Rising Stars: Meet Olia Oparina

Today we’d like to introduce you to Olia Oparina.

Hi Olia, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born in the Soviet Union and raised in the aftermath of its disintegration. Living in the Siberian outskirts of Russia forced me to develop a sensible outlook on life. As a young girl, I dreamt of entertaining people with imaginative stories. However, I quickly learned to accept that for a Russian, the arts were only possible for people in Moscow or Saint Petersburg. As a provincial girl, I would not get the opportunity to study filmmaking. So, I focused on languages and communication. Eventually ending up in China and working as an interpreter.

As a young girl, I would spend my summers at my grandmother’s village, cut off from the Soviet propaganda machine. There, I was exposed to the Russian myths and fairytales. They all had a tremendous impact on me. My mind would create vivid images of heroes and villains engaged in climatic struggle. The pictures in my mind would entertain me for hours and even days on end. They would also continue to fascinate me as I played with the stories through unique writing and visual styles. Ultimately leading to the creation and making them on my own so that others can experience them.

My childhood experience with fairy tales has created a strong desire to create fantasy genre stories. Films where I am free to take audiences to different worlds, allowing me the freedom of expression that is ultimately the voyage of my own creation.

Despite lucrative job offers from highly respected corporations in China, I decided, instead, to travel westwards to Hollywood, CA to pursue my dreams of working in the film industry. After enrollment in USC’s MFA program with a focus in Film and TV Production, I got an opportunity to produce a feature film entitled “Baby Doll”. Since then, I worked as a director on various projects including short films, music videos and commercials.

In 2016, I produced and directed my first feature film “Snowbound” that was successfully completed in less than nine months and screened at the Marche Du Film during the 70th Annual Cannes Film Festival. The film got distributed in Japan, Germany, England and other countries.

In 2018, I produced and directed a few immersive theatre shows that got a lot of attention in art community. In 2020 I completed a 20 min short film, period piece titled “I Am Normal”. It is inspired by a psychiatric experiment called “The Rosenhan Experiment” that was conducted in US in 1973. The short film is currently in festival circuits, whilst the longer version of the story is currently being developed as a feature.

Creativity never stops for me. Alongside film projects, I also work on a graphic novel based on Siberian mythology. I hand draw scenes from my childhood memories. I hope that one day I can share these stories with the world.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Haha, no it hasn’t. Moving straight from Siberia to LA wasn’t easy. I didn’t know anyone here. I had $2000 to survive for four months, pay for some questionable English school in Koreatown and a room in a dormitory. I didn’t understand the credit history system. To owe money and to be in debt was the worst thing in my country. And in US it was the only way to get credibility. I didn’t understand why I couldn’t just rent an apartment without a rental history; why I couldn’t work on a student visa. In my first year of driving, I probably got about 20 parking tickets. Parking signs were confusing and I struggled to park close to the curb. People in LA seemed strange to me at first. They were all smiley and nice, willing to become my friends. However, they never had time for me, flaked if we planned to get together and quickly disappeared from my life, lol. I quickly learned that if someone offered me help, it won’t mean they would actually help me. People just say things to be nice here. But overall, I adjusted quickly and I found my crowd that I can rely on.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a film director and I also do art directing sometimes. I am a visual person with a high sense of style. My dream is to make dark fantasy films like those of Tim Burton and Guillermo Del Toro. However, fantasy films require high budgets due to costume and set designs so I haven’t directed a full-length fantasy feature yet. I’ve directed a horror/fairy tale short, a psychological feature, a psychological drama short and a few music videos. I am most proud of my last short project that was shot on film and was based on real psychiatric experiment. We shot at an abandoned mental ward. It was blood-chilling.

The other project I am proud of is the one I art directed. It was a feature film about the 1st Oscar award the Soviets got in 1943. The documentary category had to be created for them to receive the award. As an art director, I had to recreate the Oscar ceremony of 1943. We used old photo cameras, giant Oscar statues, vintage microphones. It was fascinating.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I am a highly collaborative team player. I have worked with a wide variety of people from various backgrounds and cultures. I believe I have natural leadership abilities that help me seamlessly execute my visions. My determination and unrelenting drive continuously prove to be an unexpendable asset on creative projects as my artistic flow and imagination never seem to stop.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.oliaoparina.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/olia_oparina/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oliaoparina
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/OOparina
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0QN7W33g9vaGY8454dWjAA?view_as=subscriber
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4732974/