We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Isaiah Navarro. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Isaiah below.
Isaiah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
Growing up my parents also loved movies. They would take me and my siblings out to the theaters whenever they could and would also show us movies they liked watching when they were younger. Years and years of playing The Iron Giant 24/7 in our household would become this huge bundle of kindle really to explode into a bonfire. The spark being when my parents got our first home computer.
On the computer I quickly discovered this editing software known as Windows Movie Maker and using my action figures and my dad’s old camcorder from like the stone age, I started forging my own little movies and this changed the GAME. I had the power, the stories and ideas in my mind could become something real.
I could make movies like the ones I saw on the big screen. I had never felt so powerful in my life!
So naturally I would keep making these little movies, turning my backyard into warzones and backdrops for heart breaking drama scenes and honestly so many years later not much has changed.
My parents were always supportive of my early work even though it was 100% impossible to watch. They never told me to stop, and I have so much love for them because of that.
Isaiah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My relationship with movies might be a little unhealthy (just kidding). What I mean about that is they consume many hours of my life a week. I’ll try to go to the theaters maybe once or twice a week just to get some sweet buttery popcorn in my veins while watching the latest horror or blockbuster film.
When I’m not at the theaters I’m in my living room late at night scrolling for what seems like HOURS through Netflix looking for something interesting to watch. I am CURSED. My need to be making a film or watching one stems back from my early childhood I even knew what the film industry even was.
When I was younger my friends and I were always messing around and making short videos for fun with nerf guns and bad Party City props. We would upload our masterpieces on YouTube and then start working on the next one.
We didn’t care about views or likes we just did it because we were proud of what we were doing. It wasn’t until high school when I took a video editing class for fun and meet one of the most teachers in the world Ms. Susan Smith.
She taught me everything I know about making a movie and MORE. A lot of the advice she gave me on how to be a good director and how to problem solve on set I still use to this day. Her class changed everything for me and is the reason why I still do what I do today.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
What I love most about movies is how they can bring people together and how they can create some of the most memorable moments of your life. I’ve met some of my closest friends just by finding out we liked some of the same film franchises. I’ll never forget watching Marvel’s Infinity War in theaters and cheering along with hundreds of other people like me during every epic moment. Or just watching any horror movie with a group of friends and screaming your heads off during scary scenes and then laughing about it after.
Watching a movie can change your attitude and sometimes even change the way you view life and yourself. They allow you to escape and forget all the worries in the world just for a moment. When people tell me my films did that for them that gives me the fuel I need to start working on my next big thing.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
My goal is always to not just tell a good story but also a good message that I feel like people really need to hear. for example, a constant theme I like implementing in all my projects is hope. I like putting my characters in dark hopeless situations where things are looking really bad and they have to overcome their thoughts and fears to see that no matter how bad things get they’re gonna find a way out.
I feel like things in our world look really dark right now but I believe everything is gonna be okay. It’s definitely gonna take some time but it’s not okay to live in fear and go through these hard times alone. Everything will be okay and if one of my films can somehow make you feel that way then I’m happy.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/decembersback/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Decembersback
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzzn-uUYhMQznOf39BD6iHg
Image Credits
Cosette Montemayor