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

Hi Kate, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

In 2020 I was going through a soul search, and I kept reminiscing about my late mom’s life in Soviet Russia and my childhood in modern Russia. I discovered that we had different paths but also eerily similar at the same time. That, along with the yearning desire to honor my mom’s name, to shed light on the life of a teenager amongst tragedy, and to show the life of the country where I was born, propelled me to write, produce, direct, and act in my first featurette film Parallels. I’ve never worked in Russia in film production, and sourcing cast and crew remotely was quite a challenge. I also crowdfunded the film, which I’d never done before. James Baldwin once said: “All art is a kind of confession.” And being able to share a very personal story with the rest of the world was both — scary and liberating. But I told myself from the start, that if I only had one chance in creating a film, it has to be this story. Four years later, after a successful festival run, Parallels is now available for streaming on the prestigious YouTube channel Omeleto.

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 started my creative path in 2014 as an actress in New York City. But I always dreamt of trying it in the city of angels. I moved to LA in 2018 and since then I dipped my toes in production, mainly as a 1st assistant director. Like many of actors, I faced a lot of rejection but I found that writing was a very rewarding and therapeutic experience. I wrote a few feature screenplays and realized I wanted more. I wanted to direct my stories too. And that pushed me to write short scripts — those that I could either fund myself or crowdfund and start building my reputation as a storyteller. Over the course of 3 years, I wrote, produced, and directed five short films, four of which I also acted in a supporting or lead role. I can’t stress enough how liberating and empowering that experience was! When you create your work, you feel in control of what you want to say, how you want to say it, and you suddenly transform from a beggar to a leader. For anyone out there having doubts and fears about creating your work, I’d say — find the courage and just do it. It’s worth it.

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

I believe there is no profession in the world that requires resilience more than any other life skill than an artist. And I’m talking about any artist: actor, writer, painter, dancer, filmmaker, etc. I don’t remember a time in my life when it was “easy.” All the knowledge I gained resulted from hard work, skipping parties, and studying. All the success I received for my work was the result of again — hard work— and perseverance. Being a professional actor means facing more “no’s” than “yes’s”, honing the craft, and not giving up. I was born in Russia and my parents didn’t approve of my desire to become an actress. It was emotionally hard not to have their support, but I persevered and got accepted into an acting school in New York. At that time I got into a relationship that after 4 years left me heartbroken and without a direction of what to do and where to go. I chose not to give up on my dream and moved to Los Angeles. I didn’t have any success in acting and was at the point of questioning everything — from my skills to my identity. In 2020 the pandemic hit. During that time I decided to reflect on and finish my feature scripts. While writing, I realized, that I’m more than an actress. I’m a storyteller. And that propelled me to create my first short film, which empowered me in ways I couldn’t imagine. I can tell you that all my life has been a journey of resilience. I know the challenges will not stop as I’m climbing the ladder, but it’s important to cultivate it and to remind yourself why you decided to be an artist.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I’ll share one pivotal moment in my career that I hope will inspire others. In 2020, as I mentioned before, I decided it was time to create my own work. I was done asking for permission and asking for opportunities to act in other people’s material that I also felt wasn’t good, for the most part. So I went on a path of becoming a triple threat: writer, producer, and director. And then I decided, why not act in my work too? I chose to write a very personal story because I thought if I was given only one chance to make a movie, I’d rather make this one. That’s how my film Parallels was born. It was my first time crowdfunding, producing on a big(ger) level AND abroad, directing, and acting at the same time too. It was very scary but also exhilarating. For the first time in my career, I felt like I was in control. I was in charge of making decisions and I knew that regardless of the outcome I did it my way. I’m happy to say that the film turned out exactly how I envisioned it. We had a successful festival run (officially selected in 25 festivals worldwide and got 13 awards) and now the film shines on the YouTube channel Omeleto. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E8cMR1GlD8)
This film made me realize my true potential and after that, I went on and created 4 more shorts. Currently, I’m working on funding for my first feature film. I don’t think anything would drastically change in my career if I didn’t go on the route of creating my work. And if anyone hesitates, I’d say go for it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.iamkatemedia.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katesurinskaya/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katesurinskaya
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E8cMR1GlD8

Image Credits

Oleg Adamovich, Robert Tapaltsyan, Luigi Ventura