We were lucky to catch up with Carlos Camacho recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Carlos, thanks for joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I can’t think of myself in a world where I’m not creative. My life has always revolved around film. My first job when I was in high school was working in a movie theater, and I quickly moved up to projectionist, which was my position until toward the end of college when theaters went all digital. My knowledge of 35mm projectors was no longer needed. While most can consider that a “regular job”, it really wasn’t. I loved threading film and ensuring the quality of the presentation, which in itself is an art form. It allowed me to watch almost every movie released during my tenure there. Countless hours alone in the booth allowed me to lay the groundwork for several ideas I am building on today. Between being a projectionist and working in film, I had one regular job at a liquor superstore and my existence there was monotonous. My work ethic was rewarded but that was far removed from where I wanted to be.

For a little over a decade now, I’ve built a solid career in the non-scripted world of film and television. Starting off as a production assistant, I connected with people in camera and lighting and every subsequent show I was brought on to work, I moved up the ladder. I’ve been a utility, a grip, a gaffer, tech assistant, assistant camera, focus puller, video engineer, camera operator, and a director of photography. I do still find the time to write and direct my own projects because I am always going to strive for more and to be seen. My latest work, “Alizarin Crimson”, has been touring a lot of European Festivals and some smaller American fests. Do I think about what it would be like to have a regular job? Absolutely not. The idea of not knowing what tomorrow’s work day will look like is always exciting. I remember being on a show that was indecisive about what country we were going to with mere days before the travel date! The chaos of film production is what I live for. I have thought about where I’d be if different paths were taken, but I’ve never been dissatisfied with the path I’m on.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I knew I wanted to make movies from a very young age. I went to the library every couple of days to check out movies to watch at home just because I had never seen them. I attended Kennedy High School as they have a film magnet program. Here is when I really gained my love for horror films. Between a few film buff friends, we’d borrow each other’s DVD and VHS, always trying to one up each other with gore levels. After high school, I did a summer program called Inner-City Filmmakers, which can be seen as a boot camp of what the studio experience is like. We were put on teams of six and by the end of the summer, we worked on six films, one that was written and directed by each member. My short, “Buggin’ Out”, was definitely the beginning of the genre bending that I enjoy doing, as it starts off as a romantic surfer film, but our female lead has ulterior motives.

In college, I focused on screenwriting, which helped me to really map out a film, and learn how to take and give constructive criticism. Getting my degree really felt like a great accomplishment, but getting into the industry was the next big challenge. I knew there was no wrong way, and that interning would really help guide me on any path. I initially interned in post-production at BlueEyed Pictures, a commercial production company. It didn’t take long there that I knew I did not want to work in post. I did, however, get to meet some directors who would bring me on to some ads as a utility, helping with camera and lighting.

What really set me on this path was when a friend of mine needed to find a production assistant on a reality show. I took the gig which was supposed to just be one night. I ended up on the rest of the show and moved up to Key PA. It was on that show that I got to work closely with camera and lighting, learning the gear front to back. The gaffer of that show then brought me on to Basketball Wives as a lighting utility. This led me to the crew that I’ve worked with the longest, and the show that also brought me up the chain to assistant camera, and eventually camera operator. From there, I’ve worked countless projects and big shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, and “Selling Sunset”, and documentaries like “The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne”, and the upcoming “The Butthole Surfers Movie”.

My goal has always been to write, direct, and produce films. So one of my best friend’s, Anthony Zindroski, and I founded our production company, Luxta Productions. Here, we’ve produced a couple of horror shorts: “To Have and To Hold” (which has been included in a compilation film on Tubi called “Lady Chokey presents: Scary Stories”) and “Alizarin Crimson” which has been making its way around the festival circuit, finding great success in Europe, having won Best Cinematography in Germany. It was also nominated for four awards in Mexico. We’re hoping for a hometown festival in Los Angeles soon! We are also developing a couple of shorts and have a feature ready to go! So we have exciting things coming and we are hoping that we can attract more eyes on it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My main drive is to write and direct horror films. It’s the genre I love and I’d want to explore all of the realms within the umbrella. With some of the projects coming up we have a body horror, a sci-fi horror, and a creature feature that we are trying to produce. Beyond my own projects, we would also like to produce other people’s films. We have a few writer’s in-house and want to create ideas for other people that could use a chance behind the director’s chair. I don’t want Luxta Productions to just be synonymous with “a Carlos Camacho film”. We want to tell all sorts of stories from the eyes of different people.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The thing I find most rewarding as an artist or creative is the finished product. Having a due date is crucial to finish your work, and I am tweaking little things here and there that the general audience may never notice right up until the last minute. I can have declared something is at Final Cut, but once there, if we haven’t hit the due date, I’m tweaking sounds by mere decibels and cuts by mere frames, until I am fully satisfied. Of course, once it’s out there in the world I have this nervousness, like I almost want to take everything back. For me, the reward really hits when the audience responds to the final product, especially when they react to cues I was intentionally looking for. It’s the moment that really tells me “it worked”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://luxta.film
• Instagram: @luxtaproductions @theshapeshifter333
• Facebook: Carlos Camacho
• Linkedin: Carlos Camacho, Luxta Productions Inc.
• Twitter: @LuxtaFilm
• Youtube: Luxta Productions
• Other: Vimeo: Luxta Productions

Image Credits

In order of appearance: Scotty McClure, Lilly Lilova (@lillylilova), Betsybelle Camacho, Betsybelle Camacho, Betsybelle Camacho, Antares (@estrella_solar92), Kalina Hall (@kalina.hair.artist), Chris Neville (@guillermo_phantasma), Luigi Ventura (@luigiimagery).