Taha Ali

When Taha Ali started making videos, he didn’t expect to get noticed by brands — or to end up starting a full-blown side hustle. Today, he creates short films and creative ads alongside working a full-time, non-creative job in tech. With so much on his plate, Taha has needed to fit his filmmaking practice around the more mundane day-to-day. But he tells us how he’s been balancing it all and why every experience, no matter where it comes from, can hold creative inspiration.

What I do

How would you describe what you do?
I tell stories that matter to me. My main medium is filmmaking, a space where I get to work with amazing people to help me direct, shoot, and edit short films as well as creative commercials. My main goal is to draw out emotion from the audience – something I’m trying to be very intentional about with my new work.

What are the main influences and inspirations behind your work?
My main inspiration has been my own experiences. I do my best to cultivate new ones through always having a “side mission” – aka, something to keep me out of the house and my creativity growing. That’s seen me flying hot air balloons, kayaking, or even playing chess – all of which have connected me with new people and ideas that ended up inspiring me.

One other thing is that I try not to run away from my feelings, even if I’m feeling sad or stressed. No matter what happens, I always sit down and feel every emotion – because sometimes the best ideas come from imperfect moments.

Would you say you need any specific training for what you do?
The best training for film is honestly hands-on experience. I’d suggest just asking people in the industry if you can shadow them or be an assistant on set. This way, you’ll learn how to communicate and work with various people in real-world scenarios. It’s hard to do everything on your own, especially in film (and it’s more fun creating with friends anyway), so learning to understand other's points of views and helping people out is necessary. At the same time, don’t forget that your own ideas are valuable – and while it can be scary to express them, it makes the art better when everyone, you included, has an input.

What’s been your favorite project to work on from the past year, and why?
The spec advertisement that I shot for Dr. Martens was easily my favorite project in the last year. I love how it came out, from the shots and the color grading to the idea in general. But it was challenging. For instance, finding a suitable location was really stressful and required weeks of calling people. I’m still surprised that we ended up being able to use a whole wing of a real hospital without spending any money, and I’m grateful for the 20 amazing people I got to work with on this (my biggest team ever). It was also pretty nice that Dr. Martens showed love to the video as well!

What does a normal day-to-day usually look like for you?
On most days, my goal is to spend at least two hours creating, ideating, planning, or doing something film-related. I get off work at 5, finish a run and lift weights by 7, eat dinner by 8 and then start planning projects or editing until around 10pm. But truth be told, that’s not always the case – and that’s okay. Sometimes you need rest days or time to recalibrate, because they give you the balance and mental clarity to come up with your next great idea.

If there was a starter pack for your job, what would be in it?
Always have a hot take ready to deploy (such as, Beyoncé hasn’t had a good song since 2016). This definitely helps actors and crew get comfortable with each other because everyone loves to argue their opinion.

How I got here

What was your journey like when you were first starting out in your career?
I first picked up a camera because my friend claimed he could make a better track highlight video than me. He cheated because he gave me a super old Nikon while he had a new Sony, but personally, I think I still won. Anyway, looking back, my video was awful – but that was the day I learned that I loved cameras.

Yet, I also didn’t touch one for another year. I only picked it back up during my senior year of college, where I started filming school events, watching YouTube videos about cinematography everyday and asking people if I could assist them with video projects. As I gained connections and confidence, I finally tried executing my own ideas and stories.

How did you go about landing your first few jobs, clients and/or commissions?
I always tried to be intentional about making work that I’d want to get hired for in the future. So sometimes I made spec projects (aka fake ads) with the hope that those companies would appreciate the ideas and reach out.

What has been your biggest challenge along the way?
Finding the confidence to execute my ideas. I used to doubt my creativity at every step of the way and always compared myself to others who had much more experience than me. It took me a lot of time to realize that we’re all different people on different journeys, and I finally found peace when I started framing it that way.

What skills from your creative work have you found helpful — and vice versa?
In terms of soft skills, I think public speaking has become helpful to me because I’m always communicating in groups. In terms of hard skills, understanding lighting and color theory is super important. Lighting is the most important aspect of shooting videos because it helps set the mood and emphasizes specific elements of the frame. You can use any camera as long as you have good light – but it doesn’t matter how good your camera is if you have bad light. Color theory matters because it affects the mood of the audience and can even make images pop, which is really important to me.

How important are social media and self-promotion to your work?
I think they’re everything. We now live in a world where people care more about what’s going on behind the scenes rather than just the end product, so I try my best to post as much as I can on social media (without being annoying, of course). But yes, when you have a project you’re proud of, I say post on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and wherever else. Always talk about your work because nobody else is going to advocate it for you.

What are three things that you’ve found useful to your work or career, and why?
Eyecandy for inspiration, Milanote for planning ideas and YouTube for learning any topic!

What have been your greatest learnings with making money and supporting yourself as a creative?
First, collect a deposit before creating anything. When I first started, I remember spending days planning a shoot just for the client to stop responding. Now, I like to collect 50% upfront just to ensure my client is serious about working on this project with me. 

Second, charge more for the preparation, not the deliverable. Let’s say a client wants four videos from a shoot. What many people would do is charge a fixed amount for each video of $500, for example, without specifying what that entails. But if the client suddenly changes their mind and only wants two videos, you’ll end up only making $1,000 instead of the $2,000 you expected – even though you’ve still done the same amount of planning and shooting for that project.

Three, put away 40% for taxes in a separate account. In America, you get charged a lot as an entrepreneur. You never want to owe the government money, so just plan accordingly!

Advice

What’s the best career-related advice you’ve ever received?
If you can, don’t leave your corporate job because you need a stable income to fund your dreams. It also prevents you from taking jobs you dislike out of desperation.

Where do you go to feel connected as a creative?
I go to mini film premieres or creative kickbacks across D.C. – it's a nice, low pressure way to meet people who are grinding just like you. And many times, passion projects are the most inspiring.

What advice would you give to someone looking to get into a similar role?
If you’re comfortable, practice getting in front of the camera yourself. It makes working with actors so much easier because you’ll be able to relate to them and their struggles.