Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy Ip.
Hi Tracy, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m a self-proclaimed enthusiast. That, coupled with a healthy dose of curiosity, has led me to say yes to whatever opportunities sound exciting. Typically, I’d say yes, immediately swirl in a ball of anxiety, overanalyze every possible outcome, go do whatever it is, and come back intact and all the better for it.
As an aspiring director, I studied film at Loyola Marymount University. Post undergrad, I knew it would be nearly impossible to make rent solely as a director so used my technical skills in camera to work crew side. I rose up through the camera department with the occasional side job as an ethnically ambiguous, androgynous child hand model. (It’s truly a wild city we live in.) All this to say, after a few years, I realized that I didn’t want to Assistant Cameraman anymore. I applied with a documentary project for a Fulbright Scholarship and was chosen as an alternate for France. I decided to go do the damn thing anyway. I ended up doing a master’s in global communication with an emphasis on marketing and branding. I worked with perfumers and independent businesses in the south of France making documentaries and communication plans.
I returned to the US and found myself running the film school back at LMU with one other person. Being around students who had no restrictions to the stories they could create reawakened my excitement for my passion projects. That itch to create never went away- but I didn’t want to create for the sake of creating something. I wanted to be paid to do it. I needed a sustainable way to make a living in the industry.
I got an opportunity to partner with a friend and make a wacky commercial for a tech company. The clients were up for anything and what resulted was a duo of commercials that gained 4.5 million natural views on YouTube and won the YouTube Works award. Commercials, turns out, were the key for me!
Fast forward a couple more years, more camera work, flying into a hurricane for a Netflix show, becoming an D-List Celebrity, I transitioned into producing and was able to support myself making commercials and visual content through my production company, Levant Blanc.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Looking back at my career thus far, I can now say every choice made sense, but while it was happening, it was definitely not so straightforward. Aside from a healthy dose of imposter syndrome and bi-annual existential roller coaster of “Oh dear god, why am I in this industry, I’ll never get hired again; I should just find a 9-5”, one of my first challenges was believing in myself enough to switch from camera to producing. The second was going full steam on my business. To be honest, I was a bit bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I started the business on accident. Turns out it’s incredibly challenging to run a business, find clients, handle the accounting, work on marketing, draft contracts, and find time to surf.
The biggest challenge has been and continues to be perseverance. Freelancing is challenging because sometimes you’re struggling to find your next job, and other times, you’re hired on 3 different projects and don’t have time to eat lunch. All this to say, success in this business comes from just sticking to it. Opportunities to get in the room, work on amazing projects, or work with wonderful people will happen; it’s just a matter of time!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I founded a production company- Levant Blanc!
Here at Levant Blanc, we create elevated visual content that cherishes our client’s stories. We are a female-led, minority-owned team that plans and executes goal-oriented visual campaigns to raise awareness and build brand trust through targeted audience interactions that evoke emotions and arrest the viewer.
Our work has reached millions of people and spans a plethora of mediums, from social to television. From viral YouTube commercials to worldwide educational content to television spots, our work is internationally seen, recognized, and loved. Our services include high-level strategy development and comprehensive production for multimedia assets, photos, and video.
The above is the professional schpeal, but in all seriousness- I work really hard to make sure your content is beautiful, engaging, funny, exactly what you want it to be.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
COVID-19 led to a paradigm shift in the way the industry thought about video production. Remote shoots were now the only viable option to continue creating video content. All a sudden there was more demand for content than there were established players in the field. Every business needed to create something to address the crisis and was looking for it to be done ASAP.
For me, it jump-started my production company. It gave me the opportunity to establish myself. My first big project during the pandemic led me to partner with the Gates Foundation to create educational videos for children and parents who were forced to learn at home. From there, my expertise in remote shooting and remote producing led to other projects. Adaptability and contingencies were key. I had to have plan A, B, and C as one positive test could drastically alter the production. These lessons from Covid were instrumental to every new production from then on out!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.levantblanc.com
