Not all successful creative executives in the entertainment industry are necessarily nice or even good people. This is why it is so important to recognize Lyric Perez, former producer of Complex’s Everyday Struggle, who consistently wins while remaining good at heart – because that is what really matters most.
Tell us about your background and how that led to you being in the entertainment industry?
I grew up singing all my life. especially in elementary and junior high school. I always wanted to be a singer. Every time I saw those wishing flowers, I would blow them wishing I’d become a singer. I left high school, getting my GED before studying cooking as a vocation because I still wanted to be creative.
Eventually, I attended SUNY Purchase and I took every class I wanted including arts management, film, music composition, songwriting, and poetry. I decided to focus on music and I was able to start pursuing my dream all over again, but this time I wanted to be a songwriter because I’m a poet. I’ve been writing poetry since I was thirteen. I decided I wanted to be behind the scenes. I no longer wanted to be a famous singer, but a songwriter instead. I’d like to make a lot of money by being in the background somewhere. When I graduated I ended up working at Bad Boy and later on I found a production assistant training program in New York that was sponsored by the mayor’s office. In production, I had the opportunity to work on a wide range of projects including music videos, reality, television and films.
As a well-known producer in television and film, what are some of your duties and responsibilities?
First of all, a little lesson… “Producer” is just one word that can take on many different kinds of roles. There’s a line producer who is responsible for the budget. There’s a supervising producer who supervises the whole project creatively and logistically. Titles are irrelevant, it all depends on the project and your role. Producers can cast, give O.T.F.’s (On the fly) interviews, create lists of all the shots needed to tell a story, and so much more.
When offered an opportunity to produce a project, what are the key factors in making your decision?
That’s a really good question. what I have learned over time is that being a creative and making money isn’t always easy. It takes a lot of work, support and consistency. You can’t give up. Sometimes, you don’t know what you’re really going into. You might like the content, but realize that your team members don’t really mesh with you well and it doesn’t turn out to be fun. You really want to work with good kind-hearted people, people who have good intentions and are not in competition with you. People who want to work with you creatively to help the project reach its potential and do something really great is what you want. You want to have a great team so you can enjoy your time away from home.
Now that you left Complex, share some of the things that you’re working on.
I published a poetry book that has been in the works for a while. I have an offer to produce a BET music competition show. I am the executive consultant for a music triva app. I also have interviews with The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard and Spotify. I am just open to the possibilities so wherever my journey leads me, that’s where I’ll be.
What has been the best part of your journey?
Believing in myself. Any time that you are afraid of something, you kind of get stagnant or stuck. Once you let go of those fears, you free yourself and good things happen for you. I took a risk moving to Los Angeles and leaving Complex, but I wanted to come to L.A. before I took the job there. This is supposed to be a part of my journey, if not now, then when? When you take a risk, the reward is great — the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. If you really believe that and you do it, anything can happen. I made it as a creative freelancer for ten years and I can do that wherever I go. Everything is founded on energy. If you give out good energy, you get it back and the universe is on your side. Once you release the fear, you get blessings nonstop.
You have been in the industry for a while, how do you feel about today’s music scene?
I love music. Music is therapy. Everybody is on their own wavelength and they want to express themselves the way they see fit. Sometimes it’s going to be a miss, and you are going to be like, “What the hell is that?” There are so many ways that music can affect you and make you feel differently about it depending on the circumstances that you are in while listening to it. There are some songs that you may not listen to when you are alone but you love listening to when you are at the club partying. It is all subjective and circumstantial. Of course, we are all going to have opinions, but if you see it for what it is, that someone is making their own art, how can you not be happy for them?
As a professional, do you feel that you have faced challenges due to gender bias?
Being a woman in this industry, everyone reacts to you differently, men and women alike. Everyone reacts to you the way they feel about themselves. You will meet some hating ass people (laughing). If you listen to them and watch them talk shit about others, they don’t even realize that they are doing it. Negativity breeds all types of fucked up shit. Again, if you put that kind of energy out into the universe, you can’t be surprised when it comes back to you. Me, I’m all about positivity and peace.
- BE’N ORIGINAL
