Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Erica Eng. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Erica, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?

No artist is happy — and all artists are a little insane. But we do it anyway because we love what we do, we believe in our work, and let’s be honest – we’re all a little stubborn. I’ve also spent hears having a “regular job” and I have to say… I’d rather struggle doing something I love than struggle doing something I’m not passionate about.

Erica, 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?

I direct commercials, films, and, most recently, television. I wrote and directed my first film, “Americanized,” inspired by my experiences growing up in Oakland and playing high school basketball. That film won a Vimeo Staff Pick, 26 awards, became Oscar-qualified, and helped jump-start my career as a storyteller. My second film, “Off Fairfax,” is a comedic thriller that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and won an Honorable Mention at Slamdance. While it was playing on the festival circuit, I was prepping my third film, “The Ghost,” which I directed through Disney’s Launchpad Shorts Incubator Program. It was a coming-of-age horror film where I was mentored by executives from Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm, and had the opportunity to collaborate with Industrial Light & Magic on the visual effects. That film is currently streaming on Disney+.

Going back to the beginning—I started filmmaking at 14, shooting documentaries and music videos in Oakland and the Bay Area. After college, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a directing career. I spent years working in the industry and creating my own videos before being selected for SHOOT Magazine’s New Directors Showcase and the Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP). After that, my commercial career took off, which I continue to do today.

This year, I had the opportunity to direct my first episode of television as a Disney Entertainment Directing Fellow. And currently, as the solo domestic winner of the Academy Gold Fellowship for Women, I’m finally diving into writing my first narrative feature.

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

Over time, I had to learn when not to take a note. As creatives, it’s helpful to receive feedback because we can sometimes become so obsessed with our work that we get tunnel vision. However, when we ask for feedback, we’ll get it—whether it’s good or bad. The key is to discern what aligns with our own creative intentions. The hard part is that we often ask for advice from people we admire and respect, so when they give us feedback, we think they must know better. But if I can impart any advice, I’d say to try and resist that feeling, analyze the feedback critically, trust your own instincts, and remember to choose what feels right to you. That’s the only way you’ll be able to maintain your own perspective as an artist.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

We go through ups and downs, and it’s an on-going cycle with no solution. So if your partner or friend is a creative and they come to you feeling like they should quit and that they don’t know what they’re doing with their life — just be there to listen and encourage them, and know that they’ll come back and say the same thing to you again in 3 months…

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ericaeng.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missericaeng

Image Credits

Pete Lee, JW Hendricks, Kevin Park