Today we’d like to introduce you to Oliver Kiisa.
Hi Oliver, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up in a small Eastern European country of Estonia. From a young age, I was in awe of films. Specifically, Hollywood blockbusters. Initially, I was enthralled by acting, so I was lucky to move to England as a teenager to attend drama school. During my two years of high school, I had a ton of fun exploring stage plays and bringing them to life, however, I realized that acting isn’t for me. So, during my summer break back in Estonia, I walked into a local production house, keen to get set experience. Next day, I woke up at 5am and arrived on a Mercedes-Benz commercial. I just loved it- the controlled chaos and the crew. Therefore, as university applications were nearing, I decided to focus only on film schools in the US and the UK.
During my first year of undergraduate degree in England, I produced multiple short films as I grew fond of how multi-faceted producing is. From developing scripts with directors/ writers, to managing production logistics, raising funds, crewing, and distributing the film to festivals.
A turning point in my career came when Christopher Nolan took Tenet to my hometown, Tallinn, Estonia. I reached out to everyone I could to get my foot in the door. I tried hard and even had an interview, but I never heard back. So, I returned to London to continue my studies into the summer, but I remember thinking that I was never told “No.” So, I continued pursuing my leads until I got a call in my second week of summer semester, and I was onboarded two days before production.
Having the Hollywood experience under my belt, it opened doors for me in England. I used the momentum to continue working on sets, which led me to join Bond: No Time To Die, The Diplomat, Mission Impossible, and more.
Near graduation, I wanted to delve deeper into the business of filmmaking. I successfully applied to USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program and moved to the States in the summer of 2022. The course was brilliant in refining my skillset as a producer and understanding the larger context of the industry. After my graduation in 2024, I continued producing shorts with fellow USC alumnus, one of them being In Nomine Patris, which later screened at 6 US festivals, including an Oscar Qualifying festival, LA Shorts, and was a runner-up for Best Horror Short at Indie Festival. More recently, I co-produced a season of an unscripted travel show with Estonian director/ producer I had the pleasure to meet during the height of the pandemic.
I’m currently collaborating with fellow USC alumni to produce a feature-length comedy just outside Los Angeles. At the same time, I’m developing a thriller feature with a U.S.-based writer. The story unfolds across Estonia and England—two countries that hold deep personal significance for me—so bringing this project to life feels especially meaningful.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course it hasn’t. I did believe it would be a smooth journey as long as I had a plan, but that belief was quickly destroyed by life itself. I don’t mean that everything went wrong and had to deviate every time. Quite the contrary. I find that my road has been bumpy, with steep highs and lows, and full of unexpected turns. That’s what has made it so fun. Let me break this into two parts: the twists and the bumps.
The twists, so to speak, have been sudden opportunities that came about and were within grasp. Such an opportunity arose with Tenet. It was a deviation from current plans. I knew I had to be a part of it, so I focused on the prize. But the road to said prize was bumpy. However, the opportunity was so unique that I couldn’t deviate until I got an answer. I was just lucky that the response I got was a positive one.
Producing films, TV series, and shorts is also a bumpy road. Making a film is full of challenges and opportunities. When I produced my very first film back in England, we decided to put a lot of emphasis on the production design as it was supposed to be an Art Studio. However, the budget was too tight to purchase items, so we worked hard on alternative plans for weeks. We were based on a professional studio lot. A nearby stage had just started construction and dumped all kinds of leftovers in a skip. It was a great opportunity to go dumpster diving and find tables, chairs, ladders, and so on, which we could use for our film and give the film a unique look. We spent days and weeks exploring and negotiating different avenues- this was a bumpy road with dead ends. We were just lucky to coincidentally overlap with the construction team next door.
A similar opportunity or coincidence happened when I was working on “Melchior the Apothecary” Trilogy, the largest Estonian production to date. I co-produced a “Making Of” hour-long film, and a couple of months earlier, I had bought myself a Super8 camera for my 20th birthday. Talking to my fellow creatives, it was a great way of capturing B-roll on film and giving the Behind-The-Scenes film a specific look. When the film was televised on Estonia’s largest local network channel, Kanal 2, it had around 100,000 viewers tune in, which was a magnificent feat, since the country’s population is around 1.3 million.
Overall, the road hasn’t been smooth, nor has it been a rough ride. It’s been full of twists and turns that have presented me with new opportunities both in my personal and professional life. I’ve been lucky to have been surrounded by problem-solving people with whom I can always explore opportunities rather than focus on struggles.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Throughout the years of living and working in England, I produced multiple shorts and TV films. So, I wanted to focus on producing full-time. This interest led me to apply to USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program to learn the intricacies of the entertainment business, how materials are developed, financed, and distributed. Soon after graduating in England and working on Netflix’s “The Diplomat,” I packed my bags and moved to Los Angeles in the summer of 2022.
Since my arrival, I’ve been keeping myself busy meeting peers, mentors, and industry professionals who have helped me understand the whole producing process. Peter Stark and development positions at Plan B, Esmail Corp, and Madison Wells were crucial for me to hone in on my taste and visual storytelling skills. It’s been exciting applying this to projects I have produced in the past. Specifically, I co-produced a travel series for Estonia called “Kilu Seljakotis Kariibidel.” I was brought on board to help the director develop the story in post-production. It’s a different process developing the story in edit than in the scripting stage. So, I got the footage transcribed, and we highlighted all the key moments in dialogue to use in the final episodes to best tell the story, keep the audience engaged, and make the episode specific to the location. The show premiered in September 2024 on TV3, one of the largest networks in Estonia.
Now, using this experience, I’ve gotten more detailed when developing scripted materials. Right now, I am developing a script with a US writer, and it’s important for me to only allow beats in the script that serve a specific purpose to the character or plot. If there’s a moment or sequence that doesn’t quite work, then it’s down for us two to figure out what the purpose is, what isn’t working, and why we need this in the final product. At the end of the day, we want to orchestrate a cohesive story full of complex characters and worlds that offer satisfaction for the viewer. By using that aforementioned unscripted story editing experience, it’s a lot easier to comb through the drafts.
Outside of story development, I love managing Excel sheets and budgets. Numbers allow me to be objective and target-oriented. Script development is highly subjective, so by bringing that objectivity to the table, I think there’s a stronger opportunity for something truly creative to happen since constrictions push me to find new opportunities. Furthermore, my goal with every team is to make the film. Regardless of the budget, since you could always have more money, this objectivity helps me give feedback to writers that would eliminate the worry of not having enough financial backing.
I am proud of my international background. It sets me apart from the others, and exposing myself to other countries’ cultures has refined my taste. I was shied away from my background, but in recent years, I have firsthand seen how it serves me best because I can bring a unique perspective to the table.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
Many collaborators I’ve worked with have come to me through friends, or they’ve reached out to me via LinkedIn or Instagram. Even then, it’s been because a friend or an old colleague has recommended me to them. I always want to take a coffee meeting to get to know the new, potential collaborator.
One thing that has allowed me to gain more experience is by finding a collaborator I share great chemistry with and sticking by them. This helped me in England when I landed on a set and met an Assistant Location Manager at the time, Clara Butler. We gelled easily, understood each other from day one, and I just stayed in touch with her through the years. She brought me on board to many Hollywood productions, including “All The Old Knives” and “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning.”
This is true when producing shorts and films. In 2023, I met two collaborators, Harnish Ambaliya and Don John, thanks to a friend, and we hit it off really well. Ever since we’ve produced shorts, and currently, we’re working to make a comedy feature film. We might not agree on everything, but we all have a project-specific goal we share, so we challenge and push each other to grow as producers and creatives. Most importantly, outside of producing, we are great friends and it’s fun exploring both business and film ideas with them.
Contact Info:
