremental victory, no matter how small.

I took a leap about five years ago and decided to make my own short. While I mainly write for live action, I’ve always loved animation and the chance to let my imagination run wild was too inviting. I hired an incredibly talented animator and presented her some ideas. Met an amazing musician who wanted to get into soundtracks and brought him onboard to do the music. I so enjoyed watching the idea come to life that it lead to a second animated short, then a third. I’m currently directly/producing my fourth. The common theme between them? There is no common theme, they’re as different as night and day. Some see it as a negative because I don’t have a “brand,” but it’s a positive for me personally and spiritually because I make what’s fun and interesting to me.

I don’t have a plan for the future, but not having started with one has worked out so far. As long as I feel inspired and creative, enjoy the work and the people I’m working with, I’m sure everything will turn out fine.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Simply the opportunity to be creative and meet other likeminded creative people.

Life can pigeonhole you. Tell you what to think, where to go, what to do, how to act and what to say. Having that creative side is freeing and adds a splash of color to what is often a black and white world.

Sharing my work and meeting fellow creatives has helped me become more creative. This community is open to new ideas and opinions. Caring and willing to try new things. Accepting of each other’s differences. In the end, it makes to world a better place.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

There’s no ladder of success to climb in the creative world.

Every day is different, every path unique. What feels real one day feels fake the next. Characters move from protagonist in one story to antagonist in the next. And there’s so much rejection out there.

I’ve learned to live in the moment, focus on what I’m working on because no one is responsible for my output but me. I stay happy and create for myself because in the end, why would anyone enjoy what I made if I didn’t like it? And if it ends up I’m the only one who likes it, that’s okay too.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.writeonbrian.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bocme/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brian.oconnor.184007
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-m-oconnor/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Brian_M_OConnor
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@brian.m.oconnor

Image Credits
Orange Purpose and Seasons of Saguaro Sam posters created by Mee Choe. A Very Lemmy Christmas poster created by Brad Uyeda.