Life & Work with Ines Novacic

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ines Novacic.

Hi Ines, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I come from a family of journalists, and so I’ve been lucky to have had my curiosity and affinity for travel and people cultivated from a young age. I was born in the former Yugoslavia and we moved around a lot when I was little as a result of the war there in the 1990s. It seemed an almost natural progression for me to fall in love with the idea of studying documentary journalism in New York City in my early 20s. My Master’s studies at Columbia University were my gateway to the life I’ve been building ever since; a life of globe-trotting, adventures, meeting wonderful and vibrant people all through immersive documentary film-making. My work hinges on the question: ‘what kind of future are we building,’ and 13 years into my career, every project and every story feel as exhilarating as the first.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Every single road has a bump in it, and struggle has definitely been a part of my journey and my growth. I’m not religious, but I do believe in the dictum ‘everything happens for a reason’ in the sense that every experience offers a lesson. I don’t believe in linear paths and smooth trajectories when it comes to achieving one’s dreams. When we strive and work for a life that includes reaching for the stars, we’re always up in the air, and that can be stressful. But that feeling of flying can also be exhilarating, and a setback is often a setup for the comeback, as a dear friend once told me.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in immersive, verite documentary journalism and filmmaking. In terms of projects, I’m most proud of something I’m currently working on – which I can’t say much about right now, but I hope it will become my ‘big break.’ I’m also very proud of a 2016-2017 CBS documentary I produced and filmed, following migrants from around the world going through the Darien Gap jungle. In my circle of collaborators, I’m known for my ability to connect with people. I genuinely respect people and my curiosity about their lives is genuine, therefore I can meet people on their level. It’s been a true privilege to be privy to all sorts of people’s lives around the world.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
First and foremost, my advice would be: know what you want. Know what you’re contacting a specific person about. That for me is the starting point, and it separates those who are simply reaching out to ‘network’ and those who have taken the time to do the important work first of finding their North Star. And secondly, don’t be afraid to just reach out to who you need! Send that email, cold call, and find that person on LinkedIn who you want to connect with. The connection and the conversation will be successful with those two ingredients: identify what you want, and identify who can help you get there.

Image Credits
Photo credit: Ines Novacic