Daily Inspiration: Meet Vishnu Vinod Pillai

Today we’d like to introduce you to Vishnu Vinod Pillai

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?
Movies have always been a part of my life since childhood and it has been my greatest ambition to work in the movie business. Combined with a desire to write my own stories, pushed me into wanting to become a filmmaker. However, circumstances ended up turning me into an IT Engineer, a profession that I pursued for five years before quitting to follow my true passion, movies.

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?
It has not been a smooth road as I was trying to break into an industry where I knew nobody and nobody knew me. Hence I took the decision to move here to LA and attend film school so as to be around like-minded creative people and start building my network from the base level. This has proven to be helpful and it has lead me to meet alumni working in the industry who have been of some help. Film school also helped me in truly honing my skills in writing and directing and also to realize my talent in other departments of filmmaking like Editing and Lighting department.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a Writer, Director and Editor. Currently I’m concentrating on film editing using tools like Avid Media Composer and DaVinci Resolve. I believe editing to be nothing but an extension of writing and Cinema is an editor’s medium to a large extent. A bad movie could be salvaged to a large extent by a good editor, and even the next Citizen Kane can be destroyed by poor editing. An Oscar nominated performance could get a Razzie and vice-versa, all depending on the editor’s skill.
A good director has to be a good editor, and that does not mean the technical knowledge of the software, editing is much more. It is the talent to know when and where to cut a scene, which is why some of the greatest directors are good editors as well.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Networking can work in many ways, and in today’s world it is easier than ever before. Keep your eyes and ears open to opportunities. Look for internships in companies. Talk to your friends and family, because you just might be surprised how someone you thought to be unreachable happens to be the neighbor of your brother’s friend. Look at how the screenplay for Reservoir Dogs ended up with Harvey Keitel for instance. Lawrence Bender’s acting instructor’s wife was a friend of Keitel’s and she passed it on. This literally jump started the careers of Quentin Tarantino and Lawrence Bender.
There is no tried and tested path, you have to find your own. Keep trying and never give up.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @vishnu_pillai_7
• Other: https://vimeo.com/user183862485