Our Pioneer in Los Angeles, USA: Sara Nix

Meet Sara Nix, Executive Producer of Music Videos at Partizan Entertainment in Los Angeles and our Pioneer of the week. Having fantasised about living in Los Angeles since she was a child, Sara got the opportunity to move over in the summer of 2019 and has since worked with some incredible, world renowned talent. We chat with Sara and find out more about life in LA and what makes it creatively different and inspirational.

Through our Pioneers series, in collaboration with Nils Adriaans, we catch up with members of the Dutch Creative Community living abroad and ask them to send back personal ‘messages in a bottle’ about life away from the Netherlands.

How did you end up in Los Angeles? What drove you?

Watching MJ’s Thriller repetitively is one of my first memories. We had tapes with all his videos that I kept playing for years. We regularly watched movies at home and I was hooked on MTV since music videos were like mini-movies to me. Through the love for film and music I always romanticised Los Angeles in my head as this palm tree paradise with endless possibilities. From the first moment I stepped foot on LA ground, I felt it was such a fun and special place and my goal was to work and live there one day. I took each opportunity to head out there for holiday or work and was always meeting new people. One night in LA, when I was there working for Halal Amsterdam, director Emma Westenberg brought her EP to dinner. Whitney Jackson and I had some real talk about the future and a few months later she called me asking if I wanted to take over her job at Partizan. Didn’t have to think twice!

What makes you feel at home?

After staying with friends or in B&Bs the first couple of months, I was lucky to get a place offered that really feels like a nest. It’s a charming old West-Hollywood house and has everything I need. I shipped a few personal items from Amsterdam like my wardrobe, books, photos or this Indonesian Wajang puppet. I usually adjust easily when abroad but having my own stuff and getting my own furniture definitely makes me feel more at home. Not a day goes by that I look around the house without a big smile on my face.

What stands out the most there (professionally)?

Partizan has been around for 30 years so they have a great history. Iconic music videos like Around the World from Daft Punk or Human Behaviour from Björk are directed by Michel Gondry, who is one of the founders of Partizan. Driven out of passion, they grew into one of the industry’s leading content creators for music videos, commercials, documentaries, feature films, animation and branded content with offices in Paris, London, LA and the Middle East. I get to work with amazing creative talents for all kinds of artists and it is an absolute joy to be creatively involved and to guide or build directors from the music video department. What I love most about my job is to travel, connecting (with) people and bringing ideas to life together. To do all that in the Mecca of film, definitely makes the job more special and so much fun since nothing seems too crazy; the sky really is the limit.

What inspires you as a professional?

One of the best things I’ve seen in 2020 was The Long Goodbye by Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed. It is one of those brilliant pieces that will leave your mind blown so it sticks. I love how it builds up from the beginning; you really don’t know what awaits you. To me this is a perfect example of combining storytelling and music to achieve sending out a powerful message; to never take freedom for granted.

What’s the best/most radical piece of work and/or who’s the best/most outstanding creative over there?

Projects like This Is America by Hiro Murai or the short music film good kid, m.A.A.d. city by Kahlil Joseph are just beautiful to me. I can watch these over and over again because they are moving and visually stunning. There’s so much talent all over the world, like on our roster. Our directors always want to push for taking things to the next level and each has an extraordinary vision so it’s very inspiring to work with people like Warren Fu or Aisultan Seitov for artists such as Dua Lipa, Travis Scott and Katy Perry.

I always loved Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden), Crossroads (Bone Thugs N Harmony), Paranoid Android (Radiohead), Window Licker (Aphex Twin) or Smack My Bitch Up (Prodigy). Or movies like Jackie Brown or Romeo & Juliet. They have this absurdism or provocativeness that pulls you in immediately. I would want to keep exploring in creating films that are timeless and rememberable, yet not offensive. I also have an idea for a music film for one particular, legendary artist… lots to do!

What ‘souvenir’ would/will you bring home?

My love and respect for food and nature grew even more in California. There’s amazing restaurants, delis and farmers markets and I’m always trying out new things. I love taking trips to the desert, the Yosemite Park and Sequoia trees are just incredible. Going back to the Netherlands I wouldn’t miss the traffic but definitely the feeling of being able to drive to all these places and keep discovering. But I think I will always find reasons to come back regularly ☺.

What has touched me the most is the spirit of my friends out here. They all have their heart in the right place and work really hard; each with their own life story. Some had to grow up fast in LA with a failing support system, others came from far too; literally and figuratively speaking. Since the city is built around entertainment, I get to work a lot with friends which makes everything even more fun. In the end, we all want to enjoy our lives and work with people we like, so it’s a privilege to experience that in LA as well.