We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Erik Franklin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Erik, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I learned more from my failures than successes. One of them is, as a creator, not trying to satisfy yourself. In school, it was a matter of making art that satisfied the assignment, and then, I mistakenly thought that once I got into the real world, I would study trends and create something that seemed like a “safe” project. One that was guaranteed to make money. Big mistake.
It ended up not doing very well, and I spent a great deal wondering why, when the answer was right in front of me:
I was creating for them, not for me.
Now whenever I make something, I make sure that I have that same childhood glee that I did when I was first telling stories (I knew I wanted to make movies since I was six). When I am writing, planning shots, etc. I have to make sure that my heart is into it.
A project does not have to be meaningful to anyone else but you. The funny thing is, I think that when an artist makes a personal piece, it often translates to more people because the emotions ring true.

Erik, 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?

My love of creating art and storytelling began early in my childhood. I loved draw and was very interested in the comic books that my dad loved to read. So I was copying them from a very early age and was always attracted to dynamic storytelling and bold imagery.

Then my world changed when I saw the first Star Wars on VHS (before the special editions came out). I was blown away. I used to only like to watch cartoons, and had no idea that movies with real people could also be exciting and imaginative. I remember my mom telling me that there was going to be a “making of” on Star Wars and I should watch, Well, I didn’t know until that that could actually be a job, making exciting, imaginative movies, so my life was set.

I steered my education towards everything artistic, filmmaking, and storytelling that I could. I went to film school and from then on started work on whatever sets I could to gain experience as I developed my own projects. In between film jobs, I used my love of comic illustration to become a comic artist and tell my stories in a different outlet. I take all kinds of commissions and it gives me a chance to get very creative.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

For each project, I have a different goal in mind, and that is… what do I want to learn from the characters? People underestimate the importance of role models in media, and I think that, as a creative, we can provide those to people who may need them. Not to say you have to get preachy, but I remember, as a kid, that I looked up to superheroes as kind of a moral compass. Sometimes I still do.

My goal would be to provide that same experience for others out there.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson I had to unlearn was to stop defining myself by other people’s idea of success. “Oh, you made a film, but it went straight to streaming, it’s not a theatrical movie so it’s less impressive,” or “you wrote a story, but it is self published so it isn’t legitimate”.

I used to think that way… and it was soul crushing. So I changed gears, realized that as long as my work was making me and other people happy, then it was a success.

On a related note: I starred in a play that saw a very small audience. But I remember these two guys in the audience kept cracking up at everything I was doing (thankfully it was a comedy). So at a certain point, rather than be dismayed by the empty seats, I kept thinking that I was delighted those two were having a great time, and was thankful to be providing it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.erikonpaper.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/erikonpaper
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/erik.franklin.7/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4ezdWY2UGBftkROeHTnjmA