Today we’d like to introduce you to Shania Banton.
Shania, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My career started when I couldn’t afford to go to acting school anymore and I already began screenplay writing. I made a choice to begin production of one of my screenplays and act in it. I took out a credit card, casted and hired a crew and began producing my first web series at 21 years old.
Since releasing “Waves” the series has been featured in Spike Lee film “Da Republic of Brooklyn” and it’s the #1 streaming series in KweliTV. From there, I’ve done a short film “Switch” and I finished a second season of my series to premiere on Oct. 29th.
There’s a lot of other projects that I will be working on next year, especially working on perfecting my screenplay to be ready for development.
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?
It hasn’t been smooth at all. I mean I self-funded a three months production by myself at 21. My main struggle is finding a solid team, each and every production I run into an issue with finding a solid crew.
Season 1 of Waves, the production company I hired bailed on me two days before we were set to finish after ghosting me the entire pre production.
My short film Switch, both production assistants that I hired bailed on me the day of. I had eight arms that day because I literally did everything myself. I would set up the shot on a tripod, jump to diffuse the light while stretching my neck to make sure it stayed in focus.
Season 2 of Waves, the DP I hired would send replacements for his film days without saying anything to me. Just sending a random person to set with a camera. I ended up firing him and just hiring the person he would send.
Please tell us about Just Shania.
Just Shania is the parent company to everything I do. Independent Productions is what I specialize in and what I am known for. But I also work in e-commerce brand management both professionally and independently. I also teach independent filmmaking and beginner video editing. I was featured in a “Fiverr” ad all over NY for my video editing lessons. I plan to expand into other things but the business name holds true, it’s just me, so I pace myself.
Although Waves is by far my biggest accomplishment, I’m most proud of my short film Switch. I did every single thing by myself with Switch and it came out great and had been doing well with film festivals. That makes me feel great given my tough circumstances.
Just Shania gives comfort to the independent filmmaking space. We don’t need huge budgets to tell our stories.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I had a really rough childhood so I suppressed most memories. If I was to dig up a good memory, it would be my brother and I had a tradition. Every Saturday morning we went to the movies to watch the new film. We had that bond over films and we still do till this day.
These are the underlying moments that make me feel like I’m on the right path in what I was meant to do in life.
Contact Info:
- Website: Justshania.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/wavestheseries?igshid=mpg4s55cls2x
Image Credit:
Shania Banton, Briana Atkins
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
