Entertainment- Avan Jogia played Beck Oliver on popular Nickelodeon show "Victorious" from 2010 to 2013.
- Jogia says kid roles on networks like Nickelodeon don't prepare you for a career in adult Hollywood.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Avan Jogia, writer-director of the new indie film "Door Mouse." It has been edited for length and clarity.
I wouldn't say that acting in the kids' television part of the industry, like I did, prepares you for a career in Hollywood.
Most of the people who act in those shows don't get to be part of the industry too long after that — they run into trouble after that time is up. If anything, it can be confusing for a young person on those types of shows because there's a huge learning curve when you leave there and go out into the industry.
I was lucky enough to keep working as an actor after 'Victorious'
Luck is the thing no one wants to talk about. Everyone wants to be the author of their own story, but success in this industry really comes down to luck and persistence.
The only advantage I had after working on "Victorious" on Nickelodeon was staying in it and being consistent until it paid off. I got lucky a bunch of times and just kept on trying to get lucky.
What's undervalued in general is working on your actual skill-set. No one who works in the industry watches movies; actors don't go to acting school anymore. The only way to separate yourself from the pack is to concentrate on the actual art of what you do.
It can be hard not to get boxed-in to one category as an artist
I find that the entertainment industry really likes it when you're one thing because it's easier to categorize you: "That's the actor, Avan Jogia," or "That's the director, so-and-so." It's a bit of a shitty way to try and sum up an entire human's experience.
You can't educate somebody about whether an actor can direct, or a director could act, or a digital artist could do architecture, and so on. You either understand the throughline between all these things or you don't. What people fail to realize is that creative disciplines all share the same elements — vision and storytelling.
I'm the biggest advocate for transitioning between different disciplines. I wrote a book, recently directed a movie, and I've been acting for a decade and a half. I just follow whatever my passion is. Even though I've always wanted to direct, I don't want to be known for one singular thing.
My new film "Door Mouse" was tough to get made. So much of our entertainment is heavily curated
I worked on my first film, "Door Mouse" for a long time from Vancouver and spent years trying to get it made. It lives in a surreal, noir, comic-book type world and the villains of the film are 'money people,' so to speak, which made it hard to ask people for money to finance it.
So much of our entertainment has been heavily curated. It's combed through and anything that's interesting about the film gets sanded away into this digestible thing. But with this film, it's really my vision — it's not disturbed by studio notes or outside influences imposing itself onto the movie. I want people to walk away from it being like, "I saw a movie with a capital M."
Making this movie was the hardest thing I've ever done — but then you forget how hard it was once it's over and you're ready to do it again.
What you're really doing as a filmmaker is trying to recreate a dream. That's the thing that makes it a little bit addicting — because you're like, on the next one, I can get it perfect.
If you work in Hollywood and would like to share your story, email Eboni Boykin-Patterson at eboykinpatterson@insider.com.