My name is Silvy Guekguezian and I am a young filmmaker. I am the producer of Blue Ribbons, B2, The Coincidence and Blind Imagination. I have been friends with Anastasia Mikhaylova for a very long time and what started as a great friendship turned into an amazing co-producing partnership.
In childhood, we were always watching films and going to movie theaters. Inspired by those films, Anastasia and I would often create short videos for special occasions like birthdays or Christmas. Anastasia says, “Despite how challenging it was for me as a kid to edit a short film, it was always fascinating to come up with ideas for movies.” As we developed our storytelling skills, we started learning film production at a professional level and pursuing a career in that field.
A career in film has to be one of the greatest challenges within nearly all of the creative arts. I realized how important it is to have a meaningful story, one that can touch the audience in different ways. Anastasia says, “Films are not only about dazzling special effects or great cinematography—they’re about characters and their lives.”
Becoming a movie producer is not hard at all. You just come up with a story, find a cameraman and start shooting. This is all easy. Becoming a great movie producer is way more difficult because you have to be constantly improving and be willing to learn from your previous mistakes.
Another important part is to have the right people on your team. That’s right—it does not solely depend on your talent and skills, but also on what the rest of the crew is able to give to you. I was happy to meet Anastasia who became a part of my team and my soulmate. By now, we have worked on numerous projects together that tested our limits and capabilities as producers.
The very first film we co-produced together was a short film I wrote and directed titled Blue Ribbons. The film tells a story about a high school basketball player whose life takes an unexpected turn and is forced to re-learn everything she has ever known and find a new purpose to run towards.
Working on the film, we faced our first issues being producers who were responsible for the organization of the entire project. Blue Ribbons taught us to solve issues of any complexity.
The biggest issues were getting the film permits. At some point, I was going to give up one of the locations and shoot some scenes as pick-ups. However, Anastasia said, “I won’t take no for an answer.” It took a while for us to secure the permit because studios require plenty of paperwork, but we managed to do it on time.
The second project we worked on was a short film that Anastasia wrote and directed titled The Coincidence, and it was the start of our very own dream team.
During the long process of pre-production, we ran into several roadblocks along the way. From gathering all necessary insurance paperwork, filing and receiving our permits, and securing the toughest locations. The other two films Anastasia and I have produced are B2 and Blind Imagination. Both projects are based on true stories and are in the Arabic language.
The production for the two films went much smoother since both of us have enough experience to be able to keep things under control. Anastasia and I always understand each other at a glance and have each other’s backs.
We’re currently about to start pre-production for a new musical that is coming out in 2020. And we are more than ready to face new challenges together.
In the future, Anastasia and I are planning to start our own business. After getting enough experience as a producer, Anastasia “is planning to open a production company and offer pre-production services.”
Nothing has ever stopped us from achieving our goal in bringing these films to life.