Action Martial Arts Filmmaker, Susan Singh is Kicking Down Doors
What do you do currently?
I work in my company at Infraction Media. I am a filmmaker business consultant and videographer.
Tell me a little about your background? Where you are originally from and how did that journey lead you to where you are located today?
I was born in the UK. I then traveled all around the world as a professional singer for a number of years. I then got into video and filmmaking.
What inspired you to be an filmmaker?
I was inspired to be a filmmaker when I was younger and I would guess the plots of the TV and films and would think ‘if I wrote that I would do this and that.’ A big aspect was seeing such a lack of women of color in roles other than maids, slaves and prostitutes inspired me to change the stereotypical Eurocentric view. In addition being a professional singer meant I had to film auditions and such all the time. I started learning how to film. I also worked for a TV production company and one day I snook into an editing class. That started my filmmaking endeavors.
What are some of the things you love about filmmaking?
I consider myself as an Auteur for filmmaking. It is an art that compasses so many of my interests. As I work in Action and Martial Arts movies. I am able to encompass my love of Martial Arts, Action, scripting, music composition , co-operative working environments to name a few.
What are some of the struggles and hurdles that you find in acting and/or filmmaking?
The biggest struggles I have is both understanding and accepting that the world of filmmaking is not a meritocracy. There are more factors that are unspoken than are explicit. Overcoming these struggles is yet another aspect of filmmaking.
Now that we’ve talked about struggles let’s talk about the opposite of that. What are some of the high points you’ve had in your journey so far?
I have been very blessed with many high points. One was speaking to Academy Award Winner Regina King regarding the lack of diversity at the Banff World Media Festival when ABC was the company of distinction. She took a moment to hear my comments. The following year the same festival offered 100 complimentary places to women and under-represented groups. Losing out at a festival to Eric Roberts, Tom Arnold, Danny Trejo to name a few was great!!! And seeing my feature film Replecan as a suggested movie when I was watching Amazon Prime. Yeahhhh
Do you see yourself acting and being in filmmaking for the rest of your life?
I think I will always love filmmaking, but when I retire from filmmaking, I might become a painter. Until then I hope to continue.
Do you come from a gifted family as well or are you the only one?
My family are not into the arts, I am the only one. I did get the creativity from my mum. She always said, where there is a will there is a way. She always said,” Aren’t you clever” even though I struggled all through school academically. I did work to become a certified teacher of adult education in the UK. A former teacher I met said “You a teacher!” (Exclamation mark, exclamation mark ha ha)
What are your future plans regarding your filmmaking career?
My future goals is to elevate my filmmaking career and work with some of the best actors in action in the world. Bigger budgets mean bigger productions and more opportunity to work with top professionals around the world.
What’s next for you?
We are currently working on our next project Valetika, which is a follow up from Replecan. We are incorporating some new aspects into this production which I have been working on for over 7 months. When the Pandemic is over, I look forward to jumping back into action – God willing! If you could give advice to someone just starting off in the movie industry, what would it be?
Learn the business, ask questions and understand this one thing! No one will make your movie for you. You are the best person to do it, in fact you are the only person to do it, so what are you waiting for. There are people who need to see your movie, it will speak to them, it is a public service to do so!