Direction

Tell us more about what you do.
I’m a filmmaker. I direct right now, but I started off with cinematography. I’ve always wanted to do that but it took a segue towards commercial directing.

Is commercial directing a direction you’re leaning more towards?
I would say it’s something new for me, and there’re things I can learn. I try not to define it too much; I think being inter-disciplinary is good.

Who gave you your first shooting experience?
My cousin’s husband, SBTG, just said “Hey, let’s do a video.” It was a promo video and it’s a funny, weird video that I hope never sees the light of day. (laughs) He pushed me out of my shell as he’s a go-getter and I was quite shy when I was younger. He’s the kind of person who says go chase your dreams, go after what you want. Having someone like that helped me a lot.

What’s something you wish you knew before you joined this line of work?
How tough and cutthroat the industry is. What makes it conducive and important is having the right people and community around you. The people you align yourself with is crucial, and I feel that’s what keeps things going.

Do you ever feel like you had to set aside your artistic direction to earn money?
Sometimes, though I try to think of it as getting to learn other things. It’s a rather privileged thing to say though I did manage to learn a lot of things about life and about myself. The craft is more about experiences, and there’s so much more to learn. All of this comes together as to what I want to do in the future and just my whole journey. And part of the journey is about sacrifice.

What’s a learning lesson you’ve picked up along the way?
I believe empathy is quite important and that’s what I try to channel. It always comes back down to people and understanding them. People’s opinions form an action, it forms what they do, and I believe that understanding is important.