Meet Abdul T. Sesay | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Abdul T. Sesay and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Abdul, what’s your definition for success?
I define success as doing what you enjoy as a living. To have a career that you’re passionate about, whether it be accounting, medicine, psychology, or entertainment. As long as you love or enjoy what you’re doing, that’s what I consider success. Another belief I have about success is setting goals no matter how big or small. Then sticking to them no matter what the end result may be. To fight through things that are uncomfortable in order to reach your goal makes things all the more beautiful. Exercising discipline helps you attain success.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m a filmmaker who specializes in drama, comedy, dark comedy, and thrillers. What sets me apart from others are my experiences. I draw from my life experiences, and they live through my art. It doesn’t necessarily have to be anything about me per se. However, I also come up with things that I would want to watch myself.

What I’m most excited about is always the next project. I get in the mode where once I accomplish something, I’m on to the next one. I don’t like to sit down and pat myself on the back. I’m always like, “That was nice, but what’s next?”

How I got to where I am professionally was by not asking for permission to be creative. Not asking for someone to greenlight my project. I did so by taking a chance and having unwavering faith in God and myself to see things through. It wasn’t and still isn’t easy, but then again I always felt that if something was worthwhile, it shouldn’t be. Or everyone else would be doing it as well.

How I’ve overcome challenges in the past and presently is by trusting the process. So if that means making calls, writing every day, reading scripts, or meeting or connecting with a new person every week, just stay consistent with whatever your system may be.

Lessons I’ve learned along the way are, if you don’t have resources, then you should be resourceful. If you want to utilize someone’s talents or connections, be willing to serve them first. You should always adopt the mindset of, how can I help this person? How can I bring value to what you do?

What I would like the world to know about Sa-Loan Productions is that we’re a film production company that specializes in creating films and television series in genres ranging from drama to comedies. We also have a video production department that focuses on long-form and short-form content for local and national businesses.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d take them to the Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard. There’s nothing like a host of comedians to make your night. We’d go to 25 Degrees on Hollywood Boulevard, where they have the best burgers in LA. Probably later that week we’d go to Long Beach and check out the Nike Outlet. From there, go to Huntington Beach, and later on in the week, go to the bars near Laguna Beach.

I think one of the most fun and exciting places to go and meet cool people is at Joxer Daly’s. It’s a Washington Commanders bar in Culver City, California. I’m a huge fan of the team, and it’s great to see transplants in Cali that still rep the team.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
A book I’d like to shoutout is Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice by Dennis Kimbro. It helped me really hone in on what I had to do to be successful. It was about adapting a mentality that great people of color in the past had. Once I read through the stories of all the different people and the adversities that they had to navigate through. With the odds totally against them. It leaves you in a position where you think, if they can do it under those circumstances, who am I not to make it under mine?

In terms of credit for my story, God, parents, wife, and some close friends (you know who you are).

Website: https://saloanpro.com

Instagram: @sa_loanpro

Twitter: @ASesay78

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tejan.sesay.31

Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8310981/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk