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“A bullet doesn’t have to hit you to kill you,” reads the trailer of the film “Power Poison.” The film is written and directed by Vahram Hakobyan, a talented and passionate filmmaker, whose star in Hollywood is quickly rising. For the last two and a half years, Hakobyan has worked intensely and diligently on his biggest project yet. The movie is about a young orphan who is recruited into a life of crime and is forced to make a life-altering decision as he comes to pivotal crossroads in his life. Vahram Hakobyan sits with us to talk about the film and the experiences and influences that brought him to Hollywood.
Hakobyan speaks passionately about his interest in filmmaking. He says, “I always knew I wanted to be involved in the film industry. I knew I wanted to make movies before I knew how movies were made.” Growing up in Armenia, he recalls having a strong interest in storytelling from a very early age. In the 6th grade, he became fascinated with an animation software and realized his passion for materializing the stories he imagines in his mind to share with others. He continued to further develop his talents, and eventually moved to America to follow his dream.
Hakobyan moved to the United States in 2004 and has rather quickly immersed himself in the movie industry. However, his success didn’t come easy, and he faced quite a bit of struggle for some time. “I couldn’t put a sentence together when I first came here,” he remembers. With persistence, he began to first learn English through an intensive language program. He put in long hours interning in the film industry and working at local TV stations.
Despite the struggles of being new to the country and the well-known difficulties of penetrating the Hollywood world, Hakobyan has had much success thus far. Through his experiences and the people he met along his way, he has been able to stem out on his own with several directorial projects and most currently, “Power Poison.” “Getting to know other filmmakers and having that initial experience is really important in this field,” states Hakobyan. In fact, he attributes some of his growing success to a mentor he had while interning, Mathew Boyd, who later became his key collaborator as a cinematographer on nearly every one of Hakobyan’s projects. “He was always so encouraging and kind.”
Hakobyan surely knows the value of a great mentor. He spends some of his own free time mentoring a local youth through the AGBU Generation Next Mentorship Program. “It’s important to have someone inspire you, and it’s just as important to pass that on to someone else,” Hakobyan states. Through the program, he spends a few days a month being a friend and role model to a young Armenian.
Another inspiration to Hakobyan is the Armenian culture he has been brought up with. “I think our Armenian values and the support we show for each other really helps us get ahead,” he explains. When asked about potential future projects, he speaks of his desire to one day make a film of an epic Armenian tale. “I will make this happen. I promise,” Hakopyan assures us.
The movie “Power Poison” has moments of incredible drama, tension, and thrills… moments where characters and plots suddenly reveal themselves. Ike, a young orphan, is recruited into the world of money launderers and is facing a life of crime. The meaning and purpose behind the movie, as Hakobyan explains, is to show the grim realities of the often glorified criminal world. “Kids are so often attracted to the world of organized crime, without realizing that the average life of someone in that world is something like 8 years,” he explains. Hoping to make an impact in the world through his stories, Hakobyan has come a long way from his 6th grade animations, and surely has a successful career ahead of him.
To learn more about the film and to watch the full trailer, search the movie “Power Poison” on YouTube or join the Power Poison group on Facebook.
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