Today we’d like to introduce you to Colleen (a.k.a. Lena) Franklin.
Colleen, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My writing journey began very early. I have always had my head in a book, and writing was a natural progression. Growing up in New York, in the 70s, was the best landscape for my imagination, and I have always had a lot to say. Needless to say, I talk a lot. I was a nerd, a cool one but a nerd nonetheless. I loved learning and school was my safe place.
I also loved the arts. I began dancing at three years old. Although I enjoyed dancing, the older I got, the shier I became, but a very strong-willed, very involved, a fifth-grade teacher asked me to try out for the role of Maria in West Side Story (my all-time favorite film). I intentionally flubbed the audition. I did not want the attention, but Ms. Cohen was having none of that. She cast me as a background dancer (which I hated). I knew early on that I wanted to be behind the scenes. I was cast the next year as the lead role in musical Oklahoma. The acting bug never bit me though. I found being out front extremely nerve-wracking, but I wanted to participate. Throughout my schooling, I did well in academics, but I excelled in reading, writing, and grammar.
Fast forward, after high school, I served four years in the U.S. Army, traveled Europe, started a family and received my college degree in Marketing. Yes, marketing which has served me well in this new age of branding. I had experienced many things though and had a plethora of things to write about. I wrote stories in letters and cards. I had books and books of poetry, and I journaled endlessly. Writing kept me balanced but making a career of it seemed farfetched. I didn’t believe when I was told I was missing my calling as a writer.
Eventually, I made my way back to New York. I worked for Essence (magazine) and a PR firm but marketing was not fulfilling, and when the Twin Towers fell, I left Manhattan and marketing. It was this tragedy that forced me out of the city and at home where I had the good fortune to start contract work as a transcriber, one of my many Army skills, which prepared me for the next phase. I was honing editing, proofing, grammar, spelling and typing skills. I was becoming a professional writer without intention.
As you can tell I am a bit of a free spirit. My mother calls me her fly by night child, I had raised my daughter and decided to move to North Hollywood to help out a friend and poke around a bit to see where my feet would land. It was a culture shock, to say the least. I didn’t fit in. Still, I took advantage of the opportunities that came my way. I had the chance to review and critique scripts for students at UCLA. I found it boring. Screenplays limited creativity and were too technical or so I thought. As fate would have it, a family member, DGSandz (music producer) challenged me to write a script. I was working on a book titled, Camouflage, about my military experience at the time. I didn’t want to even try, but he was relentless. I stopped writing the book and began writing it in script format. What I found was I loved the process, and even with the all the script writing rules, I was hooked and back to New York I went.
The film and music influence is heavy in my family, and I decided to seek out my cousin Curtis Karma Brown (CEO of Global Media Savant) who introduced me to Regina Nicole (actress) and Hakim Robinson (director) of Eyes Entertainment Inc. I took a leap of faith and moved to Georgia, and I have been on a steady climb. Regina Nicole taught me the art of Script Supervising, which has afforded me a good reputation, respect, and trustworthiness. I have worked with EEI for many years crafting short films for the 48-hour-film project and future feature films. I have script supervised for several indie films, in Atlanta, my first was A Family on Edge with (Eyes Entertainment Inc.), Side Chick (now available on Space for Creators iONE digital a new platform for emerging storytellers) with director/writer, Ashley McArthur, and His, Hers and The Truth (an official selection of the American Black Film Festival 2019 narrative section) with director/writer, Coke Daniels, to name a few. I am forever grateful for the many opportunities.
It is with all these years of sharpening my skills and coming in contact with great talent that I decided to form the blog and now company Filmmakers Lab LLC. Filmmakers Lab covers film reviews and exposes the day-in-the-life of filmmakers. Finally, my self-publishing an e-book/paperback titled Protecting Your Intellectual Property: Copyrights are Not Enough is available on Amazon and it discusses the main things a content creator should be doing to protect their work.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The road has, definitely, not been smooth. The challenges are never ending but have been necessary for my growth. My struggles are mostly internal. I battle anxiety, and it has gotten the better of me, but I am a work in progress. Most times obstacles and challenges are the ones we create. Sure, I have dealt with the woes of being new to the industry and feeling as though I have to prove myself worthy of a seat at the table. What I have found is anything you are passionate about will take time and patience, discipline and consistency. Remaining humble and transparent has helped me deal with my issues. I take full ownership of them. I refuse to be a victim. I get my lessons and keep it moving. I am grateful to be able to do what I love.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Filmmakers Lab story. Tell us more about it.
Filmmakers Lab LLC’s mission has always been to give exposure to the independent creatives coming up through the ranks. Filmmakers Lab started as a blog and went through many changes. Recently, Filmmakers Lab became an organization. The mission is the same to provide exposure through the blog (soon to be vlog) and all social media outlets. This has been achieved through working as a script supervisor on sets and meeting lots of actors, producers, directors and such and shining light on their work.
What sets Filmmakers Lab apart is the up-close nature of working on indie sets which allows access to things going on behind the scenes, a bird’s eye view of how things are run, the hard work it takes to make films, the camaraderie, and the fun, basically exposing the life of an independent filmmaker to include cast and crews.
Filmmakers Lab is a one-woman business that has had consistent, steady growth over several years. I am most proud of the integrity that I have been able to maintain. Reputation plays a huge role in how you are treated in this business. Filmmakers Lab has always and will always represent creatives with the most respect and will continue to keep the narrative honest and heartfelt.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
This is a good question. I don’t believe luck has played a role at all. It is my belief that our purpose is our life’s journey and luck has nothing to do with what is supposed to be. Our abilities are innate. We just need to figure out what they are and move in the direction of putting them to the best use possible.
Contact Info:
- Address: 6050 Peachtree Parkway #240-357
Norcross, GA 30092 - Website: www.filmmakerslab.com
- Phone: 718-669-9786
- Email: lena.brown@filmmakerslab.com
- Other: https://linktr.ee/filmmakerslab
Image Credit:
Bobby A. Hill
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
