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

Alright, Doza thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you wish you had started sooner?

I’m 38 years old, and I sometimes feel like I’m just getting started with my creative career. All throughout my 20’s I served in the military, both the United States Navy, and then the Army Reserve. I came to Hollywood at the age of 26, and began using my G.I. Bill to attend Film Schooling. By the time I finished gaining a degree from both The Los Angeles Film School, as well as the New York Film Academy, I was getting into my 30’s and I was still serving in the Army Reserve, which was a push and pull on my creative career.

Around the same time, I had gotten married to an amazing Makeup Artist, who I met while we were both attending our schooling. I was going to Film School in Hollywood, while she was going to Cinema Makeup School in Korea Town, and we connected instantly.

But as I was getting started with finding work in Hollywood, I was having to constantly step away and attend my job as a Combat Camera Operator for the Army. So as the years went by, it was becoming more difficult to find my footing in the Film Industry. I would step away, as productions would continue and opportunities would pass me by.

I have say though, being a Camera Operator for the Army was a very unique job, which allowed me to still work as a Creative, giving me the opportunity to still tell stories as a journalist; just not in Hollywood, and not at the same degree of storytelling that I wanted to accomplish.

I’m a lover of Comedy, and in the military, especially with military journalism, comedy is about as rare as access to Area 51. It just doesn’t happen and in most cases, it’s off-limits to those who want to seek it. But now that I’m beginning to take my Creative Career into a more full-time direction, that ability to tell more comedic stories and surround myself with those within the comedy world, is beginning to shape in the direction that I never would’ve been able to shape if I had stayed in the Military.

I don’t have a deep sense of regret for not coming to Hollywood in my 20s. Because without the help of the G.I. Bill paying for my schooling, I would’ve been swimming in debt right now from attending two different film schools. But I do wonder how much farther I’d be in my career right now, if I hadn’t spent 13 years in the military, and instead made the leap into filmmaking right out of high school.

It usually takes a good 10-15 years for you to start seeing viable success from your hard-work in the Film and Entertainment Industry. And at this rate, I hope to see a sliver of success by the time I’m in my late 40s, hopefully sooner.

Doza, 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 full name is Christopher Paul Cardoza, but I chop it down and just go by Doza. In some cases Doza Cardoza. It’s a real conversation starter. I adopted the nickname from when I was in the Navy, where we go by our last names. Eventually what went from “Cardoza”, turned into other shipmates just calling me “Doza”. Over the years, I’ve continued with it, and now it’s how I primarily introduce myself to people, especially as a filmmaker and storyteller.

Ever since I got my first camera back in Middle School in 1998, I was glued to it. I quickly learned how to do stop-motion with it, and would spend hours in my room making short videos with my G.I. Joes and Hot Wheels toys. I learned that patience was a needed thing to telling and making stories, even with just the most simplest skits and setups. But I also learned that developing ideas from your wildest imagination was something that I was really good at.

Growing up with Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network in the 90’s, as well as adult comedy shows like reruns of Monty Python, and Nick-At-Nite, along with The Simpsons and other shows like King Of The Hill, and Family Guy, I quickly gravitated my attention towards those shows and networks. Based on the comedy and my interest in these shows, I knew where my I wanted to focus my imagination and creativity. In classes I would spend a lot of time doodling in my binder, creating ridiculously characters, dreaming of becoming an Animator/Cartoonist one day.

I’d always read the comics in the daily newspaper, and I highly enjoyed the colorized ones in the Sunday papers. My favorite was, and still is – The Far Side by Gary Larson. I knew there was something different about them, and the sense of Gary Larson’s humor definitely stood out to me, even as a kid. I can remember a time in Middle School when our teacher gave us Far Side single cell comics without the captions, and asked us to come up with our own captions. I remember making a reference to the O.J. Simpson trails and the glove that didn’t fit him, and mine was the only one that truly made him laugh out loud.

My sense of humor has always entailed stretched thoughts, and comedy has always been an outlet for me to turn to, especially in rough times. Laughter is the greatest medicine and it comes in many different doses. And while comedy is a subjective art form, filled with bias tones, it is truly a universal enjoyment. Every race, age, gender, and religion, has it’s own form of comedic interest and expression. Adjacent to any great drama, is a great comedy.

In the last year and a half, I’ve created a platform/brand that focuses around ‘all things comedy’. It’s called F.UR MUG (pronounced: /fur/ /muhg/), which is a double entendre meaning “Fuck Your Face”. It’s an edgy brand that is the world of our comically-odd imagination. We create and make comical content +18 and up, all for the purposes of pure entertainment. We welcome all Comedians, Comic Writers, and Comical Content Creators, including Podcasters with open arms and tentacles. For we posses the comical azimuth that you’ve been searching for.

F.UR MUG is an all encompassing comedy brand, that supports and fuels the inclusive interests of all things comedy. From Sketch Comedy, to Podcasts, to Open Forum Blogs, to Stand-Up Comedy Shows, to Short Films, as well as Feature Lengths. F.UR MUG is growing each day with comical creativity. Our most notable Social Media platform so far is with Instagram. We are currently expanding our content on to many other platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, and Apple Podcasts; or where ever you get your podcasts, as well as having it’s own website where all forms of content will be displayed and accessible at – www.furmug.com.

We own and operate a full state-or-the-art Recording Studio, with a 300 sqft recording room, a fully operational control room, with quality recording equipment in both the recording room and control room, along with an ISSO Recording Booth, equipped with a beautiful Neumann TLM 49 Microphone.

And while F.UR MUG’s main focus is on all things comedy, whether someone is interested in Podcasting or Filming a Skit in the studio, we do encourage and offer for people to utilize the space for other needs, such as, ADR, Voice Over (VO), Recording Vocals for Songs, or simply just needing a space for quality Sound Design and Editing.

We work hard, play hard (responsibly), and always enjoy a good fart joke. And while times are changing, I’m a big believer that comedy shouldn’t be canceled even if it isn’t in the taste of some. If a comedy was done well in the past and still holds up today, i.e. Blazing Saddles, Andrew Dice Clay, and even old Vaudeville, it can still be done today and it will still find it’s audience. You just have to have the balls to make it and stand by it. And that is what F.UR MUG is here for.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

Social Media! I’m a dinosaur when it comes to this. Just recently have I really disciplined myself to discover more about Social Media. I’m still new to it, as sad as that is to say, but I also had a lot of reservations before with not wanting to get involved with it. I assumed that it was just for personal use and not much of a place to really market yourself or your brand.

Now that I’ve given into it, I see the great potential that it has to offer. So don’t be afraid of it, and just jump in, the water is fine. Just steer clear of the Bermuda Triangle of bullshit thats floating around. Just stay true to your course and your brand, and don’t feed into the negative comments.

Especially as a Creative, you can develop so many amazing things, and utilize Social Media to get the word out and communicate with your fans. So far Instagram has been great to me and my brand F.UR MUG. I don’t post everyday, but within a year it’s gained 15k followers. I’m currently exploring many other platforms to expand.

Another great resource is the camera on your phone. Especially on the iPhone. As a filmmaker, I’d always think that I needed a fancy camera with a fancy rig, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I have distanced myself from shooting on a traditional camera, and have gravitated towards my iPhone. It’s picture is beautiful and if you understand composition and framing, then you can capture some great stuff with it.

Traditional cameras can slow you down, especially with the need to change lenses and dial in all the settings. If you’re a run-and-gun content creator, there’s no need to have a backpack full of gear, along with a bulky camera that won’t fit into tight places. Just whip your phone out of your back pocket and make it happen. Then in post you can add all the filters you want and color correct it to your desire.

Plus Apple is taking into consideration the ability an iPhone can film at, as well as many other companies that make accessories for it. So I predict that we will be seeing some amazing gear that will come from the use of our phones camera.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

When an idea comes to my mind, thats the first reward. The second reward is getting the idea out of my head and down onto paper or into my phone’s notes. The third is creating it. And the fourth is sharing it. But again the first and greatest reward is having an idea come to mind. That’s the ultimate high and enjoyment. Cause if your memory serves you well, and the idea was grand and detailed, it will live with you forever, and no one can take it out of your mind and away from you.

My imagination is grand, and my mind is always working alongside of it. Even in times of writer’s block, my mind is always turning and developing other imaginative ideas, and then eventually I’ll circle back onto what I was having the writer’s block on and find a way to complete my idea.

We all seem to communicate with our imagination, as if to be written and displayed in our own cuneiform. And everyone outside of our communication, is on a never ending journey to decipher it. But as our imagination grows, so does our communication with the world. We’re always on a quest to question the laws of our imagination, merely to find a solution for presenting it to reality. And sometimes that quest is instantaneous, other times it’s your whole existence. Either way of the outcome, your imagination is your greatest communication.

And therefore my imagination is my most rewarding aspect of being a Creative. Without it, I don’t know what I’d create.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.furmug.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/f.urmug/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@FUR_MUG

Image Credits

Doza Cardoza