Hi Diego, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?
I hope my legacy is showing that it’s okay to find your own creative voice, that you don’t have to always follow trends or conform to make a stamp in the world. I want any future director to know it’s okay to leave a piece of you in each project to let the world know who you are, push your boundaries, let your passion through
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 the industry after I made a short film with my friends back in 2013. I had little knowledge of anything, I just knew I wanted to make films. It premiered on Halloween 2013, it was nerve wrecking, but I knew it’s what I wanted, after that I told myself I’ll jump into music videos to really sharpen my skills. After that it was a snowball effect I kept trying to shoot as much as I cousin between my regular job. Shooting different artist, until I got the opportunity to film a video for Icewear Vezzo, filming that video was really the catalyst for where I’m at now. Him and I had a great run before he went to prison, he really helped my career in the early stages, we had a feature with Gucci Mane, then when he went to prison, there was a weird gap in my career, and in the city I’d Detroit, didn’t seem like a lot was happening, but after that I was being contacted by different artist, between 2017-2019 it felt like it was non stop, to the point I quit my job in January 2018. Taking the leap of faith was the best thing to happen to me. I was afraid but I knew I had what it took to pursue this, I got the opportunity to work with other artist such as Tee Grizzley, Joyner Lucas, Sada Baby and many others. I really concentrated on doing more narrative and conceptual videos. That became my signature. At the end of 2019 I wanted a change and I moved to the east coast, the purpose was to expand my brand there and it was happening, the beginning of 2020 seemed promising, I landed a directing job for Fabolous, and I was excited and then Covid hit the world, seemed like everything I worked hard for was for nothing, there were no productions out there happening, I knew I had to make my way back home, the Fabolous video was such a big thing for me, the production company I was with, Shot Selection, but that okay together for me, and when I came back home people were still filming and the Detroit music scene was at this point that the whole world was catching on, what seemed like a curse was really a blessing, I made my way back home, and from that point I felt like it was non stop. I created a team over here, and from this point now I knew my next steps have to be film and tv. Which is what my goal for 2023 is and will be.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
What set me apart from other people was being versatile. I can create a great narrative video, really plan out a story from top to bottom execute the video and deliver the message or I can just shoot a run and gun video and make something out of nothing
Any advice for managing a team?
Getting to know your team and having constant communication with them, I’m nothing without them, I put them first always, but I also give them breathing room to make their own stamp in the industry
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/directedbydiego?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/user/RuptureReality
Image Credits
Sean Gonzales Hazz