I have always been a creative person. I love to write, paint, and create for fun. For as long as I can remember, I’ve had this burning desire inside me that cannot be extinguished: the want to make movies. So one day, when my life was going through some changes, I decided it was time to make the leap and pursue my dreams of filmmaking full-time
Filmmaker born in working class family
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My parents wouldn’t buy me a video camera or mobile phone when I was very young. They had both thought it would be too expensive, and it will generate plenty of wasted time and not provide me with any needed skills or employable abilities. Haha…
They knew we were too poor at that time to afford such luxuries, so I couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t give me one as a present. I often found myself frustrated and deeply sad with my situation, which I think contributed to my irrational belief growing.
First love (with camera)
One of my friends got a mobile phone with video recording feature, so we started making short movies. We would record each other doing different things in the house. I remember recording action comedy videos. The videos were really short but they felt great to make. We made around 20 funny videos throughout the summer.
Although I was very young at the time, it felt like something big had shifted inside me. It is often said that if you can make a video in your bedroom, what’s stopping you from making movies? These words rang true to my ears and mind for years to come. From that time on, I became obsessed with filmmaking.
Just do it…
I was still too young to buy a video camera myself but my parents were not strict enough to prevent me from finding some way of making movies on my own. So I started saving up all the money that people gave me for birthdays and Christmas presents in an old dusty piggy bank at home. I borrowed camera from my friends and recorded them doing things that I thought would look good on camera.
I started making short videos about random stuff from home, including one of the most boring videos ever made: me recording cars passing by. It was a video where nothing happened but it helped me learn how to use different shots in editing software by re-creating it in different ways.
I saved up enough money to buy a basic video camera and started making short videos about my life. I thought of the most interesting things that happened on a regular day at school, which helped me learn how to edit more quickly by just repeating what worked. People seemed happy with them too because they would send messages complimenting my works. Although these videos were very amateur.
Where energy goes, money flows
It was amazing for me to get my first money for video work. It was a big deal for me because I got paid to do something that my heart and soul loved most in the world: make videos!
It seemed like all of this hard work had finally paid off somehow, even though it only took several years before people started hiring me. This led to many more opportunities coming my way, including working with major brands.
While I do love filmmaking, it was not without its challenges. Long hours would be spent working on each project and sometimes the deadlines were so tight that they felt impossible to fulfill. But with persistence, hard work, patience and a little luck things always turned out well in the end!