Interview by Jen Bush
Lancen Gm is an award-winning Hollywood filmmaker, artist, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Gm.L Pictures, L.L.C. & Gm.L Records, L.L.C. His art strikes a balance between creativity and commerce. “I would create things that are unique but also have business sides.”
To make a successful film, Mr. Gm collaborates with the director to create an authentic story that aligns with the director’s vision. Appropriate marketing of the project is a crucial step. “My mission is to make the production happen and help the director achieve his story. Then find the best way to market the film.”
Mr. Gm is versatile. He creates his own projects and takes on concepts that he deems worthy of development. “I do create pieces myself, but I usually look for ideas that could be worked with to make hits.”
Hollywood is iconic for filmmaking. Mr. Gm recognized this and traveled to America to pursue his artistic endeavors. “They all affected me early on, no matter the mainstream Hollywood genres or the indie Hollywood. For me, it was not only a dream but more like a plan I would try to get into the industry. The iconic characters and international trends impacted all my generations, so I made the plan I would produce excellent stories someday.”
Mr. Gm faced some challenges getting into and working in the industry of filmmaking. No matter how skilled a person is at their craft, connections are incredibly helpful to get feet into doors. Despite all the obstacles, Mr. Gm continues to work hard and persevere. “It was not an easy transition. Getting to the industry without any connection here would be such a stressful time period. I would receive “NOs” every moment, actors or crew quitting for millions of reasons, location booking issues, and not enough budget….. There were no other ways to fix them. Only needed to always ask, always communicate, and constantly multi-tasking. After getting enough connections, it would be a bit easier, yes, only a bit……”
Mr. Gm can cover many bases when working on a film because he is also a musician and a composer. “Yes, I’m also a music producer, so I will handle the music department thing while crew issues, as a reliable producer to make the production happen.”
When composing a musical score, Mr. Gm begins with his heart as he watches a film and then his mind completes the task accordingly. “It all came up with my emotions while I watched the footage. Technically I would play a couple of notes by 4 bars to see which match the plot the most, then choose the right chords, then find the right sounds and instruments.”
Can you imagine watching a horror movie without those good old sound effects that get your pulse racing? Of course not! Sound effects are a very important cog in the machine of filmmaking. “Sounds matter. You can mute your film while you watch, and trust me. The feelings are not good. By psychology, humans would always get more emotional while listening to sound and music, so……”
Some filmmakers feel that television is beneath them. Not Mr. Gm. He’s very amenable to opportunities in television. With all the hot TV shows available on streaming services, television has earned a greater level of respect in the industry. “Yes, I do have an interest in working in television. TVs are just different structures of the story, but eventually, they are the cinema as well. Nowadays, people enjoy the Netflix series, so on the business side, it would make big progress for my career. The most important thing is some of the stories I really love.”
Mr. Gm has a variety of projects to keep him busy for the foreseeable future. “Currently I’m working on 2 scripts and 1 pitching project. I’ve also got multiple music videos and commercials in the works.” It looks like with or without connections, this ambitious artist knows how to get things done.
inDfilm 