We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Elio Castello. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Elio below.
Elio, appreciate you joining us today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
When I decided to get into this business 15 years ago my dream was to make movies and entertain the world but that didn’t come without constant struggles and hurdles. I knew if order to make it, no one was going to hand me anything, I needed to do this on my own. So I started with the easiest way to make money which was filming weddings, music videos and corporate gigs, as well as building a great bank of contacts.
There is no fast track in this business, there is no luck, only 5 steps.
1. Hard work, build a solid portfolio.
2. Learn your craft well, you don’t need to be the best, you need to be good.
3. Create your luck.
4. Be consistent.
5. Build relationships.
6.Never quit.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I got into this industry because I had and still have a love for movies since I was a child. Like most artist we just want to create and be movie directors but it doesn’t always happen that way. People often tell me they can direct, they can edit and for the most part I’ll often give them that chance I never got and more often than not the end result isn’t good but sometimes you find these gems. I tell people this all the time, everyone thinks they can cook, but not everyone is a chef. Focus on what youre good at and work hard to learn that skill well.
When I got into this business I knew no one would give me a chance to direct a film, so I equipped myself with knowledge. I became an editor first, cameraman second, director third and producer. taking the time to learn and learning from the right people.
I think whats sets me apart from other is that I’m a relationship builder, I was always a good salesman, but building trust, relationships with the right people is golden.
My biggest accomplishments right now, is REIDFRAMED STUDIOS that I built along side my partner Adam Reid we have produced over 200 short films in the last 18 months and we just recently hit a milestone of 1 million followers on Facebook. We are diversifying and building new channels and I also shot my first feature as Director of photography and editor which I’m also really excited about.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me the most rewarding aspect of being a creator is entertaining people weather they love my content or not, I just want to entertain the world, tell stories, give people to something to talk about and leave behind a legacy of work that can live on for generations. Although money is a great thing to have, it’s not the most important thing. Passion, love, eating good food and creating is the key to success. Anyone can make money, anyone can be rich and anyone can stay poor and lose it all. But if you have passion, love and food, you can rebuild from your mistakes and be better.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I had a good mentor when I started out, I had to pretty much figure everything out on my own. Having a good mentor would of saved me a lot of disastrous moments financially and creatively.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://evolutionfilms.ca
- Instagram: eliocastello_film
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elio.castello
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elio-castello-163127a4/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@REIDframed
- Other: https://www.facebook.com/ReidFramed
Image Credits
Elio Castello