Meet Lilah Strauss of Lilah Ann in Boulder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lilah Strauss.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I feel like my story is the classic, ‘I’m in my twenties and totally lost’ type story. I was born in Denver and raised in Golden. I attended CU Boulder after high school, where I earned a Bachelor’s in Communication and a Minor in Technology, Arts, and Media. All pretty straight forward and generic.

I absolutely loved school and received an amazing education but had no idea what field I wanted to go into or what path my life would take. I took the first job I was offered out of college, which was at a medical recruitment firm. I was just psyched to have benefits and make $30,000K a year. It only took a year until I realized I was bored out of my mind and could not work in a cubicle. I needed something more creative and freeing. As any 23 years old does, I signed up to teach English in Thailand. I was eager to see the world, live somewhere completely out of my comfort zone and “find myself.” I actually did learn a lot about myself in Thailand, one of them being that I wasn’t cut out to be a teacher.

After my stint in Thailand, I moved to New Zealand to live in a car and Woof across the South Island. Both of these experiences taught me many things about different people, cultures and the vastness of the world. After a year abroad, I missed home and the mountains of Colorado. I knew it was time to come back. Upon my return, I was more confused than before I left; reverse culture shock. I knew I loved working with people, being in collaborative environments and working on creative projects. I worked restaurant shifts and odd jobs for a couple of years until I stumbled into Production. My long-time partner Kody Kohlman (look him up) is an incredibly talented photographer and filmmaker and he pushed me in this direction due to my ability to work well with people, organize events, and my desire to work creatively with others. I started my career as a production assistant learning the ins and outs of life on set.

From there, I was hired as a creative assistant at Room214, a small agency in Boulder, where I helped to concept and executed social ideas for various clients. After a year at Room214, I needed a more challenging environment and a place that would ultimately turn me into a Producer. I applied to work as an Assistant Producer at Crispin Porter + Bogusky. After rounds of interviews, I landed the job. Within a year, I was promoted and am now an Art Producer at CPB working on projects for clients such as Domino’s, American Airlines, Sorel and more. I also dabble in some freelance productions, my most prominent one being a piece on Mirna Valerio, a badass woman who pushes the boundaries of what it means to be a runner. This film has been featured in several film festivals, including BANFF, where Kody Kohlman, the director and I were able to travel to Banff, Canada and present the film. Down the road, I would ultimately love to work on brands that focus on storytelling and the human condition, where people are the main focus over the brand itself.

Has it been a smooth road?
Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes it’s easy breezy and other times, it feels as if everything is crashing down on you. It took me years after graduating school to fall into something that truly fired me up. For a long time, I was living paycheck to paycheck and working numerous jobs to make ends meet. As a Creative Assistant at Room214, I was paid an intern wage and had to work nights at the restaurant. But I loved the job and knew it would give me the experience I needed to land a better one. When I started at CPB, I was the lowest on the totem pole but knew through hard work I could learn I ton. I put in a lot of long days, weekends and made an effort to create relationships with different departments in order to become a better producer. I’ve found that producing work for big clients is the most challenging job I’ve ever had. Not only was it hard to get to this point in my career, but the amount of creative problem solving and logistics is different for every production. Even now, after two years on the job, there are days when I’m working on a big production and truly feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.

However, I receive praise from my peers and realize my biggest obstacle is myself. I always have to take a step back and realize that hard work, listening to others and putting your heart into something will create a rewarding outcome. Following your dreams or passions comes with its own struggles and challenges. Sometimes you work on projects you aren’t that into but need to put food on the table and other times, you find yourself on a production in Argentina with a kick ass crew, a ton of creativity and a client that is psyched on the work being produced. All I can say is it takes time to build up your career, knowledge in your field, a few mistakes along the way, asking a lot of questions, finding a solid mentor and ultimately knowing you can achieve anything no matter how much muck or rainbows you find yourself in.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I work full time as an Art Producer for Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Boulder, Colorado. They are a full-service creative agency that has been around since the late 80s. As for freelance, I work under the name Lilah Ann. I work on many different productions ranging from small scale to large scale and big budgets too little ones. The type of work I produce ranges from video and stills to everything in between. I pride myself in the knowledge I’ve obtained in 2.5 short years and can work on any project that has a production capability need. I mainly work in the realm of lifestyle type shoots but have experience with tabletop, E-commerce and live events as well.

I think one of my greatest achievements and what I’m best known for in my field is the short on Mirna Valerio, produced for Broken Arrow Sky Race. This film follows runner and community leader Mirna as she embarks on both a physical and mental feat in Squaw Valley. This film explores her positivity through challenges and the mental toughness to keep on no matter what people tell her. This short has been featured in many adventure film festivals including BANFF International Film Festival. Watch the film here https://vimeo.com/345950743.

I’d also love to share a side project that the fine ladies of Art Production at CPB put together during the beginning of COVID. It’s known as Art Makers Market, where we help to put art on walls, support our freelance community and bring transparency to our artist’s work by sharing it with those in our industry. All proceeds go directly to the artist or to a charity/organization of their choosing. Check it out at https://www.artmakersmarket.com/.

What I’m truly psyched about is how much Colorado as a whole is turning into a creative hub for photographers and filmmakers. There are a ton of amazing agencies and companies based out of CO with production needs. There’s a badass community of producers around the greater Denver-metro area that I am happy to be a part of. What I find unique to my situation is that I have agency experience mixed with production house line producer knowledge. Whatever the need is, I can do it and will do it well.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
My industry has already changed! What I thought would be the changes in the next 5-10 years happened in a matter of months when COVID hit. I foresee my industry going part-time if not fully remote. I think COVID has shown that production can mainly be done from anywhere as long as you have internet and phone. Of course, meeting in person is great if not necessary at times but the lack of face-to-face time has not drastically shifted how people get their work done. I would argue that people get more done remotely than in an office.

As for shifts and changes, budgets are getting smaller, which they already were with the onslaught of social media and productions are decreasing in size. Our industry was really comfy having 20+ people on set with lots of food, wine and dining and every person had a unique or specialized job. What I am finding now are productions being completed at a smaller scale: nimble crews, less craft services, remote feedback sessions with clients and agencies, and folks wearing lots of different hats. I also foresee a lot more folks going freelance and clients hiring straight from the production companies or individual people. Not to say agencies will die as they play a dire role for big companies but there seems to be a lot more freelance happening.

Productions are coming back but I think the small-sized crews and smaller budgets are here to stay. I also see clients utilizing stock imagery, animation and illustration more frequently.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lilahann.com
• Phone: 720-288-6698
• Email: lannstrauss@gmail.com
• Instagram: lilahlou_
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/

Image Credit:
Kody Kohlman, Kai Casey, Ian Glass

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