We were lucky to catch up with Bryan Vaca recently and have shared our conversation below.
Bryan , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
My most meaningful project to date is my directorial short film debut, “Missing in Pink” that I wrote, directed, produced and co-edited last summer. Back in early July, I was brainstorming ideas for a new digital series with a friend. With Barbenheimer coming up, one idea was a dramedy where Oppenheimer met his new next door neighbor Barbie and the chaos that would ensue as their worlds clashed. However, the SAG-AFTRA strike started later that month and they published restrictions on digital content promoting projects by struck studios. While I loved the idea, I saw this time as an opportunity for something I had always wanted to create: a short film.
These new limitations guided my creativity and I decided to drop the Oppenheimer angle in favor of an original story with the Barbie characters. In this version, Barbie and her friends would be portrayed as real people instead of dolls. I grounded the concept on the issue of sacrificing your authenticity to uphold a public image and the mental toll that can take on a person. I took inspiration from my own personal struggles of feeling the need to put on a persona for others instead of being myself. Deciding to represent yourself as you are and not what others want you to be is terrifying. What if people do not accept you for you? What if those people are the ones you’re closest to? I imagined this challenge would be the right fit for Barbie, a seemingly perfect personality with a life to match. What if she could be anything, except herself?
Although I was facing a lot of obstacles like budget, appropriate shooting locations and an unprecedented Hollywood strike, I was determined to get this project made. I will never forget the journey this film took the cast, crew, and I on. I wanted to try something entirely different from my past projects to get me out of my comfort zone. Early in the process, I often felt imposter syndrome because I had never directed a project of this scale. I did not have all the equipment I thought I would need, and my budget was not Dream House material. However, my closest friends signed on to support me as my crew and seeing my passion behind the film, my dad helped finance the project. To work around the strike, I signed a micro-budget agreement with SAG-AFTRA to clear all actors working on this film.
To lock in the cast, I posted a casting call on my Instagram story, and I was not expecting the response it received. Everyone wanted to play Barbie! We had a stacked cast of talent. We shot for five days in various locations like Beverly Hills, Malibu, friends’ apartments, and a park. Pink was everywhere! In Beverly Hills, we were constantly stopped by a tourist bus and onlookers taking pictures of us and in Malibu, curious beachgoers cheered us on in between takes. The cast had incredible chemistry too, especially Lexi Brandt, Sina Tadayon, and Richmond Keeling portraying Barbie, Ken, and Ryan, respectively. We had a lot of fun making this film. I even cast myself in a cameo role as Allan during the second week because what’s Barbie without him? One of my favorite moments was when Sina and Richmond improv a whole argument about which beach was better, Malibu or Santa Monica (it’s too good to miss I put it after the end credits).
After a month in post-production, we were ready to send it out into the world and held the premiere in Pasadena on September 2nd thanks to my friend Tim Cason and CTRL Collective. Standing onstage to present the film to an 80 person audience of my family and friends was a dream come true. The cast and crew worked extremely hard to bring my vision to life and I will never forget the experience of making that film. I am grateful for every single person who worked in front of the camera, behind the scenes, and helped make the project and its premiere a reality. To watch the film we loved creating, you can find it on my YouTube channel!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I am a multi hyphenate creative working in the entertainment industry. I’m a director, producer, writer, and novice actor involved in film, music videos, and social media videos. At my core, I’m an artist and I’m excited to share more about my creative journey with others.
I had never considered a filmmaking career until I was in my first year of college. However, I was always creative and valued storytelling since I was ten years old. As a kid, I created my own paper miniatures of my favorite movie characters and enjoyed arts and crafts. As I got older, I loved to constantly read fiction books like Percy Jackson and the Olympians and paint a picture of the words in my head. In high school, I wrote my own spoken word poetry to perform them on stage and enjoyed musicals so much I wrote my own version of “Another Day of Sun” from La La Land for my promposal. I didn’t know it then, but these creative experiments were the building blocks towards what would draw me in towards telling a story for others to experience. I explored all the ways to tell a story. To be honest, I fell in love (and keep falling in love) with different artistic mediums but there was nothing like how they culminated visually.
In the filmmaking space, I am a director, writer and producer. While at USC, I took a variety of film classes such as TV production, writing for dramatic television, entertainment entrepreneurship and short-form storytelling to find my voice and broaden my creative taste. Initially, my work skewed towards drama and thrillers but I expanded my range with drama-comedies and comedy. In the social media space, I brought my filmmaking skills to brand campaigns with Amazon Prime Student and La Roche Posay as well as working with creators such as Alan Chikin Chow, Matt Steffanina and Leo Gonzalez. Post-college, I am producing and editing music videos, directing my first short film, starring in my own short narrative videos, and working on sets as a PA. Currently, I am building and expanding my portfolio planning and shooting new work. In every project I am involved in, I figure out the most efficient way to use budgets and resources while staying true to the creative vision of the project. It’s not always easy but when you’re an up and coming creative, you need to be resourceful and innovative in how you use the tools at your disposal at the start of your career. I always see restrictions and limitations as opportunities.
I am most proud of the body of work I have created over the years and the creative journey that has led me to develop my own creative style. To me, the journey is always more important than the destination. I’ve found inspiration from a variety of artists and projects like Tim Burton, Damien Chazelle, The Weeknd, Labrinth, Kanye West, Lana Del Rey, Euphoria, Uncut Gems and so much more. I am constantly experimenting with genre, concepts, and characters. I initially centered my work around Tim Burton’s style creating creepy and stylistic thrillers and evolved towards making drama comedies with underlying themes on mental health. Although I did not pick up a camera until high school, the power of characters and stories drew me into filmmaking and using the visual medium to uplift those two aspects.
What sets me apart is my background in exploring and combining different creative disciplines. I may not be a musician or fashion designer, but I obsess listening to different musical sounds and studying clothing choices to complement visuals. It’s all art. Film directors, like musicians and fashion designers, create pieces of work with their own unique flair, personality, and voice. I am not afraid to try new things and enjoy simply letting my creative juices flow especially when brainstorming with other creatives. With every creative project, I attempt to add more dimension and style. As I meet more artists from different disciplines, I am inspired by everyone’s perspective and taste. Learning more about what sets others’ hearts on fire led me to believe in chasing your passion and supporting yourself in where you place your energy the most.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The first ever movie I remember watching was Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas in 1st grade. I remember being immediately drawn to the characters from Halloween Town, from their unique designs to the way they moved on screen. I would read books and watch behind the scenes clips of how they made that film. Hearing the crew’s stories on what it took to create the look and feel of the film inspired me to be creative in any way I could. That year, I dug through my dad’s garage and found black styrofoam that I used to recreate my own miniature versions of the film sets. I used whatever materials I could get my hands on – mostly paper – and made my own Jack Skellington puppet. I even brought them to school to show my friends in class. This early experience showed me how rewarding the creative journey is, especially seeing your vision come alive alongside talented people putting the work in to make it happen.
When working on creative projects, it’s more about the journey to create something from nothing rather than the destination of having a product. For me, nothing compares to the euphoric feeling of seeing your vision leap from your mind through the page to standing right in front of you. When I created my version of the Barbie characters, I worked endlessly with my friends on wardrobe and looks. When the first shooting day came, I was ecstatic to see Barbie and her friends walk down Rodeo Drive on a shopping spree. From a sassy guardian angel named Perry to an adventurous ghost named Autumn to Thing from The Addams Family, the feeling of bringing something to life never loses its spark for me in my projects. It’s part of the reason why I love being an artist. Each creation has a little bit of me in them and I cherish letting them run wild into the world.
Just as important as what you bring to life is who brings it to life with you. It really does take a village and it’s crucial to surround yourself with collaborators who understand your vision and can use their skills to execute that vision. When I’ve worked with creatives on music videos, digital content, short films and more, the time spent on set was always fulfilling because of a strong creative vision at play and talented people to believe in it. Making art is hard but worth it. You can do projects on your own, but when you bring other passionate creatives into the mix, the energy is electrifying and the moments uplifting.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Up until my first year in college, I always prided myself on my academic performance and got most of my validation from keeping my grades up in school. I focused most of my time studying for exams, writing essays, and more to achieve the highest GPA. For a while, I was happiest when my report card made my parents proud. Teachers would commend me on my academic accomplishments and recommend career paths that they thought I would find the most success in like being a doctor, lawyer, businessman, politician, engineer etc. However, college admissions and my freshman year of college forced me to ask myself what I genuinely valued in life.
Applying to colleges my senior year of high school was brutal, especially when it came to picking a major. The best school that accepted me was UC San Diego, a STEM-heavy institution (as a communication major) and it took nearly the whole guidance counselor department to convince me to choose it over my local state school. I hesitantly accepted. Still unsure about my path as every freshman in college, I decided to test the waters with a variety of classes. I took a chemistry class designed for STEM majors, business accounting classes, and a film class about cult classics. By January, I was severely burnt out, and left with even more questions about my future. Academics didn’t give me the same fulfillment as it always had that year, and I had to figure out why.
By exploring my interests, I realized I was drawn to the arts and humanities but never gave it serious thought as a career path. I was a first-generation student. While a great accomplishment to be the first in my family to attend college, I was severely limited in my knowledge of all the potential careers out there. All I ever knew were traditional stable paths that could set you up for the most success. But I had to look back to understand the way forward. I had read a lot of fiction books throughout middle and high school; in 12th grade I performed spoken word in front of my entire school; and as a college freshman, I was all over my Greek and Roman classics humanities classes. Creativity was the one thing consistent in my life. Through dozens of meetings with professors, career guidance counselors, and guest speakers/professionals, I acknowledged how deeply I valued the power of creative storytelling. I needed to be in an industry that valued it too, so I pivoted towards career paths in the entertainment and media industries.
At first, it was overwhelming and felt impossible. I came from a family of Mexican immigrants who had made countless sacrifices to build a life and survive in the US. Chasing your passion is an afterthought. It’s scary to chase what sets your heart on fire in a world designed to force you to focus only on surviving, but we owe it to ourselves to try. I wholeheartedly wanted to take a chance on myself and follow this dream of getting involved in this creative industry. I became determined to transfer to my original dream college, the University of Southern California (USC), despite a hefty price tag and competitive admissions. I successfully transferred in and took on as many entertainment opportunities and met as many people as I could. I joined the professional cinematic arts society Delta Kappa Alpha (DKA), enrolled in every kind of film and entertainment class, and networked with successful alumni. I felt fulfillment like I hadn’t felt in a while during my time at USC. It felt like this crazy dream could be a reality and it wasn’t all in my head after all. I had found my place.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hoo.be/bryanvaca
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bryanvaca/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-vaca-8aa571194
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@madvision1997
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@itsbryanvaca
- Email: bvaca1997@gmail.com
Image Credits
Trips_flicks, Marco Bizio, Brian Terada, Grace Harrison, Roberto Sanchez