Today we’d like to introduce you to Newton Pathak.
Hi Newton, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born in India to a family of creatives; my father is a writer, and my mother is a fashion designer. Naturally, I was surrounded by a lot of art, books, and poetry as a kid. The one thing that came naturally to me was drawing; it could be a cartoon I was watching at the time, a random doodle or a stick figures. But they weren’t just ordinary scribbles; they followed a narrative structure, a story or an action leading to another action.
After graduating from high school, my parents suggested me to pursue graphic design. I wasn’t sure at the time, but I liked the idea, so I pursued communication design from ISDI Parsons in Mumbai, soon to realize that it wasn’t really my cup of tea. There was a lot of drawing and designing that I loved, but there was something missing, something that I’d later find out was more important to me than anything.
It was storytelling, something I didn’t realize I needed to do until the final year of college. The common thread in all my creative outlets were stories. I graduated from design school only to pursue my passion in filmmaking, that led me to join the team of India’s magnum opus ‘Shankaracharya’ created for Disney +. Working as an academic researcher on Vedic philosophy and Indian folk tales, I translated tedious research into elements of flair and entertainment. I parallelly created a graphic book on ‘Shankaracharya’ for my design thesis. After graduating, I continued my work on the Disney+ web series as an Assistant Director, exploring the attributes of storytelling and acquiring hands-on knowledge about the process of making films. Later in June 2021, I joined a film studio, “Turtle on A Hammock Films” as a graphic designer. I worked there for three months while I prepared for my travel to Los Angeles film school.
I received the creative scholarship that is awarded to one international student per year. That helped me with the finances of the school. I came to Los Angeles in October 2021 in the associate program in Los Angeles Film School. LAFS being a hands-on school was my introduction to Hollywood and filmmaking on this side of the world. I started working on student sets and freelancing in the camera department while I continued to write and submit my scripts to writing competitions, like Nickelodeon Fellowship, Fox, Paramount, Disney, etc. My mantra is and always will be ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’d say yes and no. When it comes to work opportunities always come my way, and the way I see it, working hard for making your dreams come true is a blessing more than anything else. The struggles were on the personal and economic front. Coming to America made me realize how granted I took my support system, my family. Moving to a different country has somehow made closer with my parents. One thing I’ve realized about this place is that thousands of people come here every year with big dreams, and they are ready to work as hard if not more. That means the chances to succeed are slim, and the competition is significantly insane. Moreover, you’re worth in this city is defined by what you have accomplished. After the first two semesters, I started working part-time at TCL Chinese Theatre, I started saving money to produce a film. It was challenging to maintain good grades in school, working at TCL, and simultaneously working in pre-production for our short film ‘Seashells’. I realized that I had no time left for myself or anyone else, I wasn’t socializing, and there was very little communication with my family. It took me many breaking points to realize that I needed to create a balance with work and play. Things are looking strong now.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My focus is to write screenplays that I plan to direct, that’s something that usually takes months; from writing to pre-production to production and then post. In the meantime, I do freelance work in the camera department, Grip & lighting, script supervising, and Assistant director on various projects.
I have directed and co-produced a very ambitious long-format short film set to release in October; it’s called ‘Seashells’. We have been working on it for almost a year now, currently it’s in post-production.
I graduated as a graphic designer in 2020 and then took the cinematography track at LA Film School, from which I graduated in 2023. That’s the reason I like to work behind the camera to learn and experiment with interesting ways to tell a story through the lenses. I am known for having a visual literacy of movies and having the technical knowledge to work around film cameras.
There are not a lot of writer-directors out there that are well educated in the technicalities of cinematography not only that having a design background gives me a sense of control over visual principals like contrast, balance, hierarchy, and proximity when translating words to visuals. Fatefully I have lived in varied socio-economic structures of society from a rural village in a 3rd world country to a posh beach neighborhood in America. While drafting my stories, I aim to boil it down to a common thread that rings true to all human emotions. I see myself as a universal filmmaker, and I want to tell stories for a global audience.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I’ve always been the person who spices things up and taking Risk is the secret sauce that gives my life meaning. My father always tells me to be a lion and be relentless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire; these words are ingrained in me.
A recent risk I took was to sneak into the A24 Los Angeles office with my resume and cover letter. One day, I got up and decided to visit the A24 office. I had gathered some information online, so I went in and pretended that I had an appointment. Obviously, they didn’t find anything in the system, but I befriended the security, and they helped me get to the office. Now I am standing outside the A24 office soon, someone showed up, and I told them why I was there. They asked me to come out, I thought I’m getting kicked out, but to my surprise, they asked me what I got. I gave them a 45-second elevator pitch I had prepared and handed them my resume and cover letter. As soon as I handed it, I was obviously asked to leave. I haven’t gotten a call yet, but I’m proud of myself for taking an unbelievable risk. I wouldn’t be lying if I say they seemed a little impressed on me making it this far after all.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.behance.net/newtonstine
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newtonstine/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/newton-pathak-099687196/
