One year of Working for myself...What I've learned and where I'm moving forward.

It's been a lil over a year now that I left my factory job (Where there were no windows and I made books) and I became a freelance filmmaker and photographer. To shine a light on how I even started that journey let me start from the top.

Last year I was planning on going back to school for a training program as a EMT. I figured it was a line of work that I'd still enjoy and would give me more income to take care of myself and film more as well. Only thing was I needed to be cleared for a physical. Shouldn't be too hard right? Right?...RIGHT?!

Well it was. For those that aren't aware, I have previous issue with concussions (two from football), and some nerve problems and heart issues have run in my family and I was required to bring in more than just a physical to be cleared for the program. 

So, I wasn't able to get it done in time, and I had left my factory job to attend that program. What now? Do I go find another job that will kill me on the inside...or see what I can do with the skills I believe I have and make my own money. I had saved up enough money to tide me over for a couple months.

The beginning was rough, "networking" and finding work was beyond difficult and honestly very stressful. But it definitely humbled me in the sense of when you have next to no money you begin to appreciate the little things and it actually helps you become more creative. What can I do that requires little money. $6 tuesday's at the movies will soon become your best friend haha.

I started first going for editing gigs and it was very hard trying to get my feet. Along the way I picked up photography and really started doing that. At first it was a way to keep my hands on a camera when not shooting a project. It then became a way to express creatively and really fine tune framing and colors. The better I got it started to turn into freelance work. 

In April I was in a car accident and my car was totaled. That REALLY slowed things down and made things very difficult. By this time most the money I had saved was gone and I had to truly count my pennies. But from pain and trying times came creative release.

End of the summer things changed, good and bad but a lot of life lessons. My schedule really started to become very busy and I became very burned out and constantly exhausted. I had to learn how to create my own schedule and learn how to manage my own energy distribution. I took that lesson and applied to the rest of my life. Is whatever you're doing worth your energy? Someone complains to you about something you know damn well isn't worth getting upset over are you gonna waste your time on it? You are a car with precious fuel for the day and you have to figure what's worth this fuel. You avoid and defuse a lot of situations that bring nothing but negativity.

With freelance comes moments of intensity and nothing what so ever. I'll have a day where I'm working non stop and others where there is nothing to worry about.  I started to find more consistent work in freelance and outside of it. I started doing security as a bouncer at a bar and club. The schedule still allowed me to film and enough money in my account that I wasn't constantly stressing. Finding the right job and finding the right clients really helped me challenge my own ideas on working while staying in a happy place. 

I am adamant on staying happy and I'm self aware on the type of worker I am and if I'm working for someone else ways to stay engaged. If I do not enjoy the work environment or the people I work with soon I'll be a shitty employee. And some job opportunities I refused because I knew I'd end up being a shitty employee. I won't be happy and become suicidal and as a manager you have a shitty employee. It's a lose lose situation. Luckily the bouncing gig allows me to work with some pretty dope people and I've had no issue with anyone I work alongside with and its enough hours to keep money in my pocket if freelance work slows down but not so much that I am away from filming or photography. 

So, what's next? I'm still filming for the web series (an update on that coming soon) and have a few more projects for everyone to enjoy. 2015 built the skeleton for my work and business. 2016 hopefully will add the muscle and flesh. So many things to bring to your attention! I'll expand a couple of ideas from this article into separate articles.

Any questions or comments please ask them in the comment section! Send Emails to theundefeatedlosers@gmail.com for questions, comments, and any topics you'd like to hear the Good Vobbs podcast tackle. 

Stay Blessed. Stay Happy. Keep grinding.

-Hussain Al-Khalil

'Shadows' Web Series logos

1st day of shooting

*Welcome! This is the third entry to a weekly series of upcoming posts written about our upcoming web series "Shadows" and different aspects involved in pre-production, production and post production, written by Hussain Al-Khalil*

This past Sunday was our first day or production. It had it high moments and some lows. Overall it was a decent start for us as a team. For some it was the first time we did something this big, including myself. I've only ever filmed short films but not a web series. I've kept my other projects to myself not feeling ready to show them to the world till now. You can call this my thesis film.

The main issue we ran into was time. On a no budget shoot like this time is most valuable. Issues with picking up actors made things hard. If we had a budget or even extra hands on set we'd have someone who's sole purpose was to pick them up and it'd saved a lot of time.

Overall there is much to look forward to. My team behind and in front of the camera has really made me happy and have stood by me through the stressful moments and smiled through the good. Our first day got some kinks out and the actors are really building synergy amongst each other as well as the crew. 

We started editing and planning for the next episode. It's work and we run into some tough situations to work around. But a quote from one of my favorite directors Nicolas Winding Refn, "Money is not a creative obstacle, your mind is a creative obstacle." We are really testing that out. Keeping communication is key. We are basically a family now and to keep it together and working the best we must work together and alongside each other. We continue to shoot this weekend and look I will post another article next week.

Throughout the stress you have to take these things as tests for how bad you want it. Feel stressed and you want to quit? You didn't love it hard enough. Life will show you how much you really care for something you think you love to death. I played football and found out how far I'm willing to go to play it. Any dream you have you're gonna chase you're gonna be given tests. Just ask yourself one question: Would you rather put in hard work for something you truly love or work hard doing something else? Anything you want in life is gonna be hard, you gotta dig in and find out how bad you really want it.

If you are interested in helping out in any way or any questions feel free to contact us through email on our contact page and comment section.

Also, big thanks to Michael Hooks and Yasmine! Really helped us out getting our project going!

And now, thanks to Priese we have pictures from set.

And Ramadan Kareem!

Final week before Production

*Welcome! This is the second entry to a weekly series of upcoming posts written about our upcoming web series "Shadows" and different aspects involved in pre-production, production and post production, written by Hussain Al-Khalil*

Last week before we start filming this coming Sunday. I haven't been this excited in a long time. This past Sunday was a great meeting. Touched base with everyone on their focus of the project. The 14th, Sunday is our first day of production. Everything is falling into place. We haev all the locations secured, the prop list is taken care of and scheduling is smooth. 

One thing I've been preparing myself for this past month is Ramadan. As you could assume because of my name I am Muslim. For those that aren't aware Ramadan is the holy month where Muslims around the world fast as well as much more. I wouldn't allow myself to exclude myself from Ramadan but also believe I can go through the filming pacing myself. I've never had to film an extended project while fasting so this will be new for me but I look forward to the challenge. Filming would be a few days a week only for the web series so it'll be good first step to adjust. I won't slow myself too much though, hopefully that'll inspire others to keep pushing later in the days when everyone is tired. Can't let the guy who hasn't eaten anything all day out work you.  It's a blessing though if I do need to lean on my team I have a team around me strong enough to hold me. 

Four locations are involved in the first episode. We'll be shooting at three of them on Sunday and the last the Monday after. Wasn't able to get pictures from last meeting unfortunately but I'll try and take some throughout the week to post here on the blog page for you to see.  

(Shoutout to Michael Hooks for letting us use your place bro, it's much appreciated)

This last week has been all about preparation and also having my producers moving forward with securing everything for the next episode. It takes a lot of focus and passion to execute this. Last week I emphasized a lot on chasing your passion and trusting yourself. This week I'd like to focus on what else...but focus. 

Without focus you cannot succeed. Passion is natural emotions and focus is figuring out how to unleash it. Uncontrollable passion is great but there are times you have to focus and make sure you are executing 100%. Once you have focus everything else becomes clearer, you become more of a complete individual. 

I've had the title of Undefeated Losers in my head since my sophomore year of high school. At first it was just a catchy name but I've gotten older and continue to gain more experiences which put meaning behind it.

Being undefeated, that's how I see myself. That I can do anything I want as long as I put my everything into it. The biggest competition was myself to prove I can do what i believe I can do.

Being a Loser. Well, that's how the world sees you. Tell someone your dreams or goals, they will either shoot you down, or nod but secretly not believe in you. Question why knowing any reason you give them won't be enough to sway them. They won't understand your vision and doubt what you're doing. Doubt you'll be anything but a Loser.

Undefeated Losers: How I see myself and how the world tries to see you.

I could've just wrote that but last time I checked words were still free.

One last thing. Any ideas or dreams you have and feel the need to tell people. Use reverse psychology on yourself. Don't mention them. Not to everyone at least. Cause someone will try and shoot your dreams down. They can't shoot them down if they don't know them. Evaluate who you're talking to before you speak to them to save yourself the stress. 

That's it for this week. Sunday or Monday I'll upload pictures from on set and maybe even a clip just for you :)

Next week I'll update you on filming and video editing. 

If you have anything you'd like me to touch upon throughout these weekly articles leave it in the comments below or send it through a email on our 'Contact Us' page

'Shadows' Web Series Production Diary #1

*Welcome! This is the first entry to a weekly series of upcoming posts written about our upcoming web series "Shadows" and different aspects involved in pre-production, production and post production, written by Hussain Al-Khalil*

First team meet up was this past Sunday (May 31st, 2015). I got to say, it felt great. Everyone enjoys the story and are really engaged. I've been writing a lot of projects the past few years and this one seems to be the one to get going first out of them. 

Shadows is a mystery horror story that follows a young woman who meets a Private Investigator to assist her finding her sister which leads them through some dark and strange turns. 

I think horror as a genre can give a filmmaker so much freedom to tell a story and I've really enjoyed and grown to love the genre even more now as I write my own stories. 

I was blessed enough to have already had a team behind the camera and in front set up. I was working on another project that ended up stalling and I really wanted to shoot a longer length story this summer. I picked up the web series and reread what I wrote and immediately pitched the idea to my team. Luckily, they loved what they read and we set fourth on this web series. So far all but one location is taken care of. I really tried writing the script around things I knew I could get access to (friends apartments and different parks and woods I can shoot in for free) and also stretch and get locations I'd need for the story teaching me and my team more on securing locations.

As happy and excited as I am we gotta stay focused. I've come to notice just through life that everyone you know has an awesome, spectacular million dollar idea. Then you end up finding out why it didn't come to fruition or why it didn't come out the way they saw it. Everyone has a million dollar idea, but not everyone has a million dollar work ethic. 

In order to get this project done the best way everyone has to be on the same page, putting their all in it. That's the typical thing to say but doing those two things make everything else so much easier. I feel blessed to have a team around me willing to do that. I've worked and tried doing things on my own and that's ok to learn and teach yourself but I'd rather do things as a group. My group is small but it's the perfect number in my opinion. Everyone has there specialty, and can communicate well but small enough so that when we have to move and make things happen all that happens quickly.

This week we're continuing finding extras for the later episodes and finalizing some other locations to film in. I really want to see what the actors have to tell me about their characters and what they feel they want to bring to the character. I may write a character but that actor is going to be bringing life into that person, making them their own. It's a great way of seeing who is more engaged and who you may need to focus on when filming. 

I chose to do a web series because I noticed my best scripts are feature length, but this day and age a short film on the internet will get you more immediate attention but, you have to appease that small attention span people have on the internet. So what would work best? A web series. I can make a long form story but cut it into separate episodes so that it is more digestible for viewers and if you want to watch the entire thing you can. I met two of my leads, Kristin and Rayvon, on another short film I was working on as the crew and the third, Anthony, was referred to me by my producer. I worked a little with Kristin and Ray last year and I loved them both as friends and colleagues. 

This project is the best example of creating your own opportunity in life. Whether you're a creative or  not, nowadays you can truly make anything happen, you just need patience work ethic and a plan.

Anything in your life is gonna be hard to do, you might as well have a few hard times doing what you love then having some hard times doing something you wouldn't give a fuck about. I used to play football and I find myself either motivating myself or someone else a lot, and I thank a lot of that toward me working hard as a leader in football. That was the inception. When you were consummated and "made" for lack of a better term, a minimum of 40 billion to a billion sperm were released. Out of all those you were the one to make it. So you had a 1 in 40 million to a billion chance of you being you (the way you look, behave etc). How many things in your life are gonna have a 1 in 40 million chance of happening? You've already completed one of the hardest things possible. I'm rambling but it's my diary, dammit. That was to motivate you to do what you love. Do what you have to do to make that happen for yourself.

Next meet is this Sunday (June 7th 2015) to continue working and the 13th we start production. 

I'll try and take a few pictures for the next post next week.