Whether you believe in the American Dream or not, the ideal of being free to pursue your life’s dreams still pulls thousands and thousands of talented Internationals to the US every year – especially in Hollywood. And while American artists struggle to break into the industry, the barrier for internationals is even higher.
In addition to the accessibility constraints that come from the studio system, internationals have to surpass very high standards to obtain work visas. They are limited to working in that exact position only, not allowed to accept other jobs to pay the bills. There are language and accent barriers to master. And they usually come without a network to rely on.
But with the emergence of web3 and its principles of transparency, accessibility and fairness, the world of film3 opens the doors for talent in a way it’s never been before – both to Americans and Internationals.
Legacy Inspired Films, or short LIF, the first-of-its-kind production company in the film3 world, is providing these opportunities to talent from around the world. Breaking ground in its approach of producing film and TV content for a global market, LIF aims at working with the most talented and skilled artists out there – independent of any agendas – to bring people together through the medium of storytelling.
We got the chance to speak with Niki J. Borger, multi-award-winning actress, screenwriter and producer from Germany, who has recently been announced to star in LIF’s upcoming production NFTease.
Niki, how does it feel to be part of something so new and unexplored?
“It feels a little bit scary, but mostly very, very exciting. You have to understand, I come from a place that’s really far away from Hollywood. Both physically – Germany is almost on the other side of the world form LA. But also metaphorically. Where I come from, people do things the way they’ve always been done, exclusively. They say that they want you to do what makes you happy, but only in very tight constraints. They’re very attached to their limitations and limiting beliefs and they don’t like people breaking through theirs. Me, on the other side, I believe in growth and evolution and overcoming what has been holding me back. I think we have to find new ways of doing things, new ways of telling stories, and new ways of inspiring people. And working with LIF gives me the opportunity to do so. I feel truly blessed to be a part of something that I believe will be a very big deal soon.”
What is different about working with LIF compared to previous productions?
“Everything! Well, not everything, but a lot of the things that bothered me before are not an issue here. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of stereotypes, especially since I am a tall, thin, blonde, blue-eyed woman. Many of the roles I get offered are stereotypical and I don’t want to be a part of that. At LIF, they’ve solved this issue by just being open to cast any look or ethnicity for any part – just like Broadway does it. I love that! Plus, I think there will be a lot more interaction between the production and its audience. After all, we make movies for our audiences. So, I really like the idea of involving them into the story development process. I’m very excited about the opportunities and ideas that’ll come from that.”
If you had the chance to change something in Hollywood, what would it be?
“I mean, LIF already does change a lot of the things I care about, especially when it comes to accessibility and giving young artists a chance. In addition to that, I would love it if there were more authentic stories with layered characters. Personally, the idea that some people are only good and others are only bad is outdated and just not true. And making it look like that on screen can create very distorted images in children’s minds. But I don’t think that movies like that should disappear. Overall, I would love for there to be more openness to different perspectives and respect toward that. For example, I don’t like revenge-based ego-shooter movies, like John Wick or Nobody. But there are people who like them a lot and who get a lot of satisfaction from watching them. I’m not going to watch them, but I can respect that others do. I still have a lot of work to do on myself, when it comes to being less judgmental and opinionated. But I do wish, others would do the same, and as a consequence, focus more on what brings us together, than what pushes us apart. After all, this is one world we live in.”
If you want to find out more about Niki J. Borger as an actress, follow her on imdb (imdb.me/nikijborger), instagram(@nikijborger) or facebook (@NikiJBorger).
More information on LIF can be found at: https://www.legacyinspiredfilms.com/