Rising Star Amit Ruderman: “Let’s start a movement to help people identify their passions & dream job and how they can fulfill it”
I think that a lot of people don’t follow their dreams or passions. It doesn’t have to be as an actor, but I strongly believe that you need to wake up in the morning and do what you love to do. But life gets in the way and we find ourselves making compromises and feeling down, working a job we don’t like 9 to 5 every day (at best) and we enter a never-ending loop. I think if I should start a movement it would be helping people realize what are their passions or dream job and to see if they can fulfill it. I left my job as a content editor because I knew that if I stayed in that office job, I would never follow my true dreams: to act and direct films.
As a part of my interview series with popular culture stars, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amit Ruderman. Amit is a promising Director, Actor and Writer residing in Israel. After finishing his military service at the rank of staff sergeant, Amit began working as a designer and content manager. He then decided to follow his dream and became an actor and a director. He finished his B.A in Tel Aviv University and his final project “Underground” has appeared in international film festivals and won several awards including Best Action-Adventure Film In Comic-Con Film Festival in San Diego. His new Comedy-Fantasy short “Guardian” was officially selected to Comic-con 2019.
Thank you so much for joining us Amit! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
Ever since I was a kid, and I think my parents could attest to this, I was kind of living in my own world. I could easily just sit by myself and entertain myself (in a good, positive, non-dirty way, of course). When I was 5 years old, I watched classic American sitcoms like “Growing Pains” and I asked my parents to teach me English so I could act in American TV shows. I started studying English 3–4 years before the other kids in Israel did. At the age of 14 I received acclaim for short animations I’d made online. Today, I often get asked what I want to do more, direct or act. I can’t really choose. Those are simply my two major passions.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started this career?
About two years ago, I submitted a short script that I wrote to a contest held by Jameson, named Jameson First Shot. All of that took place in April, and in July I planned on spending a couple of months in L.A and completely forgot about that. A week after I’d arrived in L.A, I got an email saying that my script was chosen out of thousands of scripts submitted to the final 20, and among them they would choose three films to be produced in L.A starring Dominic West. I was stoked. Unfortunately, I wasn’t selected to the final 3, but I felt so motivated after it that it only made me look for other opportunities. Eventually, when I got back to Israel, I decided to produce it there and made my short film titled “Guardian”, based on that script.
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?
When I made my short film “Underground”, I was so eager to prove my abilities both as a director and as an actor. The film was an action-drama film with cage fighting scenes. We rehearsed for months, worked with a professional combat choreographer. Two days before the shooting, one of the actors had a motorcycle accident. Luckily he was ok, but he had a cast on his hand, so we couldn’t film him. I frantically looked up for a replacement, and found someone who was great but didn’t know the moves, so we tried to improvise something the day before the shooting. During the shooting, in one of the takes, since we weren’t training for months, I took one wrong step forward and got punched right in the nose. Thank god it wasn’t broken after, even though it sure felt like it was. We eventually used this take in the film, because it had pretty much captioned a true moment of pain.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
My latest short, “Guardian”, is in the San Diego Comic-Con Independent Film Festival.
Other than that, there are several projects I was lead actor or supporting that I’m waiting to premiere. As far as writing and directing, I’m going to film my debut feature in the upcoming two years. I have several projects in development, each one of them is in a different stage. For now I’m working in Israel, but I got some offers abroad so I’ll go where life takes me.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
I’ve worked and met several prominent Israeli directors, actors and producers. I’ve had several interactions with them. But I think the one that really stands out is the meeting I had in L.A with David Worth, DP and Director of many great films I grew up watching. He was such an amazing inspiration, a very easy going and positive person.
Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?
It’s important to keep yourself busy. If you can write, write your own projects, produce your own projects. If you can’t write, make friends with talented people, form a group of creators and go and do stuff.
Take part in indie films, web series, any projects that interest you, because it’s important to keep acting and directing, and you never know who you’ll meet in the next project that can help you with other projects in the future.
Also, there’s no such thing as “done with studying”. It’s important to practice and take courses and classes. You can always learn something new, or get a new perspective, even if you’ve had leads in several features and tv series.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start 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. 🙂
I think that a lot of people don’t follow their dreams or passions. It doesn’t have to be as an actor, but I strongly believe that you need to wake up in the morning and do what you love to do. But life gets in the way and we find ourselves making compromises and feeling down, working a job we don’t like 9 to 5 every day (at best) and we enter a never-ending loop. I think if I should start a movement it would be helping people realize what are their passions or dream job and to see if they can fulfill it. I left my job as a content editor because I knew that if I stayed in that office job, I would never follow my true dreams: to act and direct films.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
1. Be true to yourself. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do. If you have a project that you’re passionate about, go ahead and do it. For instance, the university wasn’t very supportive towards my film “Underground”. Eventually I’ve decided I’m going to produce it with or without their consent and went on the greatest and most educational journey of my life.
2. No one is waiting for you, so initiate projects yourself. If I waited for an opportunity I would have never achieved what I have today.
3. You will hear a lot of “No” from people. It’s just because they still don’t know how awesome you are. Well it’s actually a part of life, but in our industry it only intensifies. You may not be suitable for every part, your film may not be suitable for every film festival, but for every 10 no’s you’re going to get a yes. I still get a lot of no’s. You just mustn’t let it stop you from going forward.
4. Surround yourself with good and talented people. You have no idea how useful it will be down the road when you don’t have money to go on a production. When I filmed “Guardian” I was already a film maker. Couldn’t really use the “I’m a student” card to get favors, but on the other side I really didn’t have enough money. Luckily, in past productions I’ve met plenty of talented friends that were eager to help out with the film because they believed in it and in me. Also, they know that when it came time for them to make their projects, I would be the first one in line to offer help.
5. When one door closes, just find another door to knock on. Trust yourself that you will get plenty of opportunities in life. Try and grab as many of them, but if you don’t succeed remember there will be another one.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I feel like I’ve already given so many life lesson quotes here that I don’t want to end up sounding like a quotes book, but something I’ve picked from a mentor of mine is that “There’s no better you than yourself”. Stop pleasing others, think about yourself and what you want to get. Don’t pretend being something you’re not. It requires you to get to know yourself better. I learn new stuff about myself every day and with every failure or success I get.
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?
I don’t tell them that enough, but I’m very grateful for my parents. Without them I would literally not be here today, in so many ways. Throughout life we go through so many emotional rollercoasters and you need someone to pick you up when you’re down, and luckily they were always there for me. My parents always say that the most important thing for them is that I’ll be happy. They have never restricted me to do something specific in my life, even though they aren’t really familiar with what I do. I remember that about 5 years ago while I was filming “Underground” they came to the set and watched me work, and that’s when it all clicked for them. Later that day, they said they were very impressed with how I handled all the people on the set guiding them to follow my vision. That was their “We’re proud of you” moment for me, even if they still don’t know the difference between director and producer. Since then, they always like watching the projects I’m directing or acting in.
Some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. 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 see this. 🙂
Well, I think that one of the impressive people in my industry in this day and age is Kevin Feige. I would love to meet up with him. My fantasy role has always been to be Wolverine, and now that Marvel Studios within Disney purchased back the X-men franchise, Mr. Feige, I’d love to schedule a lunch and discuss how we’re going to make me the next wolverine. Also, I’d love to have a coffee with Ryan Reynolds. He just seems like a really cool dude!
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Instagram — amitruderman
facebook — https://www.facebook.com/amit.ruderman
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational!