We recently connected with Carlos Avitia aka Avitiuh and have shared our conversation below.
Avitiuh, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
Since I was a kid, I remember messing around with the editing program and webcam on the family computer making goofy YouTube videos. This turned into getting my first camcorder to film skate parts with my friends and eventually, shooting my first music video. I really wanted to add a new flavor to the video scene here in Oklahoma and bring ideas to life! In the end, my mission is to make art that people can connect with for every mood.
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 background and context?
I am a filmmaker (director, cinematographer, video editor) and music artist from a small town in Oklahoma. I’ve always had a passion for film and started shooting and editing videos when I was 14. I started with skate videos and video game edits but now I do everything from music videos, short films, and event recaps, to commercials, trailers, and travel videos. If you’re looking for someone to really bring your ideas to life then I’m the guy! I’m most proud of the eye I have for catching out-of-the-ordinary shots and the ideas that I can come up with to make a video pop. I truly believe that everything I do is for the art first.
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
Originally, shooting music videos was a side hustle I was doing while working in retail. I used to film small recap videos until one day a friend of mine asked me if I could shoot her a music video in early 2020. After watching a few YouTube tutorials I thought, “I could pull this off.” and I did! I shot that and then shortly after, I met Sweetlife (dope photographer and creative duo) and we started directing and filming with hella different artists. After a year of shooting music videos, the store I worked at closed down after COVID hit and I decided that, that was the push I needed to turn my side hustle into my full-time career. My clientele was steady enough that I felt like it was a good time and it’s only grown from that point! One of the key milestones so far was seeing a video I directed & edited, premiere on a big screen and getting to watch a full audience react to it. That was pretty cool haha. Another milestone would be another video I did being positively reviewed on Rolling Stone and almost hitting 300k views!
Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?
I honestly keep in touch with most clients through social media by showing love when I can and interacting through posts. I think it’s important to build these relationships off genuine energy and never try to force it too much if you don’t click with someone. If they really rock with you then they’ll probably want to work more! Luckily, I think I’ve clicked with a lot of my clients which has led to real friendships and it just makes the work that much smoother and fun.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avitiuh/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/avitiuh
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHm9XOVkFNRfsoDyTIS23nQ
- Other: Portfolio: https://vimeo.com/akalos
Image Credits
Sweetlife Daniel Vo