We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tish Arana. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tish below.

Tish, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My film, The Burden, is the most meaningful project I’ve created to date. This science fiction film that vacillates between drama and dark comedy, has resulted in so many vulnerable and powerful conversations around the N-word and how it’s affected people throughout their life. I always know when one of these conversations is about to happen, because the person approaching me always has their hand over their heart.

I’ve learned over and over again that specificity truly is what connects us all. You assume your special story will be so unique, so specific that no one will relate. It’s the complete opposite.

I made a project that uses radical empathy to drive home a point and it seems to be working.

Tish, 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 started out as an actor. I moved to Los Angeles many years ago and was fortunate enough to be a part of some great indie films as well as a bunch of national commercials. I was content with that path and then I joined an improv workshop that allowed actors, directors, and writers to come together to workshop projects. We put on a show at a black box theatre in Hollywood and the team needed scripts. I fought contributing to the show; I never saw myself as a writer, but then I overhead one of my husband’s friend groups on Instagram (an all Asian group) use the N-word and the outline for The Burden came to me. I couldn’t write it down fast enough. I had actors do a staged reading and it resulted in a group of folks approaching me to turn it into a film. I found a great producer who assembled the dream team, I became the director after the one we hired had to bow out two weeks before our crowdfunding campaign and fell in love with directing on day one of our shoot. I realized then that I had always been a director. The creative control and the ability to create the types of healthy, positive environments that lead to the kind of work I wanted in the world was and is addicting. I’m most proud that my crew and cast said my set was one of the best ones they’d ever worked on. I led with integrity and kindness which came back to me ten fold. My crew was amazingly supportive and generous. I believe we were able to make the specific magic we made because everyone felt seen, heard and considered. Having experience as an actor with a wish list of how I liked to be treated on set helped considerably.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

Reading Octavia Butler’s Kindred in college was the impetus that started me on this filmmaking journey. I read the book and for the first time saw that Black people could write and center their stories in sci-fi and fantasy. I had never read/experienced stories like that about us. And forget time travel and slavery as a factor! I was hooked. Every script I’ve written so far is rooted in sci-fi and/or fantasy. Once I figured out I could create magic and whimsy I never looked back. I’ve written two feature scripts, a TV pilot, and another short currently in pre-production on that all center Black women or girls in sci-fi/fantasy.

I like to think that Octavia is watching and proud.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I didn’t start out as the director for The Burden. We had interviewed some great women and decided upon someone I planned to shadow and learn from, but she had to unfortunately leave the project two weeks before our crowdfunding campaign. We had no time to look for someone new so my producer suggested I float the idea of me directing to my production leads and everyone was unanimously on board with me stepping into the role. Saying I had to pivot is an understatement. I don’t think I ever would have directed if I hadn’t been pushed into it. I think I always would have had an excuse that I wasn’t ready. I didn’t go to film school. I hadn’t shadowed enough directors. I had a million excuses, but I loved and cared for my story so much I stepped up to ensure it carried on. I’ve learned art is messy and spontaneous and pivoting is half the fun: you prepare special funds in the budget for all that spontaneous chaos and hopefully, you’re into staying curious about what fun new things are going to shift and change throughout the process. We had a lot of pivots during our three-day film shoot and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @luvandkiwi @theburdenfilm
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tisharana/

Image Credits

Christopher Benitez (Octavia sweatshirt)
Joanna DeGeneres (headshot)
Stefania Rosini (film BTS photos)
Aisha Lomax (street photo)