Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Francesco Brunotti . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Francesco , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I was into visual art and animation since I was very young, and I remember watching all these beautiful music videos that were experimenting with a lot of different styles, and yet reaching out to large audiences, – I think the 90’s and early 2k have been a great time for experimenting and achieving commercial success at the same time – but also looking at a lot of records with all these cool graphic designs on their covers – back when electronic music was becoming very popular – , using mixed media as well to create beautiful pieces of art. I felt like all that art was speaking to me in many different ways, and watching or reading interviews with all these creatives talking about the process of making art, explaining how they would bring it to life, from an idea to something you could actually see. Very fascinating stuff. It encouraged me to explore my own creativity, and digging further into different styles from different times, and learn how to use software to explore digital art, but at the same time also learning photography, learning how to `make art with my own hands as well, using mixed media, leaning how to make videos, it was an exciting learning curve. And when people started contacting me and paying me to make music videos , and also some creative agencies started hiring me do to creative work, I think that’s when I definitely knew that was exactly what I wanted : to pursue a professional creative path.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I got into my business by first working on music videos for underground bands, and bumpers and short animations for a music tv channel in Italy years ago, then one of my music videos got featured on the pages of IDN Magazine, and it became a Vimeo staff pick as well, definitely giving me more exposure and helping me to get more clients. When it comes to service and creative work, I provide mostly motion design and animation these days, – but I can also do compositing as well, having worked on a lot of music videos like I previously said – using different styles based on the clients’ needs. I have been working with several digital and advertising agencies over the last few years, and brands as well, especially since I moved to Los Angeles from Italy. I have also started designing graphics for t shirts and posters, as a side business that I have on Threadless, called SpookedUp. I am proud of having been hired by several different companies here, to wok on digital campaigns and case studies for big brands and movies, and also for a film festival recently : especially, because, coming from another country, it’s like starting over again I think , so you have to make your own name by working hard and showing that you are reliable and good at what you do. It’s been a learning curve, but I think it went pretty well and it made me even more professional in many ways. Understanding the balance between commercial and creative, and especially understanding the client’s needs and helping to make a product that everyone is satisfied with. I am also proud of the fact that my first short animated film is getting selected by different festivals all over the world – it’s not been released yet – and it actually pushed me to work on new short films. I like to keep my personal creative side active as much as possible, it allows me to tell and visualize my personal stories. Definitely one of my goals is directing more in the future.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I think my goal, or mission, driving my creative journey, is basically being able to keep creating visual art that means something to me, art that I can use to communicate what I have inside of me, and being able to tell stories with my art, stories that will reach out to other people and will have an impact on them, maybe encouraging them to make art themselves, or simply making them feel something, or making them think what’s behind that story, and I want to use different medias and styles to do that, exploring the possibilities that this world offers us these days to make art. It’s like leaving a memory of us out there in the world, and hoping that people will like what they see. I also want to make a living with my art, being able to sustain and support myself with what I do. Of course there will always be ups and down, but it’s important not to lose that drive that we need in order to stay creative and keep pushing ourselves as artists.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I would say that, growing up, I didn’t have access as a teenager or as a young person in general, to all the software and technology that young people are exposed to, and have access to now, and that probably already know how to use at a very young age, or that they are also taught at school way more often these days. That is definitely an incredible advantage nowadays, in my opinion. Because the leaning curve is way more easier when you are that young and you have people showing you how to do it, or helping you / teaching you in general. Like, for example, these days you can also find so many useful and cool tutorials on platforms like YouTube for free, where would you find stuff like that let’s say even 15 or 20 years ago ? So, definitely, the learning curve for me and for other people people around my age – I suppose – was probably a little bit more difficult and challenging. I mean, if none is teaching you, you really have to be determined at doing what you are doing, and learning how to do it. And also you had to find all that software and technology in one way or another by yourself, and learn how to use it. But I guess in a way it was also an interesting time where you had to learn how to overcome all those difficulties by yourself, in a lot of different ways, so you had to use your brain a lot, trying to come up with solutions and learning from a lot of mistakes that you usually make, while trying to learn something new.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.francescobrunotti.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/francescobrunotti/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francesco-brunotti/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FB976/videos
• Other: https://www.threadless.com/@spookedup

Image Credits
Francesco Brunotti