Embarking on a journey into storytelling through film, photography, and fashion, Lada Egorova shares the inspiration behind her multifaceted career and creative ventures. From an early passion for writing and cinematic experiences, She found themselves drawn to the captivating power of visual storytelling. With the launch of their streetwear brand, No Frontier, Lada seeks to ignite a community of dreamers and visionaries, advocating for societal change and environmental consciousness. Balancing diverse projects, they reflect on the challenges and rewards of managing time and creative energy effectively. Through their production company, Wild Kids Production, Lada aspires to amplify diverse narratives, shedding light on cultural complexities and immigrant experiences. As they venture into new projects, including a comedy TV pilot and their second photography book, Lada remains steadfast in their commitment to authenticity, resilience, and unwavering belief in the transformative power of storytelling. Join us as we delve into the vibrant world of creativity with Lada Egorova.
Can you share a bit about your journey into the world of storytelling through film and photography? What initially sparked your interest in these mediums?
I always had a passion for writing and telling stories since I was 10. I fell in love with movies at a young age too, getting used to watch many movies with my family. I bought my first camera at age 15 because I wanted to start making my own movies and take pictures. I always loved the power of cinema in inspiring people and making them dream, be immersed in other worlds and learn new things about others and the world. I always wanted to become a filmmaker first, writer and director but my interest for photography was always present on the side as well. Everytime I would go on holidays with my parents I would take my camera and capture landscapes and strangers. However it is only in 2020 that I put more focus on my photography work and decided to dedicate more time to it. Besides starting portrait photography at that time, I also discovered a real passion for street photography. Regarding my love for filmmaking, it kept growing over the years, and everytime I am on set on watch a great movie, my desire to keep making films grows stronger.
Balancing multiple creative projects like filmmaking, photography, and launching a clothing brand sounds exhilarating yet challenging. How do you manage your time and creative energy effectively across these different ventures?
It can feel overwhelming at times. Of course I always wish that everyday had more hours but I finally learned how to release the pressure if I am unable to achieve everything on my daily to-do list. I try to stay organized and always schedule my week to make sure the most important things are getting done. I am also starting to “plan” my resting time to avoid a burn out. It’s easy to only focus on the things you have to do and forget that you also need rest and leisure time as well as some time where you do nothing to let your imagination kick in. Another important thing I like to do is to write down the major projects I want to make for each month so I can see the bigger picture and remember that no matter what other little tasks get added everyday, these big projects are what I really want to do and what matters the most.
We’d love to hear about the inspiration behind your streetwear brand, No Frontier. What message or ethos do you hope to convey through your clothing line?
The slogan of my streetwear brand is “Unleash. Transcend. Impact.” Through my brand I want to eventually build a community of people who support each others, this brand is targetted towards artists, creators, people with a vision and big dreams, the revolutionaries, the ones who dream and make their dreams come true, people who want to change society through their words, actions and art. Unleash for unleashing your potential, transcend for transcending time, trends, norms and impact for impacting the people around you through your actions and art. I would love to have my brand inspire and motivate people to follow their dreams and never doubt that their vision is too big to be accomplished. Another element is that all our clothes are made from recycled fabrics, our packaging is also made of recycled materials. We are a zero-waste fashion house, meaning we do not have an inventory, each piece is specifically created for the customer who buys it. This is also an important element of my brand and reinforces a desire that everything we do from designing to sewing the clothes to making art in general has a meaning and intention behind.
As a filmmaker, writer, and photographer, storytelling seems to be at the heart of everything you do. How do you approach crafting narratives across different mediums? Do you find similarities or significant differences in your creative process between film and photography?
Storytelling is indeed at the heart of everything. Our history, culture and society is based on stories from our ancestors. Story brings meaning to the things you do. I believe in the power of stories and I think when you create something and create a story connected to it, it makes people pay more attention and resonate more with your creations. I definitely spend more time crafting a good story for my films, to make sure the world I build, the characters interacting in it and the visual and auditory world make sense and serve the story. For photography I first started focusing more on composition but my love for street photography grew from a desire to start telling more stories through my photography. I love to imagine who is the stranger I take a picture of, where are they headed to? What are they thinking and feeling in the moment I took a picture of them? Eventually you realize that photographers are also storytellers. The way you take a picture of someone will create a certain feeling and spark something specific for the viewer. How you use angles, if you isolate your subject from the crowd, if you take a wide shot of them or a close up of their face, all these tell a story. Every good artist is a storyteller at first. The main difference with films and photography is that films are more explicit in showing you a specific story they are trying to tell you while photography is more open to interpretation from the viewer. Photography conveys more of a feeling and the viewer is more free to imagine their own story based on the picture they are seeing.
Building a production company is a significant undertaking. What have been some of the most rewarding moments and challenges you’ve encountered in establishing Wild Kids Production?
Finding financing is always a challenge, but being able to produce the first projects of Wild Kids Production on a lower budget range has been very rewarding, it was a way to prove that there are always ways to create and make movies.
Could you share a bit about your upcoming projects, such as your first feature film and TV pilot? What themes or messages do you hope to explore through these works?
I am currently in preproduction of a comedy TV pilot for a tv series called “Blin”. The show is about a Russian – American woman who returns to her neighborhood in Los Angeles and has to reconnect with the Russian community. The show explores the cultural differences between American and Slavic culture and the challenge of balancing your life when you live in-between two cultures. My feature film “We Are Beautiful”, is a love story between two immigrants who try to survive in Los Angeles, find a way to stay in the country and make their dreams come true. It’s partly inspired to things that happened to me when I first moved to Los Angeles. Americans don’t realize how hard it is to live as an immigrant in the US, from getting the right visa, to work permits, finding a place to rent when you have no credit score, there are many catch-22 situations. I met many foreigners and some of my foreign friends have been through similar issues and some days it really feels like an impossible mountain you have to climb, not to mention the loneliness you feel from leaving your family and friends behind, trying to make friends in another country where cultures and personalities are so different to who you are. Foreigners and immigrants are the bravest, kind and most inspiring people I ever met in the US and I want to show what they have to go through to chase that “American Dream”.
In the realm of photography, you mentioned working on your second photography book. What themes or subjects are you exploring in this new collection, and how does it differ from your first book?
My first book had less pictures featured, it had more texts, short poems. My second photography book “Instants Of Existence” has over 150 pictures and only 3 poems. This new collection is ordered by similar color palettes, but it also has the same balance between humans and nature shots. The main difference is that my second book also features wild animal photography which is something I just started and my love for animals and desire to showcase their beauty was the reason why I really wanted to include some wild animal photography in this new book.
Pursuing a career in the creative industry often involves facing rejection and overcoming obstacles. Can you share a particularly challenging moment in your journey and how you navigated through it?
I faced many rejections, from fellowships, residencies, grants applications, film festivals. A bigger challenge I have to face now is that I am limited in the places I apply to since I am based in LA, I cannot access French filmmaking grants, programs anymore as I cannot leave everything behind in LA just for a few weeks or months to go back to Europe. Which is hard when you know that France provides more help for short film filmmakers. One of my most recent challenges was when I got accepted to an artist residency for a month in a beautiful French castle. However there were costs linked to this residency that I was not able to personally cover and the deadline was too short to find funds elsewhere. So I had to let go of this opportunity. But the more you apply to things the more opportunities will arise, apply everywhere, be everywhere, at some point people will notice you. You have to keep going, keep creating, even when you got rejected many times. You have to learn not to take it personally and have hope that other opportunities will come for you.
What advice would you offer to aspiring filmmakers, photographers, and entrepreneurs who are looking to carve their own path in the creative world?
Do not lose sight of the projects that really matter to you. As creatives we have to find a balance between having an income and making the art we love, it is good to pitch yourself to provide your creative services to clients, brands, businesses, of course you need to pay the bills and eat. However, do not forget your own projects behind, always make some time for these. Days go by fast, years go by fast and you can one day wake up and realize that this project you’ve been wanting to make for years, you have still not made any progress on it for two or more years. Do not forget your own dreams and projects over working on other people’s projects. Finally, always be confident when you pitch yourself. How can someone believe in you to hire you for their project or fund your artistic/business project if you don’t believe in yourself? We all have doubts sometimes, but when you are talking to someone else about you and your art, always speak positively of yourself and art. You have to be the first one to believe in yourself before anyone else does, you have to believe in yourself even when no one does yet. But do not mix confidence with having a big ego.
Lastly, how do you define success in your creative endeavors, and what are your aspirations for the future, both personally and professionally?
Success as an artist and entrepreneur is being able to make your projects come true and be able to evolve with every project. I hope that I will be able to create through my writing, filmmaking and photography, keep finding people to come onboard and help me bring my projects to life and be able to keep working with talented people. I want to keep making movies of bigger size, more often and keep using my photography skills to showcase other artists, brands and businesses. Personally, I hope I will find the perfect balance between my art work and my leisure time and travel more the world.
You can find more of Lada’s work here:
Filmmaking/photography website: https://ladaegorova.wixsite.com/website/galerie
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8106104/
Wild Kids Production website: https://wildkidsfilmproduc.wixsite.com/wild-kids-production
No Frontier website: https://nofrontierclothing.myshopify.com/
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