There are hundreds of what I call ‘entertainment entrepreneurs’, people working independently in the industry and finding success. I love to spotlight these people so we can all learn how they made a successful career in entertainment and did it on their own terms.
Today we are going to be talking to Director and Independent filmmaker Bobby Razak. Bobby is the premiere Action Sports director in the world right now.
(NOTE: You can Find the Full Video interview below in this post)
He moved to LA from London to marry his twin passions of directing film and martial arts. As fate would have it Bobby moved to LA right when the (then) underground sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)was emerging. Now we know this global sports phenomenon because of leagues like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), but Bobby began pursuing his passion when many fighters were not even getting paid and the sport was compared to ‘human cockfighting’. It was even banned in most states!
Despite the bleak outlook for MMA, Bobby decided to put all his filmmaking and directing talents towards the fledgling sport. He recorded the early fighters of the sport who are now legends, and found a way to capture the beauty and brutality of the sport. As MMA slowly began to gain acceptance and traction with the mainstream, Razak hooked up with Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis the founder of TapouT. The t-shirt company Charles created struggled for many years just to survive but eventually exploded in popularity as MMA as whole started to blow up.
Bobby, already with a slew of independent films under his belt, began to make commercials and short films with TapouT. Tragically Charles Lewis was killed in a car accident in March of 2009 just as TapouT was peaking in popularity. By this time Bobby Razak had established himself as the go-to guy when it came to MMA films. He has over 17 years of rare footage of fighters and fights from the early days up to today. While Bobby continues to focus on bringing the best MMA films to existence, he has also expanded to filming other action sports. His goal now is to be known as not only the best director in MMA but in all of actions sports.
He has never been busier than now!. He has 2 films that you can currently find on Netflix; Mexican Fighter (featuring current heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez), and The Striking Truth (with former champ George St. Pierre).
He has just finished ‘The History of MMA’, ‘Mask’ and ‘Fallen Solider’.
If you are an independent filmmaker, director or any kind of entertainment entrepreneur you will learn alot from this interview. Bobby is going to share with us his struggles, how he got to where he is today, give us some lessons learned, offer some great advice on how to make it on your own terms, and he is going to tell us why knowing the business side is so important to becoming successful in the entertainment Industry.
You can find additional information about Bobby and this interview below the video. So, lets rock!
Interview Highlights
(0:47) Bobby introduces himself and the type of directing work he does.
(1:17) Bobby explains what movie inspired him at a very young age to want to be a director.
( 1:54) Why Bruce Lee films spurred his interest in martial arts as a teenager.
(2:36) Bobby explains why in directing their is no one specific path to success.
(2:52) Why working hard and believing that you have the talent and the right skills is the most important combination for success.
(3:40) If you don’t have skill no amount of hard work is going to make you successful.
(4:20) Why understanding your business and building and keeping the right relationships is the key to success as a filmmaker and director.
(5:01) Striking the balance between artistic integrity and good business (making money).
(5:40) How picking the right up and comers to partner with at the right time can explode your career (in his case Mask from TapouT).
(6:32) He explains how he recently got signed by CAA after a screening of his film MASK.
(7:02) How his very first film ‘Rites of Passage’ first sparked interest from CAA almost 12 years ago but it never worked out back then.
(7:52) Find out how even in his death Charles “Mask” Lewis is still helping Bobby in his career and was pivotal to his signing with CAA.
(8:20) Bobby reveals that he loves stress and when things get extremely challenging is when he performs the best.
(8:34) What do Muhammad Ali, Ronda Rousey, Jordan Burroughs, Gabby Douglas and Steven Spielberg all have in common?
(9:48) How he was able to visualize himself as the best in the world even before he had done anything in his career or had any success.
(10:19) Why a Sports Illustrated article on him during the 20th year anniversary of MMA is what made him feel like he had finally made it.
(11:08) The difference between believing you are the best in your own mind and others actually recognizing you as the best.
(11:32) Bobby tell us some of the personal mantras he tries to live his life by.
(11:47) Bobby explains where he grew up and how his humble roots influences the way he thinks now.
(12:35) Why each person should really examine what makes them tick and how those answers will help them succeed.
(13:36) Bobby explains the importance of legacy and why he wants people to know about him a hundred years from now.
(13:47) Why money is not and should not be the only measure of success.
(13:53) How much money did Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Malcolm X have in their bank accounts when they died? Find out.
(14:33) His idea of success is not the amount of money you made in the world but the amount of impact you made on the world.
(14:52) Bobby gives a direct message to YOU the Lawyers Rock audience about passion, hard work and self limitations.
(16:20) Bobby tells us about his upcoming work including “Mask” about the life and death of TapouT founder Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis. He just finished his first boxing film ‘Fallen Soldier’ about former champion Gerald McClellan. He just started filming a movie financed by one of the wealthiest men in the world that he can’t reveal just yet. He makes about 30 commercials a year and will continue that.
(17:05) Bobby tells us his immediate and future goal is to prove why he is the number one action sports director in the world and why he is “a f*ck*ng genius”!
LINKS
Sports Illustrated Story – This is the SI article Bobby talks about in the interview
IMDB Profile – This is his IMDB with a history of his work
Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis – Bio page on TapouT founder Mask.
George Lucas – Link to interview with George Lucas
Vimeo – Link to his Vimeo page that has exclusive trailers and past works
Message from Bobby to Lawyers Rock Audience
Please feel free to ask me any questions and Ill do my best to answer.
The best way to reach out is on Twitter. Please include #lawyersrock so I know where the question is coming from.
Twitter @bobbyrazak #lawyersrock
Hey this is Richard. I hope you enjoyed this interview and if you are filmmaker or director it helped you.
If there are any other entertainment entrepreneurs you are interested in learning more about please comment below and let me know!