Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Sofia Terpou. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Sofia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
As a film producer, the very essence of your job is to create the space for other artists to share what is meaningful to them. And that’s what gives you meaning. Every project I’ve worked on is a stepping stone closer to understanding my craft, my strengths and weaknesses – it paves the way to where I want to be as a professional. However, if I had to talk about the most meaningful project to my heart, that would be my latest work, the short film “Intern” written and directed by the extremely talented Elena Viklova. Discussing the script since its first drafts, I quickly realized that this project is special. It is essentially a film about this ambitious intern (Isaac Jay) who believes that his skills, his knowledge and his pure desire to improve things will eventually get him hired. What he doesn’t realize is that what really matters to this company is not skills, but utmost devotion to its CEO (Richard Riehle). It’s a story about blind loyalty to authority, toxic institutions that destroy any person who wants to bring change – “recycling” the people who lose any sense of self and identity serving the system. We saw a lot of significant political changes worldwide over the last few years and I’m really confident that the story will speak to the audience as a collective, as it spoke to me as an individual. Also, from a production standpoint, I consider “Intern” to be the project that pushed me to the “next level” in terms of scale and budget. I had the chance to work with an incredibly talented cast and crew and the freedom to bring Elena’s vision to life. Right now we are in the midst of our festival round and I’m glad to say that the film seems to touch people the same way it touched everyone in our team. Last month, we had our worldwide premiere at the prestigious Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival where we also won the award in the Best Comedy Short category. We soon premiere in Europe in Short to the Point where we are also nominated for Best Short Comedy and we are continuing our March screenings in the FirstGlance Film Festival in Laemmle NoHo 7 – please don’t hesitate to come and support us there!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I come originally from Greece, where I studied Marketing and Communications. However, I always wanted to learn and work in film, I was fascinated by the power films had on me throughout my entire life. I was and still am somewhat of a selective extrovert which means that most of the time I spend inside my head, mainly examining people and their behaviors. It’s not as crazy as it sounds, but my interest in film sparked because films are exactly about that: us, humans. What makes us flawed, what makes us great. Our actions, mistakes and dreams. I consider cinema “the 7th Art” because it can spark thoughts inside our heads, make us reflect and ultimately make us become a little bit better people. I came to LA in 2020, and during these 3 years, I studied, I wrote, I directed but ultimately, I found my call in producing. I learned and developed my strengths in the midst of a global pandemic and I co-founded our production company, I Am Out Of The Office, where I have the opportunity to create the space for others to share their truths. I have produced a variety of projects from short films, proof of concepts, music videos, web series to online content for companies and I will always strive to find the next, big challenge.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Undoubtedly, the most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the ability you have to touch people with your work. I still remember the odd yet so satisfying feeling when I heard sincere laughter in the audience during the screening of the first short comedy I produced, “Infodemic”, directed by Elena Viklova. You give a piece of yourself out there and it’s just so rewarding to receive people’s reactions back, whatever they might be. That’s what we are doing it for.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I’d love to produce something in my home country, Greece. Greek film industry has just started flourishing and I know there are so many incredible professionals who I can’t wait to work with. Plus, it’s just so beautiful! Los Angeles is amazing, and full of opportunities but I know I would not feel at ease with myself if I never produce a film in Greece. We have something in the works and I’m just so excited to jump into it once the time is right.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.iamoutoftheoffice.com
- Instagram: @sofiaterpou
- Other: IMDb: www.imdb.me/sofiaterpou
Image Credits
Alexandre Casanova Siddhesh Pandey Mikaela Pappa Hollywood Reel Independant Film Festival