We were lucky to catch up with Samantha Girard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Samantha, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I was always very creative, even as a kid. I loved to paint, draw, sing, dance, but I think I really knew I wanted to be a creative professionally when I was 16. I was cast as Ariel in the little mermaid at my local theater, and it was honestly the most rewarding experiences of my life. It was grueling, everyday was long rehearsals and at the same time I was attending college classes at my community college. So it was a very busy time in my life, but I was never tired of it. I dived right in and I felt so free playing characters and being with fellow cast mates creating a show. I really loved it. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a part of the creatives professionally.

I attended the Academy of Art in San Francisco for my B.F.A. in Acting and I loved every second of it. It wasn’t until my last semester that I took a directing course kind of on a whim and I found the joy in creating a film. I’ve always loved movies and being in films but being able to be at the center of the creation as the director I thought was so incredibly cool. That’s how I started directing.

Just after school, I co-founded Alda Productions LLC and now my Husband and I create films and documentaries as part of our careers and it’s honestly the coolest things I’ve ever done. I think I was very lucky to find my passion so young.

Samantha, 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’m Samantha Girard, I’m an Actor, Director and CEO of Alda Productions in Los Angeles. Our company focuses on giving a platform for creatives to build and develop their ideas into film. Our goal is to create films that make social change, provide insight to different experiences and give a voice to artists. We are a full service production company, we do everything from pre-production planning with a client, to post-production film production. I operate also as the Creative Director so I’m there pretty much every step of the way, assisting the project as a producer, director, or writer. Max Miles our Chief Technical Officer who is an incredible cinematographer and camera operator provides all of the technical knowledge our clients need, and functions as our camera team on set for our various projects.

I got into Directing by being an actor actually, I was never really planning to be behind the camera. But the more I helped create directors visions, the more I wanted to be the one creating the story and being involved in the entire process. I really enjoy getting to work with multiple teams and artists who all collaborate to make a film happen. It’s really some of the most rewarding work I’ve done and I think that’s how I really started out directing. it was very serendipitous but I’m so grateful it happened so organically and I feel like I really enjoy what I do. Alda Productions came about as this by-product of becoming a director. Max Miles and I realized that we really wanted a name for ourselves and wanted to help other artists create films whether they are low budget or full length films, I think we realized we had all the tools we needed to be company owners and really make something special so we delved right in and made Alda.

I think something that sets us apart from other companies is we really are a boutique company, so we can work closely with clients to help make their films reality. It doesn’t matter to us if the client is a student just starting out or someone who is well-versed in film-making, we provide services to all at any level. Because ultimately we just love making films, and that’s why we creating the company.

I think something I want people to know about me and my company Is that I really just love what I do, I get so excited when potential clients come to me with inspiration about a film, documentary, or music video they want to create. its the best part about what I do. I always feel like conversations with clients about what they want to create just lights my brain on fire and its the best feeling because I love being creative and I love helping others so its the greatest combination of my skills.
I think I put that same passion into Alda Productions, I can’t really express enough how much I enjoy artists and creatives and what we get to do as jobs.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I love this question, because I think as a creative there is so much you have to unlearn.

I think the biggest thing I had to unlearn is that, “Once you find a niche, stick to it or people won’t know what to do with you in this industry”

The reason I bring this up is because I think it’s so important right now as more female directors become recognized. When I started out in acting, (which I still very much love) that was sort of what I got known for in my groups. But when I left school, I had so many other passions that didn’t really involve me being an actor.
even though I started a film production company, produced a documentary and was developing my directing career, all within six months, I still got asked “but what are you doing acting wise” and for a time this started to make me really question if I was focusing on the right things. Truthfully, it made me really sad because I started to only see my worth in that career outcome and not what I was doing. Despite the fact that my directing career was really starting to work out and take off as well as the company doing well.

This is the point I had to unlearn that “I’m only good at one thing” and while I love acting and I’m still very much pursuing it. I think that the industry is changing a lot and embracing a lot of various creatives that can function in many realms.

I think my biggest inspiration in this is Greta Gerwig, because she started out in Acting and found herself in Directing. I really admire her passion for her craft and how incredible of a film-making and actor she is. She really helped me find that multiple potential in myself and realize I could be a director as well.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think as an artist you have to be resilient in so many aspects.

Truthfully, I never thought I would create a company at this point in my life, but I always wanted to create my own business and use my creative skills as part of my job.

The journey to creating the company wasn’t easy, there was so much to learn as new business owners, with very little budget. My partner and I invested a lot of our savings into starting Alda Productions, pretty much everything we had.

We started out while I was living with my parents and I was trying to pursue acting full-time in LA. We just moved, and we were trying to create something that we didn’t even know how to do.
Thankfully, I had a very supportive family that believed in what I wanted to create, an incredibly supportive partner who balances me and my skills. Even then, there was a lot of times we weren’t really sure if we knew what we were doing, but I’m so thankful that both of us had this determination to really create something that would give a platform to make films we always wanted to make.

I think in this industry you really have to be fearless, just keep pushing forward, keep making mistakes, and never stop learning. There will be moments too where what you do won’t feel creative, it will feel like work. But then you have those incredible moments that feel like “this is what I was always meant to do” and it’s all so worth it! That’s what you are striving for and you have to keep doing the work and embrace those moments.

Becoming a director and a company owner has taught me so much, and I would do it again.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.aldaproductions.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aldaproductions/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AldaProductionsLLC
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alda-productions-llc/
• Other: Samantha Girard Professional Accounts:
  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samanthagirard_official/

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