We were lucky to catch up with Susan Johnston recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Susan, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Our mandate is honoring stories worth telling for all ages, all cultures in all media. Have you heard the adage that you need to see, hear, meet, engage with someone/something five times for it to become familiar and therefor more comfortable?
Our theory is, what you read, talk about, share, engage with, create, etc. becomes part of who you are and how you engage in the world. Then we go a step further and ask, What would you like your future to be? Be that story now, tell that story now, share that story now, do positive things that are that future now.
Susan, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I process fast and i am curious, so i am constantly learning. I like assessing – what worked, what didn’t and why and the adjust. This way, I am constantly growing and my company brand is constantly elevating. Keep in mind, each company has to do what is right for them within the constraints of what they have. So I weigh that change – how much time, money, effort will that equal to what it would gain for story, people, humanity.
We have cut some of my most favorite creations based on the answer to the questions above.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Most people do not know that I had a bad concussion for 5 years which was quite dibilitating. I have to thank my sponsors, speakers, staff, as they would step in and adapt as my experiences changed to help me. Seems if you don’t have an a visual injury, people get mad when you don’t speak or do in the manner in which they expect. It was a painful and fascinating time. I could feel my brain move like a rubics cube trying to move into place or i could feel my brain go to retrieve information and just end up at a blank wall. I had weird symptoms, my eyes would burn, i would get physically sick, my head would kill a moose and i would sleep for long, long periods of time. In that time, in the early years of building www.newmediafilmfestival.com i just focused on the times i could function and acquised to the times I could not.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
This one is interesting as I only made the connection this year. I worked for an amazing high level, respected studio when i first moved to Los Angeles. It was a love affair, but I was not aware that i was doing what i thought needed to be done when it was not “my” project. I would go in, fix things and come back all excited when they didn’t want something fixed, they wanted X done. Cut to last month, i saw someone that has worked for me do the same thing and i realized the domino affect (not good) doing what one thinks should be done on a set vs what is needed on set by the person running the show. There is a reason they are running the show, even if you can run it, because they know all of the one million parts that are happening, you do not unless you are running the show. Great lesson and reminder.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.selectservicesfilms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newmediafilmfestival
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/NewMediaFilmFestival
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-johnston-media-futurist
- Twitter: @JohnstonSusan
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/newmediafilmchannel
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-135482983
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0426856/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2