Today we’d like to introduce you to Ahmed Lindsay.
Hi Ahmed, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Magnum Lifestyle Media and this new life started in 2014. I was in an extremely dark place. I had succumbed to depression because I was unhappy with myself and the decisions I made to get me where I was at. I was the father of two, living with my parents in the trenches of South Philadelphia with a college degree. My life consisted of working in finance at a non-profit organization for the last six years, graphic designing on the side, hustling, and party promoting, which I was doing since college. This still wasn’t enough! It was degrading that I couldn’t pay all my bills and do much for my family financially. For years I struggled working paycheck to paycheck, and it made me beyond miserable. This was not the goal! This was not the life I wanted, and this was not the American dream! What happened to the life and careers everybody said you would get by going to college? Mentally I decided to accept that there was no corner office waiting for me! I couldn’t get a raise or a promotion at my current job. Prospective employers required ten years of experience for good-paying positions, and promoting parties was really hurting me financially. I was more focused on looking good than actually being good. I was tired of lying to myself! My life wasn’t going right! Society made me believe there was one path to success, and I had to think outside the box. I knew the only way I could save myself was to do something drastic and put my life on the line for it.
During this time a family member was attempting to get me to do photo/video services with him. The plan was he’d take the pictures and shoot the videos, and I would edit. I was already self-taught with graphic designing and video editing, but I was hesitant at first. I was frustrated with life and couldn’t understand why he wanted me. But one exhausting day at work I decided to do some research about the camera services business and photography which led me to see on my screen ‘motion pictures’ and BOOM the light went off! That was it, I can make movies, and this is what I need to change my life. Everything started to make sense. I can write scripts to tell stories, my stories my way. I can revert to my childhood where my mind was unchained and filled with curiosity. I can be as creative as I want to be, and I can finally get a chance to be heard. Most importantly, I can make a business out of it. I can start a company, make a living for myself, and be responsible for my own success, which in my opinion is the real American dream. It was amazing to find my passion, and I was excited to get started. So we discussed using part of my party promoting name to help push the brand because it was already partially branded. I was known in Philly as ‘Magnum Med,’ and I did my party promotion under the name Magnum Lifestyle Entertainment so we agreed on Magnum Lifestyle Media to be the company name.
Well, that excitement lasted a little over a week until I received a call from my family member telling me they changed their mind about the whole thing. I was devastated because within that time, I had created logos, social media, and registered the business to be an LLC. However, as furious as I was, I wasn’t about to give up, and I decided to proceed without them. I wanted to create, I knew I had a lot to learn, and I was ready for the biggest challenge of my life. Thus Magnum Lifestyle Media was born, not actually doing any services, but I was learning. Being able to graphic design and edit gave me the confidence I could figure this out as I was self-taught at both those skills. I knew it would take a great deal of focus, strategy, and most of all, sacrifice. I began my mission to teach myself everything from how cameras work to how films are sold and distributed. I read books, articles, took masterclasses, and watched thousands of Youtube videos. I linked with a collective group of people to create media content that allowed me to produce, direct and edit my own material. I went places to learn digital cinema cameras and see how sets are operated. I volunteered to get experience and sharpen my craft. Eventually, I was able to find my way onto indie films and union tv show sets. It was roughly two years before Magnum Lifestyle Media was actually hired, but since then we have been consistently active.
In 2016, things got intense as I was still going through depression but as determined as ever. I made that drastic change of quitting my job after eight years and put everything on the line as an entrepreneur filmmaker. Since then, I have continued to work and grow myself to be a Producer, Director, and Writer. I built Magnum Lifestyle Media to be fully equipped and able to handle from small to robust productions. Today, Magnum Lifestyle Media LLC is a full-service video production company and making a new home in Atlanta. We decided to bring our company here for the business to business opportunities as well as a bigger film industry presence. We plan to continue to create commercials, branded videos, and narrative content for small businesses and brands. Also, we will begin to independently produce films. So we look forward to working with the Atlanta community, growing our business here, and creating impactful content and epic films.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Most of my journey to becoming a filmmaker has been met with obstacles and challenges. However, I know they were all important pieces to becoming a complete Director, Producer, and Writer. Honestly, I feel more like I am complaining when speaking of these things, knowing I look at them more as required lessons I had to learn. My very first obstacle was deciding to quit my job to go full-time in this career. It was extremely hard to figure out, but I had to give this my all for it to work and it helped me mentally. I wanted to commit to my craft and dedicate as much time as I could to learning and working. Being the only black male on set and in rooms created its own set of struggles. I was often uncomfortable because of cultural differences and just feeling out of place. New things like being “green” on set, not knowing what equipment does what, and being shouted at by an AD were all uneasy experiences.
I always thought about the bigger picture, and I fought through it all. The real troubles were running Magnum Lifestyle Media; I needed to establish clients, give them a superb experience in hopes to create long-term business partnerships. Things like that impacted my livelihood and the last thing I wanted to do was go back to working a “9 to 5.” Other issues I bought upon myself were the financial woes of being independent and figuring out how to budget to pay the crew, hire actors, SAG maybe, and rent the necessary equipment. I’m stubborn, and since I started on this journey, I sought out to create on the highest level. Learning all the ways of professional filmmaking was a lot and difficult but again necessary. Like all the other obstacles and challenges, I had to get through it, and I wanted to go through it. I want to be great, so I strived for it. This included studying how to achieve high-quality images and how to get the best out of my resources. For most of my life, I had to learn from hardships, trials, and tribulations. I attack all obstacles and any challenges I accept because I know on the other side I will be better and I appreciate those moments.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Magnum Lifestyle Media LLC is a full-service creative video production company that produces and films high-quality video content for organizations, small businesses, and brands. Where through creative & meaningful storytelling we create high-quality visual content. We take agencies and brands ideas and help produce projects that connect with audiences in new and innovative ways. Start your project with us today. Help us bring your ideas to life!
We founded our business intending to create visuals that can affect humanity. We seek to do this by telling stories with videos and pictures, creating culturally transcending content, filming the most unique and memorable visuals, being DOPE AF, and producing thought-provoking projects. Our edgy and professional approach allows us the ability to be innovative, raw, and intentional about everything we do for our projects. We budget efficiently and effectively to put together the necessary productions from equipment to crew. We consider everything and maximize our resources to successfully produce content.
We focus on getting the work done by working closely with our clients to understand their vision. We love creating, filmmaking, and all things behind the camera. Our passion allows us to approach every project uniquely with a different perspective. Simply we help ideas become projects and they become full productions.
We have the experience to produce any project from concept to completion. Accommodating any size project from small, run, and gun shoots to major robust productions. Our specialty is quality, we are just good at creating informative, thoughtful content while producing engaging and dynamic footage. This is why we work with most budgets depending on the project, and we are honest about what can be done. So if it’s a film, interview, corporate, branded, commercial, documentaries, even weddings and talk shows, we can do it.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm8810547, https://vimeo.com/magnumlifestylemedia, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LN3sIaPio4FzPQPQckfAA, https://ga.reel-scout.com/crew_print.aspx?g=
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
One childhood memory that stands out because I think it’s so important to what I do today is playing with my wrestling men as a child. This was when my imagination was innocent and free. I had dozens of wrestling men and action figures from GI Joes, to Ninja Turtles. They all played different roles, had backstories, character traits, and objectives. I remember my favorite man at the time was SunMan, a character from He-Man. Amazingly, you don’t hear much about this character anymore, but he was the best to me. He had a box haircut, a cool boomerang-shaped collar piece that reminded me of an African necklace, and all the muscles you could want in a hero. He was probably the first representation of blackness I attracted to, and I made him the leader. But one day, after a tough battle with the bad guys, SunMan was injured pretty seriously. So I took a lighter and burnt part of his face to give him permanent scars and make him look tougher. My curiosity was off the charts, I even took a shoebox, cut a hole in it, and tape it to my skateboard so that it could be the good guys’ vehicle. Looking back at it, I always had a vast imagination, so it makes sense for me to be here today doing this. I’m able to use my thoughts and create stories.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@MagnumLifestyleMedia.com
- Website: https://www.MagnumLifestyleMedia.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/magnumlifestylemedia
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/MagnumLifeMedia
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/MLM_CreativePro
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UC8LN3sIaPio4FzPQPQckfAA?view_as=subscriber
- Other: https://www.stage32.com/profile/643045
Image Credits
Mark Thomason Jr – @directormtjrr Sheena Turner – @ruby_redjewel1 David GAye – @visual_stunna Gregory Willis – @g9_29
