Interview with a celeb interviewer and aspiring screenwriter… Erman Baradi

My latest interview is with Erman Baradi who is a screenwriter as well as a celeb interviewer. We talked about his desire to be an actor as well and his love of interviewing along with his favorite interviews. He is currently serving as an interviewer for the digital publication Vents Magazine and Endee Magazine. He’s interviewed over 100 (close to 200) Hollywood directors, producers, screenwriters, reality stars, actors and music artists.
At the end of the this, I’ll share his website and other links where you can read them.
I enjoyed our conversation, and several comments he said stayed with me after it ended.  This is the one I keep thinking about:  “When you die, U-haul doesn’t follow your hearse. It’s about the moments we make.” Those comments came about after we were talking about reading interviews from “The Talks” which is on Facebook and Twitter. I couldn’t agree with him more about that.

Introducing Erman……

Maria- How did you start interviewing celebs? I was looking over your list and it seems endless. You’ve interviewed musicians, actors, directors and producers.Erman- I had just finished my internship in Hollywood in 2012, and I moved back to Virginia. I thought I still have to keep networking in the industry, and I just started looking into it via social media and internet. When I interview, I learn about me. Like the things they say, I realize that’s what I want to do especially screenwriting.

Maria- How old were you when you started screenwriting?

Erman- I started screenwriting at 16. I want to wear multiple hats in the entertainment industry besides screenwriting.

Maria- Were there any movies that inspired you to be a screenwriter?Erman- Yes, two did. “American History X” and “Crash.” Both films are socially important, and I believe entertaining is the most convenient way to invoke people’s emotions. Entertainment paves the way to change.

Maria- While we’re talking about movies, what’s your favorite movie?

Erman- “His Girl Friday” starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. It’s a screwball comedy, and I love it. It has the best dialogue I’ve ever heard and really enjoy the execution of it.

Maria- I know you co-produced the “Three Cities Festival” which is a digital film festival, tell me a little about that.

Erman- The three cities are New York, Los Angeles and Santa Domingo of Dominican Republic. I took care of the panel of events in NY and LA. I booked the speakers, and I did the outreach as well. The conference highlighted guest speakers including James Foley of “House of Cards” who was a very sweet guy. Screenwriter and executive producer Leigh Savidge of “Straight Outta Compton” was there and Chris Collins, producer of “Sons of Anarchy” among others. Music coordinator Yvette Metoyer whose done music for “Breaking Bad”, “The Walking Dead” and “Better Call Saul” was one of the speakers. My celebrity crush was there, Vannessa Vasquez of “East Los High.” I’m so glad I got to see her.

Maria- Do you have any favorite interviews?

Erman- Fifth Harmony is a favorite of mine. I have a crush on everyone of them! I also love interviewing producers, and they stay connected with you on social media. Another favorite was with J. Miles Dale, the producer of “The Strain.”
Everyone wants to know the celebrities. I enjoy getting to know the people behind them. Other stand out articles to me are reps who are super cool and keep in touch just to say what’s up every now and then. There’s a movie agent who does that, and they rep Rihanna, Idris Elba, Adam Sandler and Michael B. Jordan. I love all of them. Then there’s a girl who used to rep big talents like Ed Sheeran, Snoop Dogg, SIa, Tyga, Karrueche Tran, you name it…for them to even give me a chance at a word with them, that means a lot to me. I’m not going to give out their names, you can find that yourselves-but I’m extremely grateful to professionals like them to chat it up with some guy from Virginia.

Maria- You also represent talents as well, can you tell me about them?

Erman- Yes, I do. I represent T.O.N.E.-z who is an Emmy-nominated artist for the theme song to FX Network’s show “Justified.’ I’m his business partner, and it’s a good fit because he’s transitioning more into acting now. I help him connect the dots. I set him up with meetings and interviews for the press.  If there’s a company we want to partner with say musically, he deals with everything creative. On a business standpoint, we work together to get things moving. Unfortunately, this is a business of rejections and close calls. We’ve had quite a few close calls with big Hollywood projects, but you can’t dwell on it.
I also work with No Malice (formerly “Malice” of The Clipse), I’m periodically his right hand man for certain project. He was the first pro in the industry to give me a chance even before I graduated from college. His fans know him from records like “Grindin” and being featured on Justin Timberlake’s “Like I Love You” and being Pharrell’s Star Trek label with his brother Pusha T. The last few years, he’s been on a different route career-wise. We shot and co-wrote some of his vlogs awhile back, and I’d attend this meeting and help with that project over the years and connect him to filmmakers.

Maria-What are some of your hobbies and interests?

Erman- Outside of creative writing and the standard movie watching and hanging out with friends, I hope to travel more in the future. I thing that would be a great hobby to have and maybe blog about.

Maria- I know you want to be an actor as well, have you done any acting?

Erman- In the early stages, I decided to become a writer because I didn’t see a lot of representation of myself on TV i.e. Filipinos. I thought if I can’t be on TV, then I can write for it. In high school, I did skits, and shorts in college. I see acting as a challenge. In near future, I do plan to do more acting.

Maria- In your bio, it mentions that you want to establish a positive reputation for Filipino Americans in the Entertainment Industry. Please tell me some of your thoughts on this.

Erman- As a Filipino American, I would love to be the face or some type of representative in the industry because when you turn on the television you hardly see us. It’s not merely a statement of “we exist”, because anyone can spin the globe and know that. It’s more so a matter of expressing how much we have to offer.

Maria- On Twitter, this has been trending #IfIOnlyHad24HoursIWould. If you only had 24 hours left, what would you do?

Erman- I would throw a 24 hour party and film it. It would be a 24 hour documentary, that would be the way to go.

Maria- Do you have a favorite quote?

Erman- This is my quote: If fear and doubt enter your mind, you’re the first person to tell yourself no. I also believe how you overcome fear defines you as an artist.

Erman is wearing multiple hats in the entertainment industry as a celeb interviewer, a rep for celebs, aspiring screenwriter, producer of film festival, and he’s looking to take small steps in pursuit of acting. He also has to say in regards to career goals: “If you have a screenwriter or career goal in mind, do other things. I do interviews, management,  and learn to interact with others on the inside. Do other things to be connected and network.”

Below are his links to Twitter and his other links to his interviews. Thank you for reading!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/erman_la