JA Alumna Takes New "Crazy Ideas" to the Screen
As the 9th year of The Trust Your Crazy Ideas Challenge (TYCIC) kicks off, we caught up with 2017 JA alumna, Kelly Yu, to see how her experience with JA is helping her to build a successful career as a filmmaker and entrepreneur in Los Angeles.
After graduating from high school in New Orleans, Kelly attended the University of Southern California, where she now holds a B.F.A. from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Her short films have screened at film festivals around the country, with her most recent short film, Plum Town, winning the Grand Jury Award at Independent Film Festival Boston. She was a finalist for the 2021 Black List Feature Lab for her feature script of the same name. Outside of filmmaking, her entrepreneurial spirit continues as a freelance photo/editing/video producer for clients like Google, Glamour Magazine, Venque, NPR Youth Radio, Darkroom Agency, Galpin Motors, and numerous YouTube content creators with a combined following of over 10 million.
What lesson(s) from TYCIC did you take with you to college?
TYCIC taught me how to pitch myself and my ideas, whether it's putting together a cohesive and professional pitch deck or reaching out to the community and others for support. As long as you're passionate, then others will be able to see that. During my time in college, I decided I wanted to make my own independent short film and financed it through Kickstarter. Crowdfunding meant I had to constantly pitch myself and my ideas to people and organizations who weren't familiar with my story. My time in TYCIC gave me the confidence to do that.
Did you find any entrepreneurial skills helpful while dealing with the pandemic?
During the pandemic, it was easy to get into the habit of just sitting around watching Netflix, doing Zoom classes, and waiting for the months to go by. However, entrepreneurship is about taking advantage of disadvantages. Instead of being discouraged that nothing was happening in the world, I saw all the free time as a good chance to hone my skills, network, and create. I knew that a lot of people I'd been wanting to connect with were now more available and accessible through Zoom, so I reached out, put myself out there, and created a lot of meaningful connections and friendships that I still have today.
When have you failed? How did you deal with failure?
For the past eight months, I've been trying to finance and create a second short film that is super large in scale, consists of a lot of moving parts, and some aspects of filmmaking that I'm not familiar with. TYCIC has instilled in me the idea that anything is possible, no matter how crazy or challenging the idea is. I came up with every way to try and get the project made, but after almost a year of outreach and pitching, they all fell through. While my first thought was that I had failed, a lesson I learned from this is that some things are just out of your control (like the state of the economy), what matters most is that you tried. Additionally, something that seems like a failure now can actually turn into success, depending on how you view it. For example, I wasn't able to find the money to make my film, but I met a lot of cool, creative partners along the way that opened doors in other avenues. During my time in TYCIC, I didn't [initially] make it to the state finals. While I felt that I had failed, the opportunity to earn a spot in the [state] finals
through my friends and community voting for me actually taught me more about outreach and pitching. More people became aware of my product, and it felt even better advancing to the [state] finals knowing that my community had helped me get there, not just the votes of a few judges.
What advice would you give to other young entrepreneurs?
Never take "no" for an answer. There will always be someone out there that understands what you're trying to accomplish and will want to help. Additionally, I think entrepreneurship isn't solely about starting a business. It's in any field and career. For example, during my time at film school, a lot of my classmates were only focused on the "art" of filmmaking. However, the film industry is also a business. In order to make art, you have to be given the opportunity and the resources, too. Pitching, communication, and marketing are all entrepreneurial skills I apply to filmmaking, and that's what set me apart from my classmates. Thanks to TYCIC!