Industry Interview

Introduce yourself.

My name is Ryan Chavis. I really find a hard time labeling myself because I feel like I’m out of time and the sequence of today I feel like I come from a higher frequency. I grew up in Hampton Virginia that’s my hometown and I’m a screenwriter. That’s my passion.

What experience do you have in the Entertainment industry?

I have a lot actually. I first got into entertainment and performance in high school and it was a prerequisite for my graduation to have to do an extracurricular activity and I picked the chorus at our school. So suddenly I had to sing and dance and perform for not only the school but the state and have competition and that is like my first real taste of show business and entertaining. I was always embarrassed on stage singing and dancing but at the same time I liked to hear the crowd I liked being able to put direct effort into getting something in return I guess it’s like the ultimate immediate gratification because the feedback is instantaneous with an audience. From there I’ve grown into an artist that writes I have always been influenced by the arts. I’ve always been influenced through paintings. My mother took me to a lot of museums when I was younger so I was really into fine oil paintings in such growing up actually I wanted to be a fine artist. I have since taken that passion for colors and in my attempt put it into words and therefore use the words as colors to make the scene with words. As a director, which is something totally new for me, you have to take the vision in your mind and in your words and actually interpret it visually for the masses to see. And that is a different perspective even from when I wrote my first script. For me it’s been a journey of change. That overall is my experience.

Tell me about your experience working in the industry.

I was delivering pizzas and I kept telling people I was going to get into Hollywood and make movies and I’m delivering pizzas. I think I was like 38 at the time. Nobody believed me, everybody thought I was crazy, they thought I was a wash up in life but I worked with a guy who brought me on set one time as a day player and that was it. A year after that I met my good buddy Justin on an indie project as a crafty guy, he liked my hustle so much he brought me on as a day player for ABC. I think that was 5 years ago now and I’ve been working full time ever since in the industry.

Tell me about your experience negotiating deals in the industry.

You’re always negotiating in the industry but currently I'm working on a project brought to me by a producer. So as a writer, I have to give them a taste of what they’re in store for so I'm making a quick script. And that is to entice them to the table and bring more money and more negogiatings to the benefit of my brand and that’s always an ongoing process in this line of work so you never stop doing that.

What are some tips for success in the industry?

I really feel that if your calling is to be in this industry to give it your entire being, to give it your soul. You really have to give this your everything ,this has to be what you love because you can’t do it otherwise.