We were lucky to catch up with Louise Alston recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Louise, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

I think resilience is the secret to success. Getting back up after being knocked down is the biggest success. Mistakes and challenges are the best teachers. Working in a creative field, rejections and failures are a big part of the journey. The trick is to make the “no” or the creative block a path to a better idea or a new way of working. If you are confident that your third idea is going to be better than your first and your second, then “no” will never scare you or stop you.

Louise, 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 grew up on a farm in Australia. I came to America after my second feature film sold to netflix. I have since made seven features from Disney Original movies to Lifetime thrillers and in 2022 I bacame an American!

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

In my business it really is about who you know. Filmmaking is so risky, you really have to trust the people you are working with. That takes years of working to build a good reputation. You need people who can vouch for you at every step along the way. Nothing beats being on time and on budget for getting your next job. I love it when a producer says that It was easy making a film with me because that means they will tell other peopIe am worth working with. Keep the drama on the screen, I say. That means earning the right to come to your boss with and Idea that is different than expected. I have found that as a female director I sometimes really have to work to prove that I am the right person for the job. I’ve been given a million reasons why I didn’t get hired. I have even been told I didn’t get the job because I’m too good! But with that in mind, I know that it will tale one million and one pithes to get to “yes” and when I do get the job I make sure they will be scratching their head as to why they were nervous in the first place.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

On set I like to create an environment where everyone feels like they are invited and included in the creative process. If a leader can harness 110% from everyone in the team, the project is going to be more than the sum of it’s parts, exponentially so. I like to be strong in my vision for a project, but confident enough to let the film find it’s magic by following the good ideas and the opportunities that come up along the way. A leader needs to be able to steer the project, not just dictate. I also believe in respecting your team so that when trouble finds you, the team has the capacity and willingness to go all out for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.louisealston.com
• Instagram: @bloualston

Image Credits
1) In Her Likeness – Bankable films 2) Resisting Roots – Passionflix