Advisor Studio: Natalie Qasabian on Producing "Searching"
About this Advisor Studio
Advisor Studio sessions feature intimate, moderated conversations with Sundance Advisors who are working artists and media industry professionals that contribute their expertise to the Collab community via courses, classes, office hours and events. In the Studio events, Advisors share field experiences and insights into their specific areas of craft, including writing, directing and producing for TV and film.
Natalie Qasabian produced one of the most successful independent films of 2018. Our next Advisor Q&A Live webinar with producer Natalie Qasabian will take you behind the scenes of her role on the breakout film, SEARCHING. We'll get an inside look at her overall experience producing the film, from how the project originated, to its marketing and distribution plan. We'll uncover the challenges and lessons learned, discuss her collaboration with the director and writers, and get Natalie's advice for emerging producers on how to kick-start their own career. Join us for what will be an engaging conversation on how to take your film from the page to a multiple award-winning project at the Sundance Film Festival.
Advisor StudioTeam
Natalie Qasabian
Instructor
Natalie Qasabian is an independent film producer based in Los Angeles. After producing three films for the Duplass Brothers including “Duck Butter” directed by Miguel Arteta, she went on to produce "All About Nina" starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Common. Most recently Natalie produced "Searching," a thriller starring John Cho and Debra Messing which was acquired by Sony at Sundance in 2018 and went on to gross $75M at the box office. Currently she's producing "Run," starring Sarah Paulson for Lionsgate. Natalie studied film at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and recently earned an MBA from Pepperdine University.
Artist's Chosen Interviews:
Artist's Chosen Resources:
- Shooting to Kill (Book) by Christine Vachon: I read this when I first started producing about 4 years ago and I always remember her quote - I’m paraphrasing - about how indie films are like childbirth. They’re incredibly painful in the moment, but you soon forget and then jump in and do another. Very true!
- Scriptnotes (Podcast) by John August & Craig Mazin: I love hearing fellow creatives who are at the top of their game chat about script related topics. It's fun but also enlightening and they tend to always inspire me.
- The Lounge Chill Playlist (iTunes): If I'm not feeling productive or creative, this playlist has yet to fail me. It gets my juices going and into a productive creative vibe.
- Save the Cat (Book and also website): I visit the book or website (Tools < Beatsheet tab) often when developing projects, especially ones that lean more genre than not, mostly to brush up on structure. Sometimes this book gets a bad rep, but it was instrumental for us when developing SEARCHING.
- Cactus Tacos: sometimes you just need a good taco and some good people watching in Hollywood.