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Khael Touag, what do you do for a living right now?
Khaël Touag: "I work as a freelance director of commercials and music videos. I am also enrolled at LUCA School of Arts, where I study audiovisual arts. The combination of both has been very valuable to me. Directing commercials is a great opportunity to experiment with different approaches to storytelling. It allows me to learn by doing; I can focus on the "how" of filmmaking. Art school, on the other hand, makes me think about the 'why'. Stop. Think about. What is important to me as a filmmaker? Why do I spend my time telling a story? These questions are invaluable.
Of course, there are things to be said against formal training in filmmaking. It's not the only way to go about it, and it's certainly not failsafe. That's why I'm so grateful to be able to freelance as well."
Did you do other things before becoming a freelance director?
Khaël Touag: "I knew nothing and no one in the industry after I quit. I gladly took every opportunity to gain experience. I started with production and later switched to the art department. Between jobs, I helped film students with their graduation films. That's how I came into contact with Xavier Van D'huynslager, a young and talented DOP and a good friend. His windows are also second to none. I continued to work as a freelancer after deciding to go to film school. When you do both, sometimes it gets insanely busy.
It's tempting to put work above anything else, and I don't always manage to keep myself in check. But I've had a great time so far and met a lot of interesting people. That's also what gave me my first breakthrough to directing, things just started snowballing.
<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/251547399?h=d7bd423326" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script><p> <a href="https://vimeo.com/251547399">Atmosphere Architects - Fire is Gold</a> van <a href="https://vimeo.com/touag">Khaël Touag</a> op <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a> .</p>
In addition to all that, you also freelance for Chase Creative. What's the best thing about that? Khaël Touag: "Chase is a community and invests a lot in young creatives. You can hone your skills by volunteering; writing articles, taking photos or creating videos for the digital platform. Or you can apply for the postgraduate Digital Storytelling.
It is a safe environment to try new things, master your talents and strengthen your weaknesses. Chase prides itself on its expertise in social media. Often commercials are not well adapted to the medium for which they are intended. It's a new reality that the industry is still working to accept, and Chase is doing a great job. The projects I work on for Chase are mostly socially engaged. There are no creatives between the client and me, and we work with a skeleton crew. It's just a different way of getting things done."
Your life is pretty busy, how do you manage to get everything done when there are only 24 hours in a day?
Khael Touag: "The truth is that you can't always get everything done. I used to find it hard to accept that, and it made me unhappy. Nowadays, I try to focus on what's going on around me, in the now. I'm learning to separate the important things from everything else. That's a challenge when you work for yourself. There is no one imposing a structure or routine on you. You have to find your own way of doing things. There will be days when there is no work at all and you start doubting yourself. And then suddenly you have to juggle demanding clients and tight deadlines. Dancing in that chaos is as scary as it is beautiful."
<div style="padding:56.25% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/232567554?h=84d745e32a" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script><p> <a href="https://vimeo.com/232567554">WECANDANCE x Zalando-Mats Rombaut</a> van <a href="https://vimeo.com/touag">Khaël Touag</a> op <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a> .</p>
What is your ultimate advice for people interested in making or directing videos?
Khael Touag: "Don't be fooled by survival bias. You only read about success stories because those about failure just don't get the same attention. In the age of social media, this is even more the case. The algorithm that determines who appears in your feed and who does not, makes its selection based on what you like, what it thinks you like, or worse, what it wants you to like. Usually these are popular, up-and-coming creatives or people with a large following already. Browsing through those, it's easy to doubt yourself. But fortunately, we are not them. Otherwise, we'd just be serving up more of the same.
Surround yourself with the right people. I don't care if I state the obvious, it's just too important - especially as a filmmaker. You have to have a vision, but you need others around you to bring it to fruition. Be loyal to your crew, and they will push you further than you could have achieved on your own. Conversation. Share your ideas with them and don't be afraid of honest feedback. A lousy idea doesn't make you a lousy person."
<div style="padding:41.89% 0 0 0;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/317244393?h=c205f63832" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><script src="https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js"></script>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/317244393">Pavlove - Anything but Cupid (dir)</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/touag">Khaël Touag</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
One last question, what do you wish for the future?
Khaël Touag: "Lately, I've been taking more time to discuss ideas with friends or people I know. I like to explore opportunities to develop projects together. It's fascinating to see how a story grows into something you never expected. I want to make a sincere effort to make those ideas come to life with the right people. But if nothing comes of it, that's okay too. In any case, I get inspired just by talking about it."
Check out more of Khael Touag's work here!
Article by [Mattiece David](https://www.instagram.com/mattiecedavid/), header photo by Ken Sody_.
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