We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Maya Oster a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Maya, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I believe many aspects of my life have fused together in order for me to be a filmmaker, but I would attribute how I learned how to direct, write, and produce films to growing up watching movies all the time. My mom used to wake me up early before I had school so we could watch a film in the basement together, and I loved it. My lack of formal training as a growing filmmaker allowed me to develop a very unique eye; I try to create art that inspires me the way the moving picture images and soundtracks I grew up with and love did. Although now as I’ve furthered my film education at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts as a Film and Television MFA candidate I have gained technical knowledge about how to be a great filmmaker, I still believe it to be subjective to some extent. I think what is taught and considered by the industry as “great” certainly has merit and are wonderful techniques to employ, but at their essence, they are just that – techniques. As I continue to grow as a filmmaker and develop my voice, I make conscious efforts to maintain my less-educated, unknowing, imaginative outlook on production that focusses more on drawing emotion rather than technical perfection. The films I produce that I am most proud of are the ones that fuse elements of the classics I grew up watching with a unique message that resonates deeply and creative rule-breaking of past tropes. At my core, I am an entertainer trying to elicit emotional responses to my work. Ultimately, I try to make films little Maya would’ve loved to watch early in the morning before school.
I grew up in a small town in Ontario, Canada, where the film industry was quite less burgeoning than the Hollywood network I am now a part of. Nonetheless, I would tell the past version of myself to stay educated on the industry, current films, filmmakers, new innovations, contracts, and more. It is so essential to understand all aspects of the business in order to become successful, and it is never too early to start learning!
I think the most essential skill to my success as a filmmaker is my passion for the art. Different aspects of the film industry have been sources of enjoyment for me throughout my life, and it truly is a dream having it be my profession now. Specifically, my love for the musical genre has informed many aspects of my journey as a filmmaker; I gravitate towards musical projects because I grew up watching those films and they bring me the most fulfillment. It is the greatest pleasure of my life as a filmmaker innovating on the genre and creating colorful, extravagant, whimsical, and joyful musicals, which I think shines through on the screen.
Knowing what I know now, I would have leveraged online resources as much as I could have. I think that there are some amazing YouTube channels, podcasts, documentaries, articles, etc. that have extremely valuable information about how to become a filmmaker. I grew up in a small town in Ontario, Canada, where the film industry was quite less burgeoning than the Hollywood network I am now a part of. Nonetheless, I would tell the past version of myself to stay educated on the industry, current films, filmmakers, new innovations, contracts, and more. It is so essential to understand all aspects of the business in order to become successful, and it is never too early to start learning!
I think the most essential skill to my success as a filmmaker is my passion for the art. Different aspects of the film industry have been sources of enjoyment for me throughout my life, and it truly is a dream having it be my profession now. Specifically, my love for the musical genre has informed many aspects of my journey as a filmmaker; I gravitate towards musical projects because I grew up watching those films and they bring me the most fulfillment. It is the greatest pleasure of my life as a filmmaker innovating on the genre and creating colorful, extravagant, whimsical, and joyful musicals, which I think shines through on the screen
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
What sets me apart from other filmmakers is my emotion-based storytelling that aims to entertain, dazzle, and leave a lasting impact on viewers. I got my start in the film industry as an actress. I grew up in Ancaster, Ontario, which is a small town in Canada. I found my creative outlets by participating in professional, community, and school musicals and plays, national dance competitions, and intensive vocal training throughout my childhood and teenage years. It was when I completed my undergraduate degree at Western University that I transitioned from being in front of the camera to working behind it. I found my artistic voice as a film director, writer, and producer with a specialty in the musical genre. I gravitate towards this type of film because it intertwines my favorite types of entertainment – song, dance, and acting – with complex and striking narratives in seemingly lighthearted ways. As a writer and director, I strive to say something that matters in all my projects, and I’m lucky that I control the means to do so. My favorite thing is when I get to make a film that is so extravagant, excessive, embellished, and joyful that audiences can’t help but feel awestruck, and then when it’s over it deeply resonates further. It’s packaging a poignant message in pretty wrapping paper and tying it up with a shiny bow. I find there’s such a fulfilling art in creating meaningful extravagance, borrowing from past Hollywood Golden Age musical tropes, and adding my own spin to the genre.
As a filmmaker, my vision is truly personal and I am paving a way forward for the type of art I think is meaningful. Musical films are some of the most polarizing in the industry, as there are many people who have a distaste for the genre as a whole. As a result, over time musicals have been pushed to the side of the major slates of Hollywood studios. Nonetheless, the narratives I love most and want to share with the world revolve around musical expression, so I have been innovating as a filmmaker to find a form that allows for authentic self-expression while also being appealing to global audiences. I believe people love what other people love, and a film filled with heart and passion makes it infinitely more appealing. It is my top priority as a filmmaker to put out fresh, nostalgic, and inventive work that I feel says something important. As long as I keep doing that, I’ve already found success as a filmmaker.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding part of of being a filmmaker is the creative process. As a writer, director, and producer, I am truly seeing a film through each of its stages and developing with it throughout the process. Writing is extremely enjoyable for me as I’m able to make sense of the world and personal situations by fictionalizing and exploring them narratively. Directing allows me to infuse meaning into every element of production; mise-en-scène is a key player in all my productions as each element within the frame contains hidden messages, themes, and emotions. Producing is a dream come true because I get to collaborate with other filmmakers, creatives, businesses, and teams to make our collective vision turn into reality. The final reward of the filmmaking process is exhibition, as I love sharing the finished product, derived from months of hard work, with family, friends, and audience members. It fills me with so much joy when the art I create inspires others and resonates with viewers, and sharing those experiences is what makes the entire process so gratifying.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My mission as a filmmaker is to create movies that evoke emotion in viewers and leave a lasting impact. All of the films I make are stories about love – love gained, love lost, familial love, self-love, or finding love in common, everyday places. I feel these narratives are extremely relatable for viewers in some aspect or another, and I enjoy putting my own style on something so universally acknowledged. By telling stories with a strong emotional core and applying my own vibrant and unique style to them, I hope to inspire a sense of awe and invigoration in viewers that expands their ideas of their world and relationships within it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayaoster_/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayaoster
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO_5Kkc0yPvERwX9vndcS6Q
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm16478673/
