Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brian Tetsuro Ivie. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Brian, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you signed with an agent or manager? Why or why not?
I signed with an agent when I was 25 (CAA). I don’t think I realized until later on just how rare this was. I would get messages from friends asking how to get repped and the only answer I had for them was to actually make a movie. Something that would define how agents and others related to them, and ideally not as a commodity, but as a person with a voice. I made my first feature documentary when I was still in college, but it took three years to get it released. My agents helped the next one move a lot faster.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I got into the business by making a movie while I was still in film school. I didn’t think of it like a business then. I was just chasing a story that I fell in love with for reasons that didn’t make a lot of sense, but do more now. Later in my life, I heard a quote by Stanislavski that says, “You must love art, not yourself in art.” That idea helps center me as I pick projects, both as a director and producer because it reminds me that the most authentic and beautiful thing is to love the art and the process, not that you’re part of the scene or what it does for your platform. I think Christopher Nolan, surprisingly, is a good example of this. Maybe it’s because he’s part of an older generation, I don’t know.
In terms of what I’m most proud of, I think it’s the stuff I made for the right reasons. The stuff that came from a deep place in my life and somehow transferred over to the lives of others later. I think any truly great piece of art does that. It starts deep. And hopefully, it goes wide and is good for people that watch it.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Just one. “Sculpting in Time” by Tarkovsky. That book is second to the Bible in my life. I read it often.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
It’s been said by other filmmakers that film isn’t for ideas, but I fundamentally disagree with that. Maybe it’s because movies changed the course of life. In high school, I watched “Dead Poet’s Society” for the first time and immediately and somewhat emphatically quit sports to join the drama department. Now as I make my own films, I’m very aware of what they may be saying, even without my conscious intent. Films and books teach people how to live. So I hope my films teach people how to live (and also die) well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.briantetsuroivie.com
- Instagram: @b.ivie
- Twitter: @thebrianivie
- Youtube: @briantetsuroivie
- Other: www.kebrado.com