Today we’d like to introduce you to Samir Chiali.
Samir, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Film has been my passion since I picked up my dad’s Sony Camcorder and made a highlight video for my high school’s soccer team back when I was 13. I started making more and more homemade music videos as well. There weren’t any editing software’s during that time, so I had to play the song on my headphones and cut to the beat as I filmed. I remember having to create my own editing station using our family’s portable TV, where I plugged the yellow cable from the camera, the red and white from our PS1 to use as the CD player for music, and I would sync the video and audio recording on a VHS.
Since then, I knew I wanted to become a filmmaker, but the path getting there wasn’t as clear. I ended up going to film school, but transferred out after just a year. I realized during that year, that I didn’t want to learn Film from a textbook/teacher and after seeing some graduates still working part time jobs trying to find film projects to work on. I quickly decided to move back to Houston and get my Engineering degree instead because I had convinced myself that it was the safer route. After that year, I hardly touched my camera. I graduated with a B.S in Industrial Engineering and started working full time in Oil and Gas. After four years, I ended getting laid off and couldn’t find a job for over half a year.
During that downtime, I started rekindling my love for Film. I would stay up late at night watching YouTube videos on the latest cameras and techniques, I’m pretty sure I watched over 100 hours of content. Through those videos, I taught myself more than what I would’ve learned in film school. I bought myself a decent camera at the time and made a promo video of my car and posted it on Facebook. I got so much great feedback from my friends and followers, and it helped me land my first gig, which led to me opening my business filming weddings, and now also music videos. I still work full-time as an Engineer in healthcare and run my 6 figure film production company called TEN23 FILMS.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s never a smooth road. I started my business with two other partners which ended up leaving after the first year. I had no idea if I would find success or not. I took and risk and decided to create my own style for wedding films that was different to what was already out there. As I mentioned before, I still work a 9-5 job as my primary income to support me and my family and use all profits from my production company to invest back in it in order to grow. The biggest challenge is time management, after I put my son to bed; I’m usually up every night till 2 am either working on a project or just research ways to grow my business.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’ve been told that I have a very good understanding of filmmaking and am able to create something out of nothing. That I’m able to tell an emotional story just by my camera movements. I think my best quality is this gifted vision that I am born with. To be able to create from my head and be able to captivate any audience. I’ve been mainly creating Wedding Films and Music Videos these past few years, but I have one of my goals this year to create three short films that I am currently writing.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I feel very lucky to have found my true gift/talent at an early age, but I realized as I drifted away from it, I started to lose myself and realized how much I needed to practice my art in any possible way in order to feel full. The most important lesson is to never put doubt into what you feel like you were born to do.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@ten23films.com
- Website: www.ten23films.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ten23films
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smc1023/
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