Meet Jonny Carlson of Safari Power Pig in West Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonny Carlson.

Jonny, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am raised by two incredible parents Bergin & Christopher Carlson, along with my grandmother Nebahat, who has lived in the same house with us since.. Forever. My mom, an immigrant from Turkey, and my father, the American, instilled the values of chasing your dream when I was a young boy. I remember every time we saw one of his movies my mom would say, ” I swear Jonny you are just like Jim Carrey.”

I definitely knew I wanted to be an entertainer as a young boy, I entertained people on the daily with impersonations/accents/jokes fulfilling that passion. As I grew, that goal began to be surrounded by doubt, negativity, and impossibility, so I suppressed that urge and pursued sports.

I started with high school football at Clayton Valley, ended up at Diablo Valley Junior College, then found myself getting a scholarship via football to Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. This is where I tried to work out most of my kinks (Including enduring two ACL tears and then coming back to be faster and stronger than before). After football, I started to realize I wanted to fill this void of creativity sitting in my chest. So I applied and was accepted to Long Beach State University for a Masters in Business Administration.

Halfway through my program I almost literally stumbled into Lashawn Williams. Suddenly I was immersed in all the things I wanted to do. He dragged me from short films to features, which allowed me to get my hands dirty in the industry. These creative projects forced me to absorb and adapt faster than I was used to.

About a year later Lashawn and I came across another individual by the name of Robert Jordan. Soon enough the three of us created our production company: Safari Power Pig, and in the blink of an eye, we had taken a short web series idea and evolved it into an eight-episode 24 minute monster with 40 plus actors involved. “Hidden Springs” made me mature as an actor and producer in ways I am forever grateful for.

My journey has humbled me. Every moment is a new learning lesson and the lows are where most of our growth conjures. Currently, my only goal is to continue growing (as an Actor/Producer/Human) and helping those around me to grow as well. The most important bit of wisdom I want to share with everyone out there is this: You control your destiny, If you want something, like truly whole-heartedly desire something, you need to trust yourself and chase after it like it’s all that matters.

Great, 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?
Physically, my biggest obstacle is having had two ACL surgeries from football. When others thought I wouldn’t be half the player I was I worked my ass off to become twice the player I was.

Mental obstacles, the more treacherous of the two, are an ongoing battle. Self-confidence, self-awareness, work-life balance, these are all things that I find myself working to keep in check.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Safari Power Pig – what should we know?
We are a production company in the entertainment industry. Focused on theatrical film/tv we also do commercial work. We strive for creativity and compelling stories. If there is a story to be told and an audience for it to be told to then that work is within our scope.

I’m very proud of our three wildly unique mindsets that set us apart from other writing teams/production teams. We find a special groove when we sit down and start to dig into any of the projects we work on.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Self-awareness is essential. Understanding my faults, learning about myself and what my strong-suits are is detrimental to being able to fine-tune ourselves into a well oiled “success-machine”. Basically put, If you don’t know what you’re good at, and don’t know what you’re bad at, then you won’t do anything great.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 8183084773
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/safaripowerpig/

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