Born in Canada, Ryan Filiatrault, 37, has thrown caution to the wind a few times in his quest to find truly fulfilling work. He went from being an electrician to a table server and then a recruitment consultant in Japan before ultimately making his passion for filmmaking a reality in his mid-30s. After a lot of hard work he now runs his own production company in Tokyo, Indigo Media.
1. What does filmmaking mean to you? Everything about filmmaking from interpreting a script to working with an actor and deciding on the shot composition, it’s all so beautiful. It takes the human condition and turns it into something I can show others, because everybody has universal experiences.
2. What is your earliest memory of using the camera? When I was 13 there happened to be a very low-quality MiniDV at home. We used it to film and edit skateboarding and stunt videos, like Johnny Knoxville and Steve O in “Jackass.” We did that all summer. We’d roll down hills, jump into bushes and push each other in shopping carts. It was all about comedy but it sparked my fascination with video.
3. You had several jobs before becoming a filmmaker. How did those roles shape your career today? When I worked as a journeyman electrician in an oil field it was very team-oriented. I had to be a strong communicator and leader. Then I came to Japan and became a waiter. Accepting that I was not the boss anymore taught me humility. But it was my time in recruitment that taught me how to run a business, which is fundamental to helping me do what I do today.
4. In the future, would you like to explore a new industry or is filmmaking “it”? That's a question I get often, and my answer is always the same: I am in this for the long haul, this is what I was meant to do. I found this passion later in life, around 34. Whether I become a director, video editor or sound designer, I will stick to filmmaking for the rest of my life because it fulfills me more than any other job.
5. What made you consider moving to Japan from Canada? Although I had great pay and seniority in my career back home, I couldn’t see myself doing it for another 10 years. I have always harbored a spirit of adventure, and my wife, who is from Japan, convinced me to go on that adventure. I'm still on it.
6. How is that adventure going for you? When you leave home to explore, things come out of you that you can't explain, like they are hidden in your genetic code, in your personality. I've done so many things I couldn't have imagined doing.
7. Do you miss anything about your hometown? I miss ice hockey. Canada also has great bed and breakfasts with pancakes, maple syrup and French toast. I like Japanese food but you can't find those Canadian staples so easily here. I also miss being on the lake, surrounded by mountains, and water skiing and wakeboarding.
8. What is an embarrassing memory you have of getting lost in translation in Japan? I was waiting tables, but my Japanese wasn't so great. When I was serving a table of Japanese and foreign customers, all of whom could speak Japanese, I brought a giant platter of food to the table. The foreign customer said to me, tanondenai (we didn't order this). I knew what tanomu (to order) meant but I didn't understand tanondenai. I was looking around like a deer in the headlights. I did eventually understand, but they were all laughing and I was really embarrassed because I had been studying Japanese for a year already and thought I was doing OK. It was a reality check that I had to study more.
9. Are you career-driven or more of a free spirit? Both. As an artist, I'm a free spirit but I have to be career-driven, too. As much as I would love to just be a free spirit creating art, I can't do that. I need to stay disciplined to grow my business.
10. Was leaving the corporate world to become a creative easy? No, it was very hard. When I quit recruitment, I took a drastic pay cut — which I guess seems to be a pattern with me. I was just living off what I had saved. But to get out of the corporate world, I knew it was do or die. That voice inside me said, “You have one chance to get out of this and turn your creative desire into something." It was screaming at me to just go for it, but it was a difficult and risky transition.
11. As a self-taught filmmaker, how did you learn your craft? It's really silly, I re-created shots from movies made by my favorite directors like David Fincher, Alfred Hitchcock, Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese. My way of learning is by watching movies and copying them, but in my own way.
12. If you could have shot any film, which do you wish was yours? My favorite movie, “American Beauty” by Sam Mendes. Despite being a bad story about a father falling in love with his teenage daughter's friend, it's shot beautifully. Also, “Pulp Fiction” is just so good. I saw it when I was 11 and loved it. It was radical, crazy and different from anything I had seen before.
13. What is your dream subject to film? I want to film psychological stories that don't let you know what's happening until the end. I like the mystery and suspense that keep audiences guessing. If I could film a psychological thriller with a great actor like Christoph Waltz that would be a dream come true.
14. What have been the high and low points in your career so far? The highest point was my recent film. I hired three actors for a passion project, which was a script I wrote, a stalker story that brings together all the skills I've learned so far.
My low point was a time I couldn't deliver what a past client wanted and lost my contract. I didn't know how to make storyboards and scripts properly. I was such a beginner trying to position myself as an expert. It was a hard pill to swallow.
15. What is your daily routine? Over the past few years, I've created a routine that gives me some momentum at the start of the day. I get up at 6 a.m. and go straight to the gym. Two to three times a week, I have an ice bath that helps with my focus. From 8 a.m., I'm back at home and I visualize, drink green tea, and take my vitamins and supplements. I even take lion's mane for cognitive function and memory. From 8:30 a.m., I spend half an hour playing chess as I've done since childhood. It keeps my brain strategic. I write down work ideas between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. From there, I work, edit, plan and build my business. I do intermittent fasting, so I only eat between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. I go for a walk at 7 p.m. and let my brain absorb what happened to me during the day. I spend the rest of the evening with my wife, and go to bed by 10 p.m.
16. How do you think filmmaking is evolving? With the advent of artificial intelligence and new filmmaking tools, filmmakers are increasing their workflow and productivity. If I'm analyzing a film, there is software that will cut all the shots for me frame by frame. There's software that will create all the subtitles for me. I don't think AI will be able to make films because people still want reality, not fake AI-generated content, but it will contribute to productivity for sure.
17. What is your favorite movie snack? It's got to be the classic popcorn. I will destroy two or three bags if you let me.
18. How do you deal with creative blocks? I reference the book “War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. He labels writer's block as resistance, which is whatever tries to distract you from your art. In my opinion, when you get blocked, that just means you have to read, listen, write and watch more until something sparks. It’s the spark that helps you fight the distractions, in the end. You will strike a vein of gold eventually.
19. What helps you decompress after work? After a full day of editing, I like going for a walk. I might also just sit there and reflect on the day. I also like watching movies with my wife. She has a sharp perspective and her takes often surprise me.
20. If you knew failure was impossible, what would you do? I don't want to sound arrogant but I believe that failure is impossible. Failure is just a concept because it looks different for everyone. Others might label one situation as a setback or failure, but I don't. I just look at it as a fork in the road, or deviation from my expectations. It's an obstacle rather than a barrier. There's always something you can do to put yourself back on track.
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