We were lucky to catch up with Justin James Farley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Justin James , appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

When I was in grade school it became very clear to me that a profession in acting was the route I was going to take, regardless of how risky it was . There was and still is something extremely intriguing about being the vessel to tell a story. As an actor I’ve learned some crucial skills while at the same time I’ve been fortunate to encounter many instructors, directors and artists that have helped me recognize and nurture the natural talents that l possess and I will be grateful for that forever be grateful for that.

Living requires taking risks and sometimes deciding to take the risk, the leap of faith as I would call it, doesn’t have to be a spontaneous thing, sometimes patience can come into play an help you out. About 8 years ago, I was making the rounds in the Chicago theatre scene while simultaneously venturing into the TV world of auditioning and had also begun a new venture as a screenwriter with my wife Ashley, when a thought came to me “what if we moved to LA?”. I didn’t immediately dismiss the idea. I had heard of people doing this but what would that look like in my life? I didn’t take the question lightly and when I posed the question to Ashley, I immediately saw the curiosity register on her face. We talked about it for a while and as we talked the obvious came up, (where would we live, how would we make it work, is this a good time, etc.) and as we discussed to our surprise it became more and more feasible. We decided we would give it a year from the day to come up with a legitimate reason not to move. I say a legitimate reason because the above reasons were fear based and deep down we knew we could figure those things out, we meant a truly good reason to not just “try it”.

The year passed and by the time we brought up the question again we had almost decided unanimously the answer was yes, we’re moving to Los Angeles. It was truly the moments over that year and weighing our options that helped us make the decision from an informed place which gave me confidence and reassurance. I was talking with a family member recently and she brought up the move and how when we did it she was proud of us and “couldn’t imagine” taking that type of risk when she was younger. Looking back, it was definitely worth it. I have been fortunate to build a career here and expand on what I was doing in Chicago. Currently my wife and I operate our own production company, BaiFar Productions. I’m also able to audition for great projects and continue writing. A risk can pay off immensely and even if it doesn’t turn out the way you’d imagined I’m of the mindset that knowing the outcome is better than not knowing at all.

Justin James , 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 name is Justin James Farley and I am an actor, writer and producer. I was thrown into acting at a young age, quite literally (I was cast in a musical two weeks before it opened because someone dropped out) and have been on the path ever since. I attribute a lot of my confidence in pursuing a career in entertainment to my high school directors and coaches. I know they made me see the potential in this profession and also in myself. A few years ago my wife and I founded BaiFar Productions, a production company aimed at telling multi-perspective stories. It’s always interesting to see yourself in a story, to relate and BaiFar provides the space to show those specific unconventional points of view. I’m most proud of the recent work BaiFar has accomplished. In the spring of 2023, we released our first series, season 1 of The Blacktor, a short form comedy about the failings of a working Black actor in Hollywood. We are currently in production on Season 2 which is really exciting. We are also shooting a short film entitled After, which explores the conversations you must have with children after they experience the death of a loved one. I think the thing that we want our audience and community to see is that there is a place for your story. It really doesn’t matter who you are, there is a place to tell your story and even more reassuring there is most definitely an audience ready and willing to experience your specific point of view.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I think the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the fact that you can always create. There is a freedom in this that I wish more people could experience. When you work in your artistry, you never really feel like you’re working but you are. While you live as an artist (even if you gotta have that day job for now!) you thrive, not just in your art but in your life. You are constantly being led by your craft, thinking about the next idea, mapping out the next step to the goal, figuring out where and when this thing that started out as an idea is going to happen. Sometimes you do this at a desk but as an artist you can create anywhere, at the grocery store, parking your car, waiting in line…your art is in you and so it’s with you always. I’ve found this to be rewarding and helpful, especially in those down times or times of transitions where you question if this is the right thing or if you should be doing something else, the reward of living as an artist is that you’re always creating even when you don’t think you are. This artist “mindset” is the thing that gets you through those hard times. When you embrace living as an artist your art is your fuel and your freedom!

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I think producing The Blacktor was one of the hardest and simultaneously one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. The concept came a few years ago, but as we were writing and figuring out the logistics of how to make this actually happen Covid hit. It was then we realized that we would not be able to shoot this with a huge crew or even a small crew any time soon. Eventually, we made the decision to produce the show ourselves. So, we studied and studied and studied some more, there was absolutely no limit and since we weren’t on someone else’s timeline it was a period of not just gaining information but retaining it. And then as we were getting closer and closer to the tangible idea of shooting this series, even throwing out potential shoot dates, we got the news that we were expecting, which was fantastic news for life but required a massive shift in our production timeline. Nevertheless, we kept at it and kept writing and studying getting everything in order as best we could. Our son was born and of course things changed but between diapers, bottles and naps we kept working. After he turned 1 and we had a tighter grip on reality as the fog of new parent-ness was lifting a timeline for production became a lot clearer and more feasible. We were able to shoot all six episodes by the end of 2022 and finished post-production for a spring 2023 release.

Looking back there were so many times we could have and almost wanted to stop but I’m forever grateful we didn’t. With the release of The Blacktor Ashley made her directorial debut and I was cast in my first role as a lead in a series, it also solidified BaiFar Productions as a legitimate entity in the industry. Sometimes you have to tie resilience to the thing you love to do, the thing you have to do, and this was definitely the case for us, There were days we had to force ourselves to keep going. The entire process required us to swerve many, many times but there always remains two very clear options, to keep going or to quit and when you keep going eventually great things come to fruition.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: baifar_productions
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL70cgEuj0JqHPI03mkBOzT0JkLAf1Ksvr

Image Credits
Ashley Bailey Farley