We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daisy Torres a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Daisy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

How did you learn to do what you do? – I begin my editing/photography career in high school. I went to Enloe Magnet High School, and a lot of their arts were heavily funded. Therefore I was really grateful that our school had a video production class and a newscast show. I knew I always wanted to do something in production but I wasn’t sure what exactly. I signed up for a video production class where I learned everything about editing and then I transition to the Newsroom classroom called the Loe’Down. This is where my passion for editing grew, in this class, we had to create short video clips that promote a school club or sports teams, etc… Once we were done creating the short clips we would cast our video to live during the newsroom show. In our classroom, we had a newsroom stage where the news anchors could sit, equipped with high-tech cameras that had teleprompters and a green screen for the weather segment. We also had an editing room, where I learned how to use Final Cut Pro and Adobe Premiere on Apple computers. Lastly, there was the director’s room, where I directed the show for 3 years.

Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process?
– When I started editing in High School I wished I was more heavily involved with the video/film community so I could be able to network at a young age. To be able to connect with people in the same field as me. Especially as a woman of color in the post-production industry where you barely see anyone that looks like me in the field. I wish I networked with people sooner and been able to learn more in my career.

What skills do you think were most essential?
– As a freelancer, you will have times when you don’t have much work therefore it is the most essential to bounce back from a hard time where there is a lack of work, you have to continue to have the inspiration to move forward even in tough times.

What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
– Being raised in a community where there was a lack of opportunities, therefore one has to work 10x hard to even get near opportunities.

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

My name is Daisy Torres, a Mexican-American born in Corpus Christi, Texas yet was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. I am 24 years old, I’m the youngest of 3. At a young age, I wasn’t around art that much. My parents had multiple different types of jobs in order to make a living. As an immigrant family, it was definitely hard for us to make a living.

My love for art and film started when I and my dad would always watch movies. Going to the movies or picking a movie at the BlockBluster store was a thing we always did and I loved how movies would captivate me and make me feel a certain way about everything I watched a movie. and that is something I would like to achieve through my work as well. Whether it’s with video editing or photography, I would like to captivate people’s attention through my visual work.

I started creating art as a young kid, and when I went to community college I was a fine arts major where I took a lot of art classes. I then transfer to the University of North Carolina Wilmington to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Film Studies. Getting into UNCW was my dream school and it was one of my biggest accomplishments because I was the first in my family to go to college and earn a degree. I would like to set an example in the Latinx community, where they see brown women working on set, behind the scenes, and in the editing room. There aren’t many women in the production field and definitely women of color. Therefore I want to prove to myself that I can do it and set an example for younger girls. Especially my nieces who are still very young and I want them to be proud to have an aunt like me that sets an example.

I want my clients or anyone who I work with that I am dedicated and passionate in what I do. I want to grow and become a stronger video editor and photographer and I will do the best I can to achieve my client’s vision or anyone who I collab with.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Social media and networking

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

being friendly to those around you and network no matter if you don’t get anything out of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://daisynatorres98.wixsite.com/mysite-1
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capturedbydaise/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daisytorres20/

Image Credits
self-portraits: credited by Me