Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Andrés Mejía Plazas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Andrés thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Who is your hero and why? What lessons have you learned from them and how have they influenced your journey?
Pedro Almodóvar is by far my favorite director and it’s special to me that I also get to bond with his movies because they’re in Spanish. I’m so used to relating to movies in English, but to finally find my type of films in my own language means there is a deeper connection between his work and mine because everyone might get it the way I do. His movies have taught me to be unapologetic about myself, but also he developed a great sense of style throughout his career. He is not afraid to be both stylish and trashy when the plot calls for it and I think that’s how recognize an auteur. No one can do the films he makes and not even someone who can emulate him. I am very happy to have him as an inspiration, but I am also very happy for the way my style differs from his.
Andrés, 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?
I am a film writer, director, and producer. So far, I have made two short films which are currently in post-production and from there I plan for them to have a film festival run. The first is a drama called “What if Birds Aren’t Singing, They’re Screaming” shot in April of 2022 and the second is a comedy called “SACRILEGE!” shot in June of 2023. It took me a while to pick the first one up to finish editing and I have grown a lot as a filmmaker since then so we had to change a few things in order for me to reflect who I am today instead of the person I was back when we filmed it. Now that I can see the film a bit more objectively, I can remove myself from it and see what I wish I had done differently, but what struck me the most is that now I get where it’s coming from. When you write you make unconscious decision that just feel right, so now I understand where did those choices come from and that made me see how honest of a film it is and that’s what still makes me proud of it.
And now I’m so excited for people to get to see “SACRILEGE!” because the tone is lighter and we worked on the comedy and the jokes for too long so I can’t wait to see an audience react to them. It does feel like a continuation of the first short-film, not story-wise since it’s not the same characters, but the themes are kind of similar and even though “SACRILEGE!” feels like a more immature film because of how Gen Z the sense of humor is, but I think it’s way more personal and more irreverent, more “me” too and I think that’s what shows how much I’ve grown.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
If you had asked me what my biggest dream was at around 2019, I would have said music video director but now that I know a lot more of the craft and how rich film history is, I would never change it for anything else in the world. There are so many art-forms involved in film: you can choreograph, you can sing, act, use music, there’s costumes, architecture, interior design, color theory, sound design, and even literature. A music video director can absolutely use all those things, but film takes a lot more time to prepare and it represents a huge chunk of your life.That’s what makes it more fulfilling and what makes the artist as important as the art because you are really putting your entire time and energy into a single project.
The turning point for me was probably making a production binder that included everything for my short first short film. To write down every thought I had about creating the story and how I planned to develop it, and to see every single detail fleshed out meant a lot to me. I would still love to direct music videos because music inspires my work very much, so to be able to pay that back would be a pleasure as well.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I have a folder of notes in my phone if small ideas I have come up with throughout the years. I have it in handy because the back of mi mind is always trying to work them out so that at one point I can develop them into feature films. Every time I start working on a project I check all my notes so I can see what might fit the project I am about to start and figure out what’s useful. I don’t want to rest until that folder is empty. I want all those ideas used or maybe thrown out because I grew out of them but I see it almost like a checklist.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @andres.mejiap
- Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/andrés-mejía-032a40290
- Twitter: @mejiaplaandres
- Other: Letterboxd: https://boxd.it/4kMp1
Image Credits
Liu “Neil” Lingyu