Today we’d like to introduce you to Louiza Zouzias and Karina Logothetis.
Louiza and Karina, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
(Louiza) I guess I should start off by sharing that I’m a cultural hybrid. Born in Chicago and raised by two very Greek parents — imagine “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” if the father really loved reading books and raising strong daughters and if the mother was an entrepreneurial powerhouse who ran her own business by the ripe age of 25. As an artist, having a deep understanding of two cultures that each carry such vastly different colors and textures of expression has been a gift. It definitely didn’t feel that way growing up, but thankfully my internal landscape changed.
I’m pretty sure I fell in love with acting before I really even knew what it was. When I was around six years old, my family was struggling through some rough times. There is a melancholic veil over my memories of us then. Anyways, I remember one particularly glum night, my parents popped in a VHS of a Greek film and the next thing I know, they’re laughing so hard that they both nearly topple off the couch. It left me bewildered — as far as I can recall, that moment was the first time I witnessed real, deep, hand-clapping, knee-slapping laughter. And it was in that moment that I promised myself “I’m going to do what that person on the TV does so I can make my parents this happy”.
Just before I graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a Marketing and Finance degree, I decided I’d like to take a break and live in Greece for six months and give acting a try. I auditioned for a bunch of conservatories and choose the one that felt the least pretentious. A few weeks before I was planning to return to the U.S., the dean of my school offered me the lead role in a play he was producing and somehow… A six-month ‘break’ in Greece turned into eight glorious years. Then the economic crisis started to break root and I decided to give LA a try.
It took me a while, but I’ve grown to love this city and am so very grateful I get to call it home. I discovered I like writing stories here, but more importantly, I found my tribe here. And my dog.
(Karina) I too belong everywhere! Born in Rockville, MD, blossomed in Minneapolis until it was time to enter elementary school, which happened in Greece. During my studies on Photography & Audiovisual Arts in Athens, GR, I spent a year in France where I accidentally studied Cinema Theory. After stumbling upon this magical world, I decided to study filmmaking back home. In 2016 I shot my first short which has traveled the world and has won awards. The same year, I moved to LA, not sure why, but it happened. And here I am now!
(Louiza) Karina and I ran in the same artistic circles in Athens, but we never met there.
(Karina) It was actually one of our mutual friends here in LA that very intentionally introduced us.
(Louiza) Yes, shoutout to our little Anezina! Fast forward a few years later, and that introduction led to Karina and I making a feature film together. Karina is directing.
(Karina) And Louiza wrote it. And will be acting in it. I guess we could place it under the genre of a psychological thriller. But with elements of humor.
(Louiza) Our story explores the idea of Nature vs. Nurture. How much of who we are is brought out of the womb? How much is shaped by the experiences we absorb? And how much of ourselves can we change?
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
(Louiza) Oh, good question. Okay… I know this is going to sound ridiculously morbid and masochistic, but it’s the truth I see — I think that being an artist means being in a perpetual struggle. For a multitude of reasons. But I don’t see that as a bad or negative thing. Something about feeling that there is no way out but through makes the brain fire up and find solutions it normally wouldn’t. Have I learned lessons and found solutions under gentle circumstances? Sure. I don’t discount the notion of ease. But it’s the obstacles and challenges I’ve encountered that helped me evolve in ways that feel like giant shifts of direction. For instance, when I moved to LA, the struggle to get cast as an actor led me to begin writing.
(Karina) The chapter “Moving to LA” in general has been the most difficult part of my life so far. NOTHING has been smooth here. Everyday I confront challenges that have to do with work, survival, adjustment, life and being so far away from my people. However, this made me grow so much faster and stronger. I’m more than grateful.
(Louiza) Yeah. Our artistic paths collided because of this city.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
(Louiza) It’s hard to think about making art and telling stories as a business. But I guess anything that turns a profit, however humble, can be categorized as such. Okay, so. If I had to describe what we do, I’d say… We try to capture truth in the stories we tell, explore the human condition in the characters we play and… hopefully leave the world a little better than what we found it.
What role has luck (good luck or bad luck) played in your life and business?
(Louiza) Absolutely nothing. The good and the ugly brought me here. I feel fortunate for my journey up till now. What about you Karina?
(Karina) I do consider myself a lucky person most of the times, yes. I am lucky enough to be able to be here in the US in the first place. I’m lucky I found out pretty early on in life what I love to do, which makes me even luckier to call it my job! I’m lucky I love what I do for a living because that makes me happy.
(Louiza) I have a peculiar relationship with luck. Its nature denotes such a strong element of chance that I feel it takes value away from my part in actively moving through life. That being said, I do believe that there are many things left to chance that are beyond any person’s control. When and where you’re born, what gender you’re born as, who raises you, etc.. So do I feel lucky? Yes. I feel incredibly fortunate. Lady luck smiled big for me in many ways.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Karina.world
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yolotheti/ , https://www.instagram.com/louizazouzias/
- Other: https://vimeo.com/karinalogotheti , https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3653804/ , https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7222201/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1
Image Credit:
Karina Logothetis
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