Check Out Erman M. Baradi’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Erman M. Baradi.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After I wrapped up my internship in Hollywood in 2012, I sent my resume out to hundreds of companies. The result I got was dead silence. So I said to myself, “If they won’t hire me, I’ll hire myself.” But there was also another obstacle. When you work in entertainment, your objective should be to know as many power players as possible. Oftentimes, we see executives as people on the other side of the door we’re trying to kick down. What I tried to do was make those people believe I’m the one on the other side of the door. At first, I wrapped my brain around figuring out how to get in the room with executives. Then I figured out how to get executives in the room with me. Hence, I started producing industry events, gathering big names under one roof on the same night. As a screenwriter and eventual director and producer – okay, I’d love to act as well – if I approach executives and tell them I want to write for them, it won’t work. They get inquiries a million times a day. So I approached them from a different angle. After they know about my platform connecting creatives to other creatives, then that’s when I let them know my career goals.

In 2016, I was recognized in The Huffington Post calling me a “top networker in Hollywood.” That was a huge interview. Since then, I’ve been featured in national and international publications, television interviews, a print magazine, a bench ad…all this before doing anything substantial in the game in the production sense. It took me eight years before finally getting a television credit for something coming up this fall (fingers crossed).

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
No roads in life are paved smoothly! I knew that coming in on day one. Hey, in 2016 I was named “top networker in Hollywood.” In 2017, I moved full-time to LA and shared a house with seven friends in a not-so-great part of LA, sleeping on the floor with barely a pillow to lay my head. I literally balled up bedsheets to form a pillow for the first month. I’m humble enough to say my life isn’t glamorous. People think it is just because I’m posed up in some pics with Hollywood heavyweights. My last office job was in 2011. I could’ve chose a cushy corporate job and made tons of money. Instead, I chose the entrepreneur-creative route, created my own brand from scratch. All the pitfalls I’m experiencing right now I can laugh at down the road when I make it big. Leaky ceiling in the apartment? That’ll change one day. Eating off the dollar menu because I can’t afford something fancy? That’ll change one day. I know it will. That’s what gives me tunnel vision to see that finish line.

Let’s be real. This is LA. We all have moments of doubt. Mental health is a serious issue here, industry or not. Some days you work so hard, and then the days after you’re like “I don’t wanna do anything. Did I just waste my time?” But like I said, what keeps me going is not thinking about WHEN it will happen for me. Just know that it WILL happen for me.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a screenwriter signed by Emagine Content. I love writing films and television pilots in comedy, drama, dramedies, and sometimes action and horror. Meanwhile, I’m known for putting together industry events that connect people to collaborators. I also throw film, screenwriting, and music initiatives in which winners gain the opportunities to meet with industry mentors. I also love music so I use my background in writing poetry for fun and screenwriting to write lyrics. I’m starting to write songs with my friends. Maybe we’ll put stuff out soon. I just love storytelling in general! Additionally, after my writing is established, I’d love to produce more, as well as direct and act.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Y’all are dope for reading this.

Contact Info:

• Email: erman.baradi@gmail.com
• Website: ermantourage.com
• Instagram: http://instagram.com/ermanbaradi
• Facebook: http://facebook.com/erman.baradi
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/ermanbaradi

Image Credits:
Alejandro Andrews Marti Alonzo