Rising Star Yasmin Bakhtiari: “Diversity is our strength; Diversity is the way of the world today”

Diversity is the way of the world today. Diversity is our strength. Diversity represents conflict in a way, and without conflict you have no story. The trick is having interesting problems.

As a part of our interview series with the rising stars in pop culture, I had the pleasure of interviewing Yasmin Bakhtiari.

Yasmin is a first generation Iranian American who has lived in the Atlanta area for most of her life. From the first day she learned to read, her world existed in reading books. Over the years, she decided she wanted to become a writer and has published several short stories with Gilded Dragonfly Publishing. She enjoys all genres of books and movies, including comedy, horror, children’s stories, short stories and romance. Recently she turned two of her stories into movie scripts along with Nancy Knight and Matt Green. The result is her production company, Creepy Doll Films, first movie, Evil Little Things, of which she is the Executive producer.

Thank you so much for doing this with us Yasmin! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I grew up loving to read and my first love was books, first and foremost. I still remember living in Texas as a first generation Iranian American in the 1960’s. The world was sometimes difficult. Reading was my solace and my joy.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I wanted to write stories. I hooked up with Georgia Romance Writers and then began writing short stories, children’s stories, women’s fiction and humor.

Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

I would say the most interesting story was making this movie, Evil Little Things.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Not really a mistake. Matt Green, the director of Evil Little Things, was introduced to me by Nancy Knight, director of the Writer’s Panel at Dragon Con in Atlanta. I was too quiet or soft spoken and Matt didn’t think I was serious. After we got to know each other and we worked easy together, we all did real well together. I had absolutely no idea about the movie making business, none, Matt had all the experience and showed me the way.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

I was taking a script writing class for movies and how to write for television shows. Currently, I am working on a pilot for a dramedy and also my co-writer, Nancy Knight and I are working together on a movie script.

We are very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?

Diversity is the way of the world today. Diversity is our strength. Diversity represents conflict in a way, and without conflict you have no story. The trick is having interesting problems.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

I wish I had known a little more about the movie industry, the business part at least. The movie making is the fun part. You need GOOD organized producers, someone to get all the paper work done correctly. The movie making part was a blast, a lot of hard work but I loved all of it, the business part is a pain in the rear end.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Be organized in the business part of the process so that won’t get you down. Keep good records. Of course always keep writing, and have short daily meetings so everyone is on the same page. If the production goes smoothly, then I don’t think you’ll burn out.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Matt Green, my director. Also Nancy Knight. The three of us make a great team. We fill in the blanks for each other. We just need a great producer and book keeper and we’ll be set. We love the creative process of movie making and of course, writing.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My first boss once told me the secret to success is four things: follow up, follow up, follow up and follow up. Really if you think about it, it’s perfect. If I never followed up with Matt Green and Nancy Knight and didn’t nag them relentlessly, we would never have started the movie.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them.

:-) Yes, I am particularly fond of Tyler Perry and Ozzie Areu from Areu Brothers Studios. I would love to work with Ozzie, I have met him twice and found him very interesting and he was interested in my ethnicity as well. I admire Tyler Perry, I’d love to meet him although I would be extremely intimidated.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

I , sadly, don’t have much of a social presence on social media, but I’m working to change this.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much!