"Life is about learning from our mistakes" with Nicole Russin-McFarland
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What is your background? How did you become an influencer?
I am a film director and film score composer who has been a professional model with agencies in New York a decade ago. This modeling online universe isn’t new to me. The rules of the game changed, that’s all. The majority of gigs have gone online; models are getting passed over for bloggers and actresses active on the web. In recent months, I have expressed an interest in making myself available for influencer modeling opportunities and have thus listed PR and management contacts across my social media profiles. All the actresses nowadays are doing it. Some women I know have raised their profiles getting cast in more visible aka “famous!” work with influencing. Why not throw my name in the ring? I am also in the unique position of having pet influencers who want to break into the market! My cats are total camera hogs, as is my dog Isla. They have their own Instagram accounts with a good start on followers. My goal is to direct, write, and score studio films that are blockbusters, large budget animated features, and Oscar-style films. Generally, I do the best on Twitter.
I also have an Etsy shop, Haus of Film, I share with my acting pals, Ryan McGregor and Samantha V. Hutton. We have eco-friendly products like tees and kitchen goods. Women in film fundraiser! Our Haus of Film Etsy shop has extended into an acting tips podcast and a Medium column. We really get around. Of course, I have my own film review podcast CinematNIC that goes with my website’s blog. It’s all themed really well.
What 3 things does anyone starting in your industry need to know?
1 The web is no longer “where people’s careers go to die.” It’s where careers are born, including mine.
I heard that “death sentence” phrase multiple times many years ago. People who were very old school within PR and media used to make fun of me for doing things like photographing my cats or taking photos of my rock star colorful eyeliner that day. I had publicists in 2008 who didn’t want me to go ahead with celebrity interviews after their clients had agreed to it if their PR signed off on it because I would be interviewing them for websites versus magazines. The stigma was real—and it really hurt. I always knew I did as good of a job, if not better, than the people took seriously then.
The tides really have turned. I have had people’s PR teams approach me to interview film industry people for my entertainment journalism on my website and Apple News page. A big-time industry gentleman’s team actually asked me to cover someone for him, being totally excited about how well I do with Apple News, and I was thrilled for that one opportunity I did! Come on. How often did that happen in 2010 when people still feared the unknown of the World Wide Web? I am so grateful people trust me to cover them and those who work on their films.
People don’t buy DVDs anymore. They’re streaming on home services like Netflix and finding independent people like me within filmmaking and film music on YouTube and Spotify. I get more reach on my Apple News iPhone app page than some old-world magazines. If people think your work has value, they’re going to find it. Gatekeepers are no longer around to tell the public what is “good” and what isn’t.
Through the web, I write my own life story and own my career direction. Nobody is around to say, “You can’t do that.” I do whatever I like and, sometimes I fail, and sometimes a lot of it sticks and resonates well with people.
2 Tech innovations are at an all-time high. Use them! AutoDesk has an amazing free drawing app for the iPad called Sketchbook. If you aren’t familiar with AutoDesk, their products are used to create movies like Avatar and many of Peter Jackson’s company he co-founded, Weta Effects in modern hit films. You can bet pretty well anything AutoDesk puts out will be quality enough for the average Instagrammer looking to grow her follower count with original artwork between fashion updates, or an artist who wants to be Internet famous. AutoDesk products are outstanding. I used the Sketchbook app myself to draw my film score album cover for Esther in Wonderland. And that is only one of the heavy-duty apps on the market. You’ll find many more great free and affordable apps that exist for video and photo editing. Since your website is geared towards people in fashion, come on, fashion is tied to art. Women pursuing fashion online need to be drawing and sketching! Post those artsy things!
3 Gender rules are meant to be broken—and they aren’t a measure of one’s orientation or gender. Fashion is cool, not gendered! I always wanted to wear menswear and menswear-inspired items, with or without women’s clothes. To me, this is my great selling point as a model or influencer. I look equally good in men’s and women’s clothing because I am neither skinny nor the upper end, right in the middle, and am curvy in the meaning of a 1950’s actress. When everyone else does menswear, the clothes look draping on them. If I wear smaller size men’s clothing like for example Adidas Originals workout pants, they look more tailor-made for my body more than anything from the women’s section. If I pair that with a sports bra and head out, you would think some Hollywood on set team worked wonders pinning the fabrics down and doing custom alterations because it has that Barbie doll fit on me. But no, I wear things off the hanger from men’s and women’s with a good understanding of fit and how it looks on camera and in reality. That’s it. And everything fits me like a glove. When I wear men’s clothing say a dress button-up with a tie and a skirt, it all looks like it was custom made because I know how to size myself. I describe my style inspiration as “What if Jessica Rabbit raided the wardrobes of her male style icons like Daniel Craig, Christopher Nolan, and David Beckham?” Haha, it’s funny because everyone teases me how much I love British men’s flair. They call me a “dapper bloke-tress.” What’s cool is you notice how wrong women who do menswear are getting it. These fashionable men wear clothing that has a perfect cut and hugs their figures. It isn’t oversized. Like me, I try to wear things that show I am female and curvy but incorporate men’s clothing aspects. Who on earth decided bombshell curvy ladies have to only wear the same stuff?
My point though is, prior to this time period we live in, people used to think I was nuts, or I had some hidden punk attitude agenda about orientation and gender. I don’t think one’s taste in fashion is tied to your orientation or gender identity at all. It can be, but for me, all I really care about is looking as good as the men I see. I envy their confidence and careers. And, my admiration for how they often wear more modest clothing but it looks so good, it doesn’t look drab. That’s why I love men’s clothing, most of all, the ties. They’re so rock and roll on women and if you can get your hands on a luxury tie like a Louis Vuitton, you’re set.
You have no idea how many women in the entertainment industry walk around with clothes that don’t have that extra special fit. Fit is probably the only valuable thing we have other than lighting. It doesn’t matter which gender’s department you’re shopping in. I do love my black bandage dresses to get that 007 vibe, but like my fashion icons, I love pairing that with a very classy David Beckham style blazer that looks cut to my body. I’ll wear a very fitted men’s shirt and tie with a tight skirt and heels. I love inventing my own look. And of course, it must be paired with some very rock tour looking eyeliner, or I should be ashamed to call myself a musician. It is certainly a dream of mine to win a Best Director Academy Award dressed in a black suit and tie like Peter Jackson, with the difference being, I would wear it form-fitted and with heels and punk rock eyeliner. Menswear shows I am as serious about film and film music as they are. I am like everyone else I dream of being like. I just so happen to wear the men’s fashion fitted like a Vegas showgirl cut of those items, or pair it with cozy stretch dresses and skirts!
What would you do differently if you were starting in your industry now?
Absolutely nothing! Life is about learning from our mistakes. If I could say something to women out there reading what I say, it’s you always need to be the one calling the shots creatively. When people have done my makeup and hair, told me what to do, told me what to wear, say, and act, it fails. Why should I be talking about things I don’t care about? Why do I need to have blonde or mousy brunette hair dye and a spray tan, photoshopped this way and that, to fit in when I look best with auburn hair and my real skin tone? Why can’t I wear glasses now and then? To be the best version of yourself is one thing. But never let anyone present you as someone you are not. The other thing I would love to tell women is you can do whatever you want. Don’t listen to people who say you cannot be a woman with a cupcake shop who models pinup clothes or whatever creative ideas you have because the more detailed and interesting you are, the more positive attention you will get for being yourself. You get rewarded in the long run.
Which people or resources have had the most influence on your growth and why?
Steven Spielberg, Adam Rifkin, Jorge R. Gutierrez, and Guillermo del Toro are the most prolific people in the film industry on social media branding it right back into what they do for a living. Let’s cut to why! Nice little film pun I did there, right? Influencers can learn so much from them. Any aspiring business leaders can. I love those men to tears! Along with some other names I’m gonna mention!
Mr. Rifkin gets fan mail all the time from people who love Detroit Rock City. My favorite moment was a long time ago, seeing how he responded to a student who sent him Small Soldiers art he made for school homework. If you write to him, you will get an answer. He is so good at answering to people who support his movies. He doesn’t have to. Detroit Rock City sells on its own. But he chooses to interact with people. I admire that. When he writes to kids and teens, it melts my heart. He is so caring.
Mr. del Toro’s speaking voice is this absolutely beautiful Mexican accent you almost wish you could program into a Siri on an iPhone listening to him all day. He runs his own Twitter account, and his posts are like that on paper. He shares a lot about Mexican culture and the film industry. He receives fan artwork and shares it with everyone! And, did you know he is really into literature and other culture from the past? He’s a total foodie too. I learn about Mexican cuisine from reading what he is up to. He also gets kids writing in, and you can see how sweet Mr. del Toro is towards them. People might think he just has this story about the love behind barriers with The Shape of Water, but really, that’s how he treats the kids who send him their drawings. He really is the nice guy who is misunderstood by The Shape of Water! If you must follow someone right now, follow him online.
Mr. Gutierrez is not an animation film director alone, he is a very talented artist who debuts his work publicly. I love staring at what he paints because while I am so well acquainted with kawaii Japanese art as my influence, I have no idea how Mexican artists do what they do and am so awestruck by his art. He is someone who in the future, we will look back at the incredible visual of his artwork because it’s so good. And of course, he is responsible for the most adorable little pig ever in an animated film if you watch The Book of Life. That’s his movie! Say hi to him online. He reads everything. You can tell how much he values people for supporting his work.
Mr. Spielberg has no reason in the world to care about social media. From the outside looking in, he has what we all want. Why bother? But he has the most active staffers ever monitoring his different social media accounts, whether it’s his Shoah Foundation preserving history or Amblin thanking people who love the film studio’s movies. People place a focus on how good his movies are. I don’t dispute that. But other people exist who are talented like he is. He happens to really watch his businesses super well, and that’s the aspect I most admire of his career. He could let things go and be like people who don’t need to thank the fans, yet he does. He is so good at training his staffers, apparently. Every social media team can learn from his staff.
Hans Zimmer is so amazing online. He had the first music video ever on MTV, and he’s so forward-thinking. Everything he ever does is like gold. John Williams might be our guy we think of for film music, but Mr. Zimmer lets you in on what he does with his career and personality, and it will be his legacy we remember most of this film music time period. He is such a charming guy in almost a teddy bear way. I imagine fans all over the world hugging him like a favorite teddy, actually! His fans range from Lewis Hamilton to the girl next door at your high school. I dream of having a film music marketing angle like his. Secretly, I also wish I could be that charismatic! Working on that...haha. He and Peter Jackson are my favorite businessmen in Hollywood!
A very cool gentleman who isn’t on social media but is super active online: Quentin Tarantino! He has a film podcast and blogs about film reviews and movie history on his New Beverly Cinema website. Mr. Tarantino owns a movie theater playing retro movies. If that isn’t the epitome of an impactful personal brand, I don’t know what is. He is a great example of someone you can model yourself after in bettering your personal brand’s vision. And yeah, if I must confess, throwing a party hosting my movies in the future there is a goal of mine! The problem is he only runs films on well, film, and most movies including mine are digital. Someday when I have worked on the film, I’ll rent his movie theater for a party plus a week or so of screenings to have that vintage experience of me buying a ticket to my own film like it’s the 70’s! I’ll start with any movie theater party in the LA area, and after that, I’ll film anything on film strips just to have the experience of feeling like an authentic retro director at the New Beverly Cinema. I’ll dress up too when I do! I shall roll up in a 1970’s limo in my disco outfit and feathered Charlie’s Angels hair! Hold my promise on that!
If I told you the names of talented film industry people, I might be here all day. Few are amazing at the business of show business. I meet people all the time who hardly get online, never grant press interviews, and really, never get out there. If you talk to people online, it makes someone feel better knowing he or she isn’t talking to a brick wall. If you have a small business like Mr. Tarantino and someone loves your movies, his or her day is made visiting your small business. Brilliance if ever! You can tell all these men love life. To create good work, you must love what you do and your whole existence. Too many at the indie and new studio-level think they can rest on their laurels and the opportunities will be handed to them. Yet all these A-list men I admire? They’re humble and so full of positive energy. Be like that. You’re never too important to have humility.
What do you think is the top key to success in your business?
Meet the people who inspire you. Being in their presence, whether it’s a one-minute phone conversation or them texting you between whatever busy lives they are leading, you learn something. It’s amazing. In that brief moment, someone blurts out five years’ worth of knowledge. I love business leaders outside of the film world and within it. Everyone has value: chefs, small business owners, filmmakers, personal trainers who built empires...
Within the Hollywood system, I love meeting people behind the scenes: people working on special effects, film scores, directing, and people who generally love what they do. They create the total package but we for some reason only credit the on-camera talent. My personal heroes are people who love talking about the iconic moments they created decades ago as if those things happened yesterday. It doesn’t matter if it is someone who worked on a movie I loved when I was 8 years old. Maybe he only ever made a few famous movies. Who cares?! I will absolutely meet that person and bask in learning from that person telling me about it. I listen as much as I can. Everyone is excited for me! I don’t care if it’s the guy who did the makeup on that movie star in that action movie. He is important to me! And I will meet him!
How did you come up with your pricing model?
I don’t do pricing models. Whoever wants to work with me is going to discuss pay scales and work requirements with my talent manager. Having a pay scale for me feels like saying every brand is generic. They aren’t. Anyone approaching me for work is going to be treated as an individual. The only absolute is I am never going to model anything where I have to pay for the product, and if makeup, I really want to wear cruelty free inventory because that is valuable to me. No fur. Basics like that. Modeling price points do work wonders for some people, but they aren’t for me. Maybe they are not for you.
Talk about the biggest failure you've had. What did you learn from it?
It’s very confusing. I always regret getting a university degree but wonder if I didn’t have one if I would regret not getting one. This discussion is a popular topic amongst people of every success level in the film industry. We all think the grass is greener on the other side.
How do you market your business? What has been the most effective form of marketing?
I am on social media every day. My website’s blog is tied into Apple News. Anything I blog about hits there and Google News the app. Yesterday I logged onto Google News and saw I had something like nearly 3,000 subscribers to my blog’s feed. Apple News is slaying it right now with the exposure they give me. They placed my work in front of about 700,000 readers in 2019. Blogs aren’t exclusive to search engines. I get the bulk of my readership from people using apps to find me. My film score album for Esther in Wonderland might not be a studio release but this morning, it has 64,000 total Spotify streams. So much of what I do is embracing whatever people think of as “basic.” If I can tell anything to the brands wanting to hire me for modeling/influencer deals and film studios to hire me as a filmmaker and composer, it is that if I can do a lot with this little, imagine the amazing things I can do for you if you give more to work with.
How do you find brand partnerships?
Whoever wants to work with me is going to have to reach out to my representatives. If ever you have done business deals in life, it feels pathetic throwing yourself at people getting rejected. I have had enough of that with modeling back when I was with agencies. Things work really well right now. All of the entertainment journalism I do is mutual. I get excited to interview people and they love being profiled by me because they know I will give them quality articles with a large readership base on Apple News. I’m not gonna sell them short with ignoring their achievements in favor of only promoting a film or a song. Everyone is important to me. Their life stories are amazing. My influencer deals are going to be a reflection of that. If people hire me to do one thing in a year, it will be a really big event where I give them the best marketing they can get. Where I love the product and they love seeing it on me. It doesn’t do me any good to pretend to love an eyeliner pencil I hate to get a free item.
What is your advice to those starting out?
Be whoever you want to be, and the world will love you for it.
What does a typical day in your week look like?
It largely depends on what I am working on. I don’t focus on more than one thing at a time because my brain is focused on that. If I am getting new photos taken, my brain is thinking about how to style my hair because my hair goes from strawberry blonde to medium reddish brunette to light auburn depending on the light. Lighting changes everything about your features. I will think about outfits that reflect every version of myself. If it’s animation, I don’t work on music. If I work on music, I only do music. Your brain scientifically is wired to think about things. Interrupting that task is why we don’t learn better at schools. We do the best to keep to one subject for a moment in time.
What keeps you going when things get tough in your business?
Bad economic times hit everyone. I am not unique. Did you know quite a few big-time movie directors have taken out loans, refinanced their houses and/or charged up massive credit card debt furthering their career dreams? People you think were rich from the beginning might not have really been rich until four studio films out when they recovered their losses. Some are more open about it than others.
How can our readers get in touch with you?
I am @nicrussin on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram. I have a super cool Spotify profile that includes film score music with some other releases of mine. I am working on a dance track I plan on signing with an actor friend. We shall see when that pops up. My website, CinematNIC.com, is syndicated on Apple News, America’s favorite news app, on the iTunes Store! Someday, I want to have products used in the film industry that you can also take to prom, like makeup made to photograph well on camera! I currently study special effects including hair and makeup classes! I need to be informed and always learning! Can you tell I love exclamation marks?