We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tina Carbone a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tina, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I truly am happy being in production and doing what I love for a living. Even on the most challenging day, the most stressful projects, I still haven’t ever wanted a “regular” job. Back when I was first starting out and had to have a part time job (or 2) to sustain myself, I never wanted to get too comfortable and end up stuck doing something I didn’t love.

Being a freelance creative can be a stressful path for sure, but I think these days the idea that there is any real guarantee in a more “stable” or “regular” job that you’ll have work until you retire (or more stability) isn’t actually realistic… so I might as well do what makes me happy and enjoy life and work as much as I can.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hi, I’m Tina Carbone and I’m a freelance independent director and producer in Los Angeles. I have worked on short films, features, branded content and just about everything in between. After receiving my bachelor’s degree in film (with a concentration on directing and editing) I worked as a PA and assistant editor for a bit. As I worked my way around professional sets, I also learned everything I could by helping friends make their shorts and sketches… basically starting to produce before I really understood that’s what I was doing.

Once I made my way out to L.A. in 2010, I worked for a few years as a junior producer and then producer for a small company where I learned all about videography, working with clients, and running a small team on shoots. I broke off on my own in January of 2013 and began to do my own videography projects and produce shorts for friends… then got referred to friend’s friends… and soon I was working consistently just on referrals. The projects started out tiny and grew bigger over those first few years and by 2017 I had produced about 20 indie shorts, a couple web-serires and my first feature, as well as directed a few shorts, a web-series and a handful of sketches.

I think what sets me apart is probably my transparency, good attitude and work ethic, paired with the fact that I actually love what I do. Set is my happy place! I believe that filmmaking is a collaborative effort and the set experience is super important to me, as is the respect and happiness of each member of our team. I’m pretty proud of the fact that I’ve become known for how I run productions and that people continue to come back and work with me time and time again… even when the rates are super low. They know that they won’t be treated poorly or taken advantage of and that they will be surrounded by a bunch of other good humans!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My personal mission is to do the things and projects that make me happy with people that I want to work with. The bigger mission is to create not only a great set experience, but a pocket of this industry where EVERYONE is respected, welcomed and treated with kindness. We are filmmakers and we do this because we love it, so why not fill our sets with smiles, laughs, high fives and hugs rather than negativity and bad vibes.

Once you start finding the people that match your good vibes you collect them and keep them close, and you help them succeed in whatever they are trying to accomplish. I’m always trying to pay it forward, give friends and collaborators the knowledge, advice or helping hands they might need to jump to the next thing they want to do. If we all help each other out it’s a lot easier to succeed together.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are so many truly rewarding aspects of being a creative. I mean, just getting a project started, or completed is rewarding! Seeing your film with an audience, hearing their reactions and applause, having someone say how much they liked it or that it touched them, being selected to screen at a festival, even a small one… winning an award at that festival!

For all the ups and downs this industry can throw at you, I try really hard to take every little win and celebrate it in some way. But I guess if I had to pick the MOST rewarding aspect it would be that I’m actually doing the thing I always wanted to do. I’m still here after all this time, still learning and growing, through all the wins and hardships… I’m still here making films for a living! That kind of feels like the biggest win of them all!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tinacarbonefilms.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/tina_carbone_films
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/tinacarbonefilms