Life & Work with Assel Toganbayeva

Today, we’d like to introduce you to Assel Toganbayeva.

Hi Assel, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a screenwriter, sometimes I like to imagine my life as an ongoing TV series. The logline would be “A dramedy about a former legal employee turned screenwriter from Kazakhstan who leaves everything behind and travels to LA to earn her place in the brutal film industry against her parents’ and society’s expectations.” It’s a working logline.

I believe childhood experiences shape our personalities and views on finding our purpose in life. As William Wordsworth once said, “The child is a father of the man.” When I think of my childhood, I recall spending a huge amount of time reading all sorts of books. I enjoyed the idea of being transported into another imagined reality and living other characters’ lives.

As a teenager, I spent most of my time staying in my room and watching films. I was desperately looking for films that would speak to me on a personal level… films that would leave me thinking and make me look at life from a renewed perspective. I also find that watching characters experience parallel adversity helps people feel less isolated.

However, when the time came to choose my career path, I decided to ignore my true passion for visual storytelling and studied international law for four years. After graduation, I worked as a legal employee in court for a year. At that time, I was not ready or brave enough to embrace the idea of becoming a screenwriter. I did not believe in myself and treated screenwriting as a hobby. I guess the reason for this was that I was constantly told by my teachers and parents that I needed to find a “real” job to become successful and confident in my future. So, I decided to go with the flow and follow the well-trodden path.

During all that time, when I was immersed in the legal area, I always tried to silence my creative urges because they kept distracting me from work. Day after day, I tried to convince myself that I was doing the right thing and would get used to working in the legal sphere.

However, I knew that the key to a fulfilling life and inner peace was to exhaust my potential and create something beautiful and meaningful. I have always known that, but somehow, I let my self-doubt, as well as the opinions and the expectations of others, cloud this truth. When I experienced all these negative feelings connected with wasting my time by not following my true passion, that was the moment when I finally embraced the truth that one must live a life according to one’s own beliefs and passion.

All this self-reflection led to me quitting my job and focusing all my attention on screenwriting. I applied to the MFA Screenwriting program at the New York Film Academy. I graduated a couple of weeks ago, and I’ll forever be grateful for the experience I had there. I learned a lot about screenwriting, made new friends there, and, most importantly, became more confident about my creative vision and life goals.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
As an anxious person who likes to create worst-case scenarios in her head, I’d say that I’m my worst enemy and obstacle, especially in the film industry, I think most beginners experience imposter syndrome, which is when they doubt their creative abilities and compare themselves to others. However, at the same time, this anxiety motivates me to leave my comfort zone and grow.

It’s a weird paradox. Whenever my vision is blurred by doubts, I remind myself that life is too short to let the worries and fears stop me from becoming the better version of myself. I think everybody has a calling, but sometimes we choose to ignore it as it’s not “practical” or “profitable” to follow it. I realized that the worst that could happen to me was growing old and having regrets about not pursuing my passion.

I know it’s going to be a challenging journey to become a successful screenwriter, but knowing that I’m on the right path makes it much easier for me to face these challenges. The universe put this dream in my heart for a reason, and I’ll follow it as far as it takes me.

I appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As an amateur psychologist, I like to write cautionary tales about AI, technology, and society’s flaws. Through my projects, I aim to show the struggles of people who deal with mental health issues in a world where technology, the Internet, and absurd bureaucracies make it almost impossible to find a true connection. I like to explore obsession, delusion, and other unhealthy coping mechanisms to show the dangers of social isolation and unresolved childhood traumas.

I usually write psychological dramas, thrillers, and dark comedies where the protagonists experience a “descend into madness” arc. My favorite writers who influenced my writing style are Yorgos Lanthimos, Ruben Östlund, and Gillian Flynn. Currently, I’m working on rewriting my projects, such as “Earworm,” which is a psychological drama and one-hour series about a world where AI slowly replaces more and more professions. An experienced therapist has to outsmart AI therapy, which gradually brainwashes its users. As she talks to the AI voice, she gets sucked into the world of her fears and unresolved traumas that put her family and career at stake.

“Chiseled” is a dark comedy film about a pretentious life coach who, in a desperate attempt to save his dying career, turns his delusional patient into his puppet to use him as a source of inspiration for his self-help program, but things get out of hand when the patient becomes even more delusional and dangerous because of his life coach’s guidance.

Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
I wouldn’t be where I am today without my family’s support. Even though my parents were skeptical about my choice to leave a well-paid job and move to LA to study screenwriting, I’m glad that now they support and motivate me to become even better. I’m especially grateful for my brother Rustem’s support, who never doubted my abilities and gave me so much confidence in myself.

Being a writer is a lonely job, and having people who believe in you is crucial. I was also lucky to make amazing friends at NYFA who are not only talented writers but also incredible human beings who always have my back. Even after graduation, we plan to stay in touch and have a virtual writing group to motivate and inspire each other.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themaninalowercase/
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/assel-toganbayeva