An Inspired Chat with Maya Korn of DTLA

Maya Korn shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.

Good morning Maya, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
I get up, make a pot of tea (green/ earl grey with rosemary and thyme) and then I watch 3 shorts. This will either be for a festival I’m pre-screening or judging for (I’m doing Fantasia right now) or the past work of a filmmaker I’ve met at a market/ festival or through e-intro. I like doing this as it keeps me sharp about trends in emerging filmmakers work.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Maya Korn of MHK Productions is a full service production company that has its flagship branch in LA, a newly opened branch in Cork Ireland and another in London UK. I myself, am a UK/ German native. My company prioritises feminist, diverse or queer voices often through a genre (horror/ psychological thriller) lens. Our film / TV work has forged collaborations with MTV and FB Live.

Currently I have 10 active projects on my slate (short and feature) at various stages of production. These range from the first feature shooting out of my Irish company next year, Sarah Sellman’s GILLYFISH, a queer coming of age story (the short premiered at BFI Flare and the feature just completed Midpoint Focus Queer and is starting A post Lab); a Hungarian short about a girl turning into a bear that’s premiering at POFF Talinn next week, Zsuzanna Konrad’s SOMETHING WILD (produced in collaboration with Good Kids, Oscar nominated Ildiko Enyedi & THE BRUTALIST colorist Mate Ternyik); a Greek pregnancy horror about a demonic doula, Adva Reichaman’s ELLE (workshopped at European Genre Forum & with Oscar nominated Christina Lazaridi); Janet-Rose Nguyen SHE COMES FOR YOU, a Canadian Vietnamese diaspora story with a ‘ma doi’ ghost (workshopped at Tribeca Creators Market); multiple projects with Leah Shore (we just won a $10k grant for CORPSE at Sitges Woman in Fanpitch) and more.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
In my early internships in my 20s I found it hard to find my place on the career ladder. I knew I wanted to be in film but had no training, having competed and English Literature degree with one film class. I was interested in cult film, art, fashion, theater, music: so many things! I had a couple of mentor types that took me under their wing. Choi Liu in the art buying department of M&C Saatchi London and her brother Peter Liu. They really fed my creative eye and gave me a chance in this huge company. Then Brittanie Blackie at the (former) Weinstein Company in my distribution internship was really patient with me learning the ropes and including me in premiering volunteering and Robert Levy (Tapestry Films, who discovered the Olsen Twins and won MTV VMA’s for movies like POINT BREAK) etc.

Moving to NYC, the city itself taught me the most about work ethic and survival: living there was a powerful teaching moment. Here I was mentored by so many. In marketing at the Film Society of Lincoln Center: Nicholas Kemp, Brian Brooks and David Ninh gave me amazing opportunities (shout out to Eugene Hernandez from Sundance who I met at a panel who helped me get this opportunity) as did the Braun’s at Submarine, who took me to my first Cannes and had me work on Oscar nominated docs like 20 FEET FROM STARDOM & CITIZEN FOUR. My Creative Producing MFA at Columbia, I was really supported by tutors like Hilary Brougher, Sandra Schulberg (Indie Collect) and Jack Lechner (BLUE VALENTINE).

LA has been another learning journey, here I find conversations with my peers/ collaborators with businesses (shout out to Peter Phok, Daisy Hamilton Risher, Frank Jaffe and Hugues Barbier) a really helpful sounding board for my company growth. Then globally I have friends who I ask a lot for knowledge about their territories : Katalina Tobon of Bam Bogota for Latin America; Bianca Balbuena Liew for Asia (who mentored me at Eave Ties That Bind), Martin Horyna at Karlovy Vary for Eastern Europe; Alan Maher (the Emmy winning producer at Cowtown) and Evan Horan (Keeper Pictures) for Ireland.

There are also a million more people I could list who’ve helped me in my journey, everyone’s taught me that we should nurture the younger generation and collaborate with others, not kick the door down behind us when we succeed. I’ve actually just taken on my first mentee through BAFTA Vance Byrd programme and would encourage others to share their knowledge in anyway they can.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Hang in there! This industry is all about perseverance. I think when I was younger my anxiety was so high, I had to find the right job at the right company : society puts that pressure on you. Ultimately it all works out, I have my own companies and do contract work for others, which is the best fit for me. I also try to look at any hard moment at work as a teaching moment. There’s always a lesson to be learned so you don’t make that mistake next time.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Is the public version of you the real you?
I think my ‘brand’ is a horror girl and honestly genre projects are the easiest for me to nurture due to past academic specialisations, tastes and community. There are a lot of misconceptions about what people of that community are like and like. I’m very into gothic horror and aesthetic, I don’t like films that will give me nightmares. Also people think we’re scary people. I think horror people are the nicest and most inclusive as we engage with our shadows and don’t bottle stuff up inside like normies.

People that know me really value my taste, I like weird and cult films, these can be European/ world arthouse that aren’t genre, I like rom coms (although I’ve never made one) and I like trash TV. I’m pretty normal even though I like dark themes in my work.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I think I’ve always wanted to be a cult kween! That’s my absolute dream.

I also want to be remembered for championing minorities and voices/ stories that don’t usually get supported. I want to be an ally to the underrepresented in any way I can.

I hope people see me as a kind, loyal, person when they look back but also brave and able to take up space.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.mhkproductions.com
• Instagram: @my.my.muy
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHKProd

Image Credits
Jon Chadwick
Frazer Harrison
Pedro Cantizani
Alessandro Bisognani
Kaitlin Orin