Check Out Bela Levin’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bela Levin.

Hi Bela, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My experience in the entertainment industry started while I was still living in Brazil, but I always had a dream to move to Los Angeles and work in Hollywood. I don’t know where that idea came from, especially because it seemed so unattainable at first. But I worked hard to make it happen. I had the chance to work for three years in a small independent film distribution company, where I finally found that I could put into practice my marketing background in the world of entertainment. It was a great learning experience, and I worked with and for amazing people. The advantage of being a part of a small company is that everyone wears a lot of hats. I worked for the president of marketing directly, but I attended buyers screenings, I helped the acquisitions team with reading source materials, and I assisted in press screenings. But after that job, I moved into Production & Development and haven’t looked to another area since. In production and development, we go through all types of materials, meet producers and storytellers, and work on projects to make them accessible to the best audiences for the story. I don’t work independently, I have been working at a big production company that has given me the freedom, learning tools and resources to make many connections happen.

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?
Getting my first job in the entertainment industry was a challenge because all of my work experience up to that point had been in advertising and marketing. But I knew that I wanted to work in Film & TV, so I just had to overcome the obstacles that are thrown your way when you’re trying to nail that first entry-level job that requires years of experience. I studied, I networked, and I finally managed to get into a really big and renowned production company in Rio de Janeiro. But what was finally turning into a smooth road soon ended because I made the decision to move to Los Angeles. And being an immigrant here is nothing but challenging. I love the city and everything I gained since I moved here, but I had to pretty much accept the fact that I would be starting over, even with all the years I had of experience from my work in Brazil. It was never easy, but it has been worth it.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work in development and production at a big production company in Santa Monica. I have been working for the Chief Creative Officer for over a year now and I can definitely say I have found myself in this industry. Finding ideas and stories that need to be shared with the world and then developing them to make them the most entertaining watch is really what I want to continue doing. I love not being afraid of commercial content, as I’ve always found that there isn’t anything wrong with bringing projects to mainstream audiences. My personal goal is to find fresh and compelling multicultural narratives and develop them for the mainstream media. I have had experience in companies with focus on the commercial market, and my own personal experience with lack of representation motivates me to move into that direction to promote social change through entertainment.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
The Covid-19 Pandemic scared a lot of us that work in entertainment, as it was easy to think the moviegoing business was over and the industry would never recover. I did learn that’s not the case, with some movies having become huge box-office successes since theaters reopened, including Top Gun: Maverick, a movie from the company at which I work. The Covid-19 crisis brought a lot of new learnings about the industry and audiences, which will ultimately help content creators and companies reshape and adapt to expectations. On the personal side, the Covid-19 crisis initially brought me closer to a lot of people that I hadn’t kept in touch with. Everyone around me was making more of an effort to connect, probably because it was the first time every single person was going through the exact same thing. It showed me that time differences and distance don’t need to be barriers for building on relationships. But I also learned how much I value and thrive off of face-to-face interactions. I missed running into co-workers and catching up over coffee.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/zz.belalevin