We were lucky to catch up with Anthony Ortiz recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Anthony thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
Back in 2021, I worked on narrative music video project that was one of the most fulfilling and meaningful projects I’ve ever worked on. It was a music video for the industrial rock band Vertigo Shock for a song named “Without A Face”.
My collaborator, Saehwan Lafayette Koo, hired me to direct it after I pitched him a crazy ambitious idea, a love story between a human and a sentient android. I never would have thought Saehwan would go for it, I thought it was too ambitious and too expensive. But, he urged for me to take it seriously. So I did,
After almost a year long process that felt like a roller coaster, we finally completed it and we loved what we had done. We didn’t know if other people would dig it or not. We had a premiere at the 2022 Santa Fe Springs Film Festival. The audience was glued to the screen as I watched from side stage, When the credits began to roll, there was a visceral uproar from the audience, that’s when it finally clicked for me that we had created something truly special. We weren’t crazy.
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 arts because of my mother. She was an entrepreneur herself, she witnessed the birth of the internet as it was in its infancy in the 1990’s. My mother raised us with her business as a graphic designer, marketer and web designer. As a pre-teen I was introduced to the performing arts because of her, I started to act in plays such as The Wizard of Oz, The Music Man, Beauty and the Beast and West Side Story. My mother also always encouraged me to learn to play the guitar and as a teenager I finally started to teach myself and joined bands in high school.
Once I graduated high school, I knew I wanted to do something creative, I got into videography and began to take it more seriously as time went on. I took my guitar playing to new levels when I started my band The Human Extinction. Now, I make short films, make music and I love to collaborate with other people.
I was fortunate enough to have such a motivational parent who believed in me. It taught me to believe in myself.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
“The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Covey is one of the best books that I’ve ever read and I constantly recommend it because it’s philosophy can be transposed to many aspects of life. I think about it’s ideas on almost a daily bases.
Another great book is one that I’m reading right now; “Tremendous: The Life of a Comedy Savage” by Joey Diaz. It’s a wild story of this comedian who used to be a criminal and even did time. It’s a great story about how no matter how messed up your situation is or how many times you’ve fallen down, you can always start over and turn your life around.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I once decided to make a major pivot in my life, it was about 6 months ago when I was getting burned out with my business. I began to struggle a lot financially and my mental health was starting to dwindle. I had been running my videography business full time for 2 years (but building it up for a decade) and I felt like a failure for not being able to sustain myself. I knew I had to pivot, to focus on me.
So I made the decision to go on hiatus from my business and focus on my mental health for a while. I have to say that it was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself. I finally put myself first after years of putting my businesses needs first. Now, I feel rejuvenated, rested, driven and more creative then I’ve ever been.
I learned that I am #1 in my life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://divergencestudios.wixsite.com/divergencestudios
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dvrg.tones/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcll6KoxQ3WUXCywYvqWQkA
- Other: Check out the narrative music video project I mentioned earlier. A Neo-noir sci-fi music film. A concept we are building into a trans-media project. Stay tuned for more story in the world we’ve built! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgmXZQp4Gz0 Seen at the Santa Fe Springs Film Festival and Los Angeles Sci-Fi Film Festival!
Image Credits
La Reyna Studio