Drawn to ingenuity, strength of character, and inner balance - both in arts and on coach

Being called a jack of all trades, Aiste Ptakauske, a writer, film screenwriter and director, culture project manager, and also a lecturer, cultural coach, and ambassador of Lithuania onstage, laughs, shrugging it off: “Do not confuse me with a tradesman. I am not one! I’m a content creator and what stems from that!” With her personality large as life, you may bump into her down the road to an exciting much-talked-about event, at which she may play the first fiddle, beguiling the spectators with her charisma, exuberance, and passion for love and art. Ptakauske sat down with The Baltic Times for an interview.

I cannot fight the impression you are a jack of all trades! How can you be good at so many different ambits?

The secret is in the terms you choose. I’m not a tradesman. I’m a content creator. Tradesmen focus on honing one particular skill whereas creators invest all their energy in realising their ideas. When I have an idea, I put it down on paper and break it down into a step-by-step plan. Then I have a vision and I do what it takes to see it realised. Look at Lena Dunham, look at Amy Schumer, look at Tina Fey, look at Oprah Winfrey. They all write their shows, produce them, star in them, occasionally direct them. Then they go on and write books, screenplays, devise and lead coaching sessions. HBO’s Vice-President of Programming Alex Fumero explained it very clearly in an interview: “The reality is that things are moving more in the direction of creators rather than simply, ‘I’m a writer,’ or, ‘I’m an actor.’ The only way you can make it in television today is by making your own work.” This is relevant to all creative industries of today. If you want to see your ideas come to life, you have to make it happen yourself. If you do not have any ideas of your own, but are willing to help other people realise theirs, then, by all means, you should focus on mastering a specific trade.

You must have been an upstart girl at your childhood and perhaps a rebellious teenager. Am I right?

“Upstart” might be an accurate enough definition. I always had all sorts of ideas that I wanted to realise. I wanted to do it my way and I absolutely hated to be told how it should be done. As you can imagine, school was a house of torture to me. I enjoyed learning new things. I still do. But I always thought I knew better how to run things at school than my teachers did and I tried to prove it with all my might. I think I would have been expelled if not for my top grades. I have an excellent memory, which enables me to retain huge amounts of information in a short amount of time. Since our schools don’t ask for much more than memorising and repeating, I could afford to spend minimum time on my schoolwork and then do my own things: play the guitar, do theatre, write.

Yet, there must be an activity you feel most comfortable with. What is it?

All my activities begin and end with writing. When I have an idea, I first “test” it on paper. If it doesn’t work on paper, it won’t work anywhere else. That’s a proven fact. If the idea seems to work on paper, I flesh it out further. Mind you, I write for performance. So once I’ve got my idea in writing, I want to see it realised either on stage or onscreen. This is when other activities kick in. But they’re all an extension of my writing to me, really.

How dear is your documentary “Ethnic Kitchen” (Pasaulio virtuve) to you?
Making “Ethnic Kitchen” was enlightening. It taught me patience, humbleness, gratitude, and responsibility. It was also empowering. I saw that the art that I was making had a direct impact on lives and worldviews of my subjects and my audiences. Ultimately, it was inspiring as it made me realise that I can do absolutely anything if I commit to it one hundred per cent. And did this documentary require commitment! I couldn’t flesh out my characters on paper in advance. I worked with real people who had real lives with real problems. I lived through all their problems with them and did my best to be as sensitive and as respectful as I could possibly be in doing that. My subjects demonstrated enormous trust in me, and it made me a better person and a better artist.

You also write fiction, don’t you?

I’ve got three books published: one collection of short stories and two novels. They all deal with coming of age in our society. I feel that adolescence is somewhat misrepresented in Lithuania. Everyone writes and talks about being a teenager as if it were the most horrible thing that could ever happen to anyone on this planet. Yes, it’s sometimes confusing, frustrating, even scary, but above all that, it’s so much fun. In my books, I wanted to inject fun into lives of Lithuanian teenagers. Although my last novel was published in 2009, I still get occasional invites from libraries and schools to come and speak about my writing to young adults of Lithuania. When I arrive in the venues where I’m expected, I see that the copies of my books they own are in a pretty shabby state. I take it as a sign of these books being read from time to time. The discussions I have with my audiences confirm that. It warms my heart to know that my writing resonates with young people who are the future of our society.

You’ve been engaged in various intercultural interactions, delivering speeches on the subject. Can you take our readers through this endeavor?

Producing international and intercultural projects, I acquired a lot of unique experience that, as I discovered, is useful for training global leaders. It all happened gradually. At first, I was invited to give talks on cultural intelligence at a few international business conferences. Then I was a visiting lecturer at a college in Belgium. Now I help Vilnius University Business School students develop their abilities to work and communicate effectively in intercultural environments.
 Cultural intelligence is all about recognising and decoding assumptions that we have about other cultures and people. I discovered that creative techniques of storytelling, drawing, designing, even acting were extremely helpful in this process. I’m currently developing my methods of cultural intelligence enhancement with a team of experienced scholars and pedagogues from Ireland, Belgium, Italy, and Lithuania. It’s a very exciting process because we’re devising a set of tools that help everyone embrace each other’s cultural differences and understand each other better.

You’ve spent quite some time in the US, New York and California. What creative work is the Big Apple best for? How rewarding has the NYC experience been for you?

In fact, I didn’t spend that much time in the States. I got my Master’s in Television, Radio, Film in Syracuse, New York. Then I did an internship at a video production company on Broadway and a few residencies all around the place: Lincoln Centre Theatre, Central Theatre Group of Los Angeles, California Institute of the Arts, and a couple of writers’ rooms in Hollywood. I’d say I spent two years total in the US. To me, the most rewarding thing about living in NYC was constant exposure to myriads of influences. I met the most fascinating artists under the most incredible circumstances. Everyone I met believed in their dreams so much! I’ve never seen so much faith anywhere else like I did in NYC. While NYC is great for inspiration, I do all my creative work in Lithuania. When I create (especially, when I write), I need silence. Lithuania has plenty of it whereas big cities such as LA or NYC do not.

Only the best, most talented or born with a silver spoon in their mouths can make it to the top in NYC. I assume you were neither as you packed up and made it back to Lithuania?

Assumptions are a dangerous thing. They can ruin businesses and relationships because very often they have next to nothing in common with truth. This is precisely why I teach in my classes and training how to recognise and decode assumptions so that they do not ruin your relationships and careers, especially in international and intercultural environments. I strongly encourage everyone to work on their assumptions. It will relieve you of many psychological and emotional burdens.
I had to leave New York City because it was in my contract with the US State Department. I came to New York on a Fulbright scholarship, which meant that the US State Department was paying for me to study in the US, but after my studies were completed, they wanted me to go back to Lithuania and work there for two years. It is called a two-year home residency requirement, which is one of the main conditions for getting the scholarship and a J1 visa. As soon as I returned to Lithuania, magical things started happening. I met people and did things that catapulted me to a new level of my personal and professional maturity. I guess it paid off to play by the rules this time.

What do you believe is most challenging for an aspiring producer in Lithuania?

I think producers’ challenges are similar worldwide. It’s all about finding your team and your audience. Once you’ve got people with whom you work well and people who want to see and hear the art that you make, you’ll be soaring like an eagle. Of course, the Lithuanian situation is peculiar in the sense that during the Soviet period there was only one producer for everybody: the State or the Party. So currently, there are many misconceptions as to what a producer should do or be in Lithuania. It’s an extra challenge. But a good producer, first and foremost, is an excellent communicator. So all aspiring producers in Lithuania have to know that they need to put extra work in communicating with their stakeholders.

As a producer, can you tell right away which project will take off and which is doomed? What are the criteria you go by?

I have a pretty good gut feeling. I trust it and it doesn’t let me down. In my opinion, a producer can go two ways: either use an already established brand such as a work of classical literature or a best-selling book or create something totally unique and formerly unheard of. I choose the latter. Thus, in all new projects I’m looking for two things: uniqueness and relevance. Uniqueness may come in different shapes and forms, but mostly it has to do with ingenuity and honesty of the creator. Every person is unique in their perception of the world. If we embrace and honour it, our singularity will be unavoidable and undeniable. But it takes a lot of guts to defy societal gravity that’s dragging you down. Relevance is a relative concept. It directly depends on the audience that you’re addressing. So whenever I consider a new project, I always try to imagine what kind of person would relate to it. Can I see that person sitting in the front row of the auditorium? What is that person wearing? What is he or she thinking? What did she or he have to give up to come to see my work? It’s not always easy — to see that exemplary audience member in the front row clearly in my head. But once I do, I know that the project is going to be a success. It is very important to create for real people and be a real person while at it.

What new projects are you working on?

I’ve currently got two large projects underway. One is an interactive opera for young audiences that I’m writing together with esteemed Norwegian composer Marcus Paus. The opera reflects on contemporary forms of narcissism. I’m very excited about the team working on this project! It’s truly representative of our society in its diversity. The leading roles of Narcissus and Venus will be performed by transgender opera singers. The second project is a documentary about one woman’s search for the lost memory of the 600-year-long existence of the Jewish community in what is now the state of Lithuania. The woman returns to Lithuania after getting her M.A. in Jewish Studies from Oxford University in the UK and her Ph.D. in Jewish History from Indiana University in the US. She is shocked to discover that most Lithuanians know next to nothing about the scale and brutality of the Holocaust in Lithuania. She wants to find out how and why that has happened. I follow her with a film crew on this quest.

Excuse my perhaps too personal question to a woman with your character… Do you have someone in your life to cuddle with? What type of person can beguile you?

Oh, I get beguiled by all sorts of different people. I couldn’t fit them into a type. I’m drawn to ingenuity, strength of character, and inner balance—men who really know themselves and are comfortable with who they are. I don’t meet men like that very often. When I do, I sometimes get to cuddle with them, and sometimes I don’t. One way or another, I’m always looking forward to being beguiled.