We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Andrew Molina. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Andrew below.

Andrew, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?

When it comes to commercials and short form videos I’ve seen the growth of the “in house” filmmaker/creative or “in house agency.” Part of it may be the insane amount of media that needs to created just to fill in the blanks across websites, apps, open TV, campaigns, events and launches. The good news is, every one needs a filmmaker and films (or videos) to promote their brand. When this trend first started I felt sidelined, but then all these companies would still invite me to collaborate with the “in house creatives.” I guess there is enough work to go around. Of course there were moments when I thought, maybe I should look into an in-house job myself and forget the independent hustle.
Are creatives, filmmakers, directors and producers prime employees for big companies? I think right now it feels we are essential, but if there is an economic downturn we’ll be the first to be shown the exit door and all those dreams about owning company stock and being employee number (pick on below 10) will get shattered in a nanosecond.
As far as anecdotes, I’ll generalize it since it’s happened more than three times. An “in-house” creative will tell me he/she is working on writing a script (or a campaign), then months will go by and they are still working on the same project. Maybe the project comes to fruition and maybe it doesn’t, but it doesn’t sound like this can be a job justifiable to a suit in the finance department writing a six figure check for creatives services.Then a couple months later I’ll check in with the person and surprise! They are at another company or even worse, looking for new opportunities.
In conclusion, I don’t feel the culture of a creative person mixes well with a corporate structure. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but it’s certainly a trend.

Andrew, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a filmmaker and that can mean a lot of things so let me explain.
As a lover of films I went to Chapman University because I wanted to make movies. I wanted every part of the experience, so I got to write, direct and produce. Before finishing film school I started doing music videos and also produced a couple of indie films. This led to me to commercials. I learned that a lot of my filmmaker heroes directed commercials and were associated with production companies, so that became my next goal.

I flew to Colombia where I grew up and started a production company with friends that were in advertising. The pitch was, come to LA and we’ll shoot your commercial for the LatAm audience with the wonderful casting and sunny days you find in the west coast. To keep prices competitive I put my indie producing hat on and ran productions more like Living in Oblivion (the 1995 film directed by Tom DiCillo) and less like a Nike commercial. It got me to work with LOWE, Wunderman, BBDO and McCann. More importantly it built my director reel that I would then pass around in LA trying to get local work.
That work opened the door to TV promos for ABC, WB, FOX and later Apple and Netflix.
I’ve experienced almost every aspect of making a film (feature, short, commercial, documentary, music video, corporate video) and love every part of it, from inception to execution to release.
Of course making a feature film takes years, so most of the time I’m doing short-form projects for a varied clientele.

I believe what sets me apart is that I’m a hybrid. I’m able to adapt from a big set (film or TV) to a small interview with a CEO at a tech company. I enjoy working on set, but I also love being on the road living out of a suitcase (one of my favorite shoots was doing a campaign for NIKE in 17 days across three continents).

The greatest thing about the journey has been learning, every single day. I feel like every day I learn about a story, a person, a business or a product. All fascinating. But all this learning comes from the interactions with people from all walks of life from different parts of the world and that is really what I get to take with me forever.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Not knowing how to say “no.”
Every time you get a phone call, email or invitation to write, pitch, bid or participate on a job I see it as an open window. It may not be exactly what I want, but it’s an opportunity to discover something new. I’ve always been willing to explore and see what is on the other side. That has been the fabric of my work history and probably my reputation.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Once you get to direct a film (of any length) you’ll spend the rest of your life finding a way to direct again.

It’s pretty amazing to bring a group of people together for a short amount of time, spend a ton of money and capture some images that will then be rearranged and put together for other people to see. The experience is usually magical and the finished product is always quite an accomplishment.

And then, once that wheel is moving you want to find stories that you want to tell and tell them your way. It’s a journey and it never ends.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.salaryman.me
• Instagram: @kintarosalaryman
• Linkedin: MrAndrewMolina
• Twitter: @drewmolina
• Other: imdb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0596636/

Image Credits

Sarah Brandes, Michael Rizzi, Byron Werner