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

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

The first time I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was as a kid watching movies and shows I loved. I remember catching interviews with stars like Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy and I remember how watching a show or a movie would make me feel and telling myself, “I want to make people feel what I feel”. I was probably 8 or 9 when I realized that the people that created this content made a living from it.

As a teen and young adult I ended up having to forget about any pursuit of artistic work becoming a career because, growing up in a hispanic family, it was important to my parents that I receive a “proper education”, which meant going to school for a degree in a field that could provide financial security and comfort to me. After receiving my degree in Operations Management I never really felt a desire to pursue anything in that field. I really got the degree to honor my parents. I worked jobs in banking/finance, BioMedical, and retail.

I actually didn’t revisit any desire to pursue a professional artistic path until about 2014 when I was a part of a reality show called “Best in Bridal”. The show aired on AE Network, FYI, for one season and focused on the “Bridal Wars” between an all male bridal salon and an all female bridal salon in the Chicagoland area. To be honest, working on that season of “Best in Bridal” sparked a desire in me to learn more about the filmmaking industry. However, it wasn’t until a few years later that I pursued those desires.

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 grew up in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. I lived there until I was 10 years old and then moved to the United States. I was always fascinated with movies, particularly how stories were told through the medium of film. I always felt a call to be involved in sharing story, I just didn’t know how I would do it.

As I mentioned previously, I’ve had many different jobs throughout my life, from BioMedical to banking to operating a bridal salon, my life has had a lot of little lives within it. In 2014 I really had my first exposure to the industry while working on a reality show called “Best in Bridal”. Through that experience I fell in love with the creative process, developing a narrative story, and the execution of content. After that experience ended I went back to the BioMedical field until 2020.

In late 2019 I was approached by an old friend and was asked if I would read a script that he wrote and if I would give him my thoughts on it. I read the script and at first, I couldn’t tell you whether it was a comedy or a drama, but there was something intriguing about unpacking the story. The part that truly drew me to the script was how it was written from my friend’s own experiences. Once I found out that it was a comedy, I re-read the script and asked him if he would be willing to develop this 14 page script into something with an arc. He agreed to do so and we spent the next few months meeting 2-3 times per week to work on this script based on his work experiences. When we finished with the script and it was time for us to talk about what would be next for it I had a thought pop into my head, “what if we actually filmed and produced it?”.

I remember thinking about when I was a kid wanting to have a space that would be the genesis for original content and where people could bring their creativity and we would make fun and entertaining films and tv shows. I ended up pitching the idea of us filming the script ourselves and starting a production company. From that point on, with my family’s support, I went through the steps of starting my film production company BrightCap Entertainment. I brought my friend, Dallas Madrid, in as a partner for the first few years and we went all in on his script titled, “Sparky: The First Workplace Comedy About The Trades”. Dallas, who created the show also starred in it and I directed it. We held auditions for the rest of the cast, assembled a crew, and set filming dates.

Now again, this was in 2020, and as we all know in March of 2020 the government shut down physical human interactions due to Covid-19. Fortunately, we didn’t let that stop us from interacting over zoom meetings and table reads and finding creative ways to continue mastering our craft. When the mandates began lifting later in the summer of 2020 we began filming with Covid protocols in place, which we executed with excellence. It was an experience I will never forget and that tv pilot concept became the first BrightCap Entertainment production.

When I think back, I think the execution of that first production set the table for not only what I was capable of, but what a collaborative group focused on one goal was capable of. We didn’t have a true budget, we didn’t have amazing resources, hell, we didn’t even have the “right” equipment, but we were resourceful with everything we had. We gave everything to that production and pushed the limits of what we could do. This has been the heart of BrightCap since day one, we will share your story and put all we have behind it.

This continues to be evident in our productions to this day. Through that experience we’ve been able to film and produce 3 tv pilot concepts, multiple short films, international music videos, and countless promos for businesses in the Chicagoland area. Always giving our best and creating value beyond the funding, this has been our specialty. This past year we received multiple awards for the latest short film I directed called “Life Unexpected”, including the CPIFF “Best of Fest: Drama Short Film”. This opened a lot of peoples eyes in terms of what the team at BrightCap and I are capable of. I’m excited for our future and what’s ahead. We know that big dreams require massive action, and we continue to move forward and take action, and I’m beyond grateful to lead the charge.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There have been so many times I’ve wanted to give up. The daunting task of a project can overwhelm you. From pre-production, to production, to post-production, there are always challenges that test your resilience. I remember the day of our last shoot for “Life Unexpected” we were filming a party scene. So, as I’m preparing to be on my way to the set, which was in Chicago at duplex apartment, I got a call from our sound guy saying that he won’t be able to make it that evening due to a conflict. So now we have to look for a new sound guy to cover.

I call my connects, another one of our producer calls his connects, and finally I am able to get a hold of a sound guy who ended up coming through for us. However, even that had its own challenges. A new sound operator, understanding their workflow, syncing equipment, going over blocking of a scene, these were some of the challenges we were trying to overcome that evening. We also had additional challenges that evening. One of our producers, who was also helping in the crew, was recovering from shoulder surgery and couldn’t really help too much due to potentially aggravating the repaired shoulder. We had another one of our producers who was stuck in traffic and got to the shoot about 1.5 hours late. We were also already short a crew member, and I had just returned back a few days earlier from my grandfathers funeral in Puerto Rico.

The weight of these challenges falls on the director, and on that day we had about 20 background actors that also needed direction. So, I had to make a choice and decide what kind of director I wanted to be that day. I had to ask myself, did I want to be a quitter and push the shoot to another day? No. Did I want to capture great footage for what I believed would be a great short film? Yes. So, we did.

I ended up wearing many hats that day. I was determined to get the shots I needed to get, no matter what. I proceeded to ask one of our producers to give everyone there the PSA about starting late and the very real possibility that we would end late. I also spoke to the actors and broke down the situation and how we would proceed. Another one of our producers bought food and drinks for everyone and we pushed forward. For the most part things went well. It did take a while to get that shoot done and we didn’t wrap the evening until 3am, but I was able to walk away going, “we got everything we needed” and everyone was extremely professional.

Sometimes you just aren’t sure what you are capable of until you’re in the fire and you see what impurities can be burned off and what precious metals stay attached. This was an occasion where I definitely needed to lean on the resilience to push through and to get to the finish line, even if the finish line is at 3am. I’m thankful for the support I did have that day. Many people did step into roles not even designated to them, and that made me so proud to be a part of that production.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I believe that the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is creating something that has an impact on at least one person. The way you make people feel is how they will remember you, so as an artist, the reward is in the feeling that you can help evoke. People will attach themselves to stories that they feel speak into who they are. In the human experience we all have things in common, and when you find that commonality of something familiar, something transcendent, something that will remain in a persons heart forever, that is a reward no one can ever take away from you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brightcapent.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imashleyephraim/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imAshleyEphraim
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyephraim/
• Twitter: https://x.com/AshleyEphraim
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@brightcapent
• Other: https://linktr.ee/ashleyephraim

Image Credits

Mason Runkle
Bruce Colasuono
Paully G.