Paget Kagy: Authentic Creative Vision Always Outperforms Market Conformity

As a part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Paget Kagy.

Paget Kagy is a Korean American actress, writer, and empowerment coach who has a deep love for challenging the norms and content creation. She loves to think outside of the box, but never at the sake of the heart and humanity of a project.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?

I was raised in Los Angeles to two Korean American immigrant parents who instilled the importance of fair representation in the media because it was something they never grew up with. I was bullied as a kid for looking different among a predominantly Caucasian community, and it took me years to come to terms with my identity and fully embrace myself. Part of this growth journey was in writing, producing and starring in my first ever Web Series “Kat Loves LA”

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

When I was a kid I remember being obsessed with all of the classic romantic comedies like “You’ve Got Mail”, “When Harry Met Sally” and “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” however, I quickly realized that I could “never” star in a storyline like that because I didn’t look like the leading ladies. Instead, I decided to go to UC Berkeley and study math and engineering. But junior year, on a whim, I made the decision to switch my majors to history and study abroad in Paris where I auditioned for a musical production of “The Chorus Line”. I got the part of Sheila, and from that magical semester, I knew I was destined to create and perform.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your content creator career?

I met the director of my series, David Marciano (“Due South”, “Homeland”, “Bosch) at a commercial shoot (had no idea who he was). A month later I was casting roles for “Kat Loves LA” and needed to cast the role of an Uber driver in episode 2. After looking him up, I knew I didn’t have a chance in hell of him playing the Uber driver, but went for it anyway. I sent him the script and a day later told me to meet him for coffee where he told me he loved the material and wanted to be the director.

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?

In this business you meet interesting people all of the time! The director of Season 1 also introduced me to Scott Lautenan who directed TV for over a decade and had a critical role in producing the series. He essentially taught me how to edit when we ran out of funds, and become an amazing role model for professionalism throughout the shoot.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Yes. I’m incredibly grateful for David Lieu who found “Kat Loves LA” on Indiegogo and decided to put his support behind us throughout the season without even knowing who we were! He said it was because I was a UC Berkeley grad, but I knew it was because he believed in our vision and liked what we were doing. The continued enthusiasm and support he showed us throughout the process was an absolute blessing. He’s an amazingly generous man.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life? *

“Dare to Live Greatly.” I’ve had so many experiences in my life already and they have all taught me so much and forced me to grow in ways that have gotten me to where I am now. None of them would have ever happened if I didn’t take a chance on myself and dare to dream bigger than who I was at that particular moment in time.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

Currently developing a biopic and a pilot based on an original short form sketch I developed online called “Conversations with the Universe”

Which aspect of your work makes you most proud? Can you explain or give a story?

The fact that it’s completely original and doesn’t try to be anything that it’s not. I’ve never tried to create content to fit a mold of what I think people are looking for. I’ve always done it my way to the best of my ability, and more importantly, created with my heart. This can be said for “Kat Loves LA” which starred an all Asian American cast (pre “Crazy Rich Asians”), and the content that I currently put out on my social media.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Stop comparing yourself — Stop comparing yourself to other people who are fundamentally different from you, and realize that no one can do what you do better than how YOU do it.

2. Stop trying to do it all — This was a HUGE learning experience during the making of Kat Loves LA, because we were strapped for cash and I ended up using my own funds to complete it. I ended up taking on the role of the producer, casting director, writer, location scout, editor, wardrobe stylist, PA, actor, and it was exhausting!! I should have asked for more help.

3. Stop second guessing yourself — I will admit that even though I had a strong vision for what I wanted to create, at times I would let it fall by the wayside in favor of someone else’s opinion of what the market would want. But that rarely every works because you’re literally stripping the authenticity of the content that makes it great in the first place.

4. Lose your pride in favor of results — In the beginning I let myself get caught up in my own personal feelings of pride when someone “wronged” me, instead of focusing on how to resolve the situation, and this was absolutely at my detriment. Bigger picture, always!!

5. Keep the passion — It can be easy to lose yourself in the stress when you are in a high stakes environment, but you have to be thankful for the process DURING the process. Not only does it make the overall experience so much more enjoyable, but people work harder, the results are better, and the memories are priceless.

When you create a film, which stakeholders have the greatest impact on the artistic and cinematic choices you make? Is it the viewers, the critics, the financiers, or your own personal artistic vision? Can you share a story with us or give an example about what you mean?

My own personal artistic vision is the umbrella. However, I’m always very open to feedback, suggestions and ideas from the team of creatives I work with — whether that’s a producer, a director, or actor. However, at the end of the day, it has to fit within the umbrella of the larger vision I’ve set out. There were many times during the process of creating “Kat Loves LA” I cast someone in a role and actually wrote that role to fit the actor, or a director had a suggestion for how the scene should develop and I took his note and incorporated his ideas. If it’s better than the original idea, I’m all for it! I just need to resonate with it.

You are a person of great influence. If you could spread an idea that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can prompt.

When you embody the best version of yourself, you inspire others to do the same.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? They might see this. :-)

I’d love to pick the brain of Phoebe Waller-Bridge and how she became such a formidable storyteller!

How can our readers further follow you online?

@pagetkagy on IG and TikTok

If you would like us to tag you on social media when we share it, please list your profiles:

@pagetkagy on IG

About The Interviewer: Susan Johnston is a Media Futurist, Columnist as well as Founder and Director at New Media Film Festival®. The New Media Film Festival®, honoring stories worth telling since 2009, is an Award-winning, inclusive, and boundary-pushing catalyst for storytelling and technology. Susan was knighted in Rome in 2017 for her work in Arts & Humanity.