We recently connected with Christian D. Nelson and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Christian D., thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

A journey in film parallels life in many ways. It’s a struggle to discover your cinematic style and creative vision, and the work needed to be put in, is the same as learning to be confident and truly knowing yourself. I learned to do this by simply moving forward. Against all odds; I move forward. Insecurity, lack of confidence, financial instability and depression plagued me heavily growing up and there is absolutely no separating those struggles from my journey as a filmmaker. In those times, I had to fight to survive and my rewards were learning patience, persistence, humbleness and deep self-awareness. These are skills I take with me into the stories I imagine in my head and the moving pictures I paint on the screen.

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

I have been working as a director, writer, producer, composer, video editor and cinematographer for almost 15 years. Everything I create has a unmistakable mark of my own unique experiences and artistic style. This dedication to creating bleeds into my complete respect for someone else’s vision just as I would want for my own. I take pride in my willingness to learn from any situation and utilize my skills for others. I have and continue to pass my experiences and advice by working with numerous youth organizations, schools, film programs and non-profits in my hometown.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In 2013, I was accepted into Columbia College Chicago, the first college I applied to and the school of my dreams. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long afterwards that I learned I wouldn’t be able to go. My family just couldn’t afford the high costs of the college or any college at that. That hit my confidence and my soul so hard it depressed me more than I could ever know. It took time, over a year to gain the awareness of the state of my being. I had to heal and I chose to heal through work. I dived deep into film and made a promise to myself: “If I can’t go to school to learn film, I will learn film through my own blood, sweat and tears.” From that moment on, I have never stopped moving forward. I gained knowledge, advice and perspective by working alongside many creative individuals and I cannot underestimate how impactful those relationships have been and still are. I was taught by struggle, graded by self-reflection and graduated to a be passionate filmmaker and better person.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

Totally 100% whack! Don’t waste your time. Life is a bitch and you need all your time, energy and money put into something tangible. Put value into the things that are real and don’t need to be sold as a “promise for realness” like love, family and physical media! God Lord, if it ain’t real, I can’t deal!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reelretroprods.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/cnelsonsays
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cnelsonnelson39/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/reelretroprods
• Other: https://vimeo.com/reelretroprods