Catching up With ArieCan Productions 

LARRY AND LEONARD, SO GREAT TO CONNECT WITH YOU, WHERE ARE YOU BOTH FROM ORIGINALLY? 

It’s nice to connect with you as well. We are both from Baltimore, MD born and raised.

WHEN DID YOUR DESIRE TO BE FILM PRODUCERS BEGIN?

It started in late 2016 when we wanted to be extras in a web series we saw, and we kept reaching out. No one ever responded so we decided to create our own web series. We had no idea what we were doing lol but it all turned out great. And we’ve been hooked ever since.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PROJECT YOU’VE WORKED ON TO DATE? 

Oh, that’s a tough one but for me (Larry) I’m going to say our new comedy Dear Diary. Dear Diary, is our first time doing a comedy and we are really excited about it. And for me (Leonard) our new drama Secrets is my absolute favorite. The storyline is like nothing I’ve seen on tv, and we know the world will love it once it’s released.

CAN YOU ROUGHLY OUTLINE WHAT YOUR DAY IS LIKE ON A DAY ON SET? 

Whew, lol filming days are crazy and hectic but in a good way. We’re always up early triple checking that we have all the props, scripts, equipment and making sure that we didn’t leave anything behind. Once on set we meet with our cameraman and go over placement for the scenes and we have a mini rehearsal with the cast. Once we hear “camera rolling” and either myself or Leonard says, “action” it’s pretty smooth from there. Sometimes our actors/actresses go blank, we all laugh, and the scene always turns out great.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES AND DIFFICULTIES YOU FACE WHEN IMMERSING YOURSELF IN THE FILM INDUSTRY? 

To be honest the challenges and difficulty comes from not having any connections with anyone in the film industry. We literally are self-taught with everything we’ve done over the past five years. We’ve reached out to other industry colleagues, but we never get a response. Actually, one time we reached out to Lena Waithe in 2019 and she told us that she wasn’t looking for any new projects and wished us good luck. We were grateful that she responded to us.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT, TIPS, OR ADVICE FOR SOMEONE LOOKING TO START THEIR CAREER IN THE FILM INDUSTRY? 

The only advice we have is make sure this is something you really want to do and you’re not doing it just to be famous. Never think your craft is not good enough or that no one will like it. You don’t need fancy cameras, you can use your phone. If you want to direct, write, produce etc just go for it you never know you could be the next big thing in Hollywood.

WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR? 

From where we started to where we are now is like night and day. We’re proud of our craft, our series, our writing and directing. We are super proud of where ArieCan Productions is today and where we’re going.

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT WORKING? 

LoL not working, what’s that? We’re constantly working. If we’re not filming, we’re either writing, editing, or setting up rehearsals. We tried to take a vacation and we took our laptops and were writing and looking for locations to use for filming on the airplane. When we get some down time, I hope we can actually have fun.

IF YOU COULD GET ANY ONE ACTOR OR ACTRESS TO FEATURE IN ONE OF YOUR FILMS, WHO WOULD IT BE?

I know you asked for one but it’s actually two people we would love to work with and be featured in our films. One is Tyler Perry; his creativeness is phenomenal. All the characters he portrays while still directing, acting, and producing his own films and shows. He is definitely a big inspiration to us. And the other person is Whoopi Goldberg. We have loved her work since we saw her in the color purple as kids. It’s just something so authentic about her that we love and think it would be so awesome to work with Tyler and Whoopi.

WHAT DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO TAKE AWAY AFTER WATCHING ONE OF YOUR FILMS? 

We want people to walk away knowing that two young black men with no experience in film making had faith, took a chance, and created one of the best movies and shows you’ve ever seen.

WHERE CAN PEOPLE FIND OUT MORE ABOUT YOUR FILM JOURNEY? 

You can follow our journey on our website ArieCanProductions.com and also on our social media Instagram and Facebook @ArieCanProductions.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING MORE FROM ARIECAN PRODUCTIONS THIS YEAR! 

We want to thank you for this interview, we really enjoyed it. And we can’t wait for you and the world to see all of the great things ArieCan Productions have coming this year.