We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Evan Alvarado. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Evan below.
Hi Evan, thanks for joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
The most meaningful project that I’m working on right now is my next documentary, about the Rising Voices Changing Coasts (RVCC) project being led by Dr. Daniel Wildcat.
The RVCC is a 5-year project, in building an Earth Justice Hub at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence, KS. For each of those five years, they’ll be hosting a summer program at each coastal region: Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Gulf Coast. Each costal region is experiencing their own unique climate challenges, where indigenous communities are being affected negatively in some way. These summer intern programs are to host a small focused group of university students, to train under some of the best climate scientists. The students will first train at the hub in Haskell for a month, then travel to one of the coastal regions to continue their studies for two more weeks. The goal of the RVCC project is to use better science, by weaving indigenous wisdom with modern science. This Earth Justice hub will act as a pipeline to train future generations of indigenous and non-indigenous scientists.
My documentary will spotlight the important work happening at Haskell Indian Nations University, the four coastal regions, and the amazing people behind the project. Ultimately, the documentary will seek to inspire the viewer to do their part in moving from a world full of RESOURCES as something to exploit; to one full of our RELATIVES that reside in our living world with us.
This project is meaningful to me, as I feel that this moment in time is an especially transformative one in my life, with one of the reasons being that I’ve just jumped back into doing freelance full-time. As I’m in the process of really digging deep, self-reflecting, and defining my connection with the world–it’s important to me to align my efforts with meaningful projects that really contribute something worthwhile to our human collective conscious.
In the past 3 years that I’ve spent live-streaming over 100 presentations/speeches of various indigenous peoples, I’ve learned that the connection that those cultures have with the world and the planet is a really special one. Their perspectives contain a lot of truth, especially when it comes to their understanding of nature.
We are, right now, facing on this planet, an absolute Red Alert alarm. The red alert is not being given by any human organism, it’s being issued by the planet. Humankind can not continue to live the way that we’ve been living.
I’m realizing more and more the importance of listening to these indigenous peoples, to give them a seat at the table, give them more leadership roles–so that we may have a chance in turning this Earthship around. In the words of Dr.Wildcat, we need a “cultural climate change”.
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.
As an artist, musician, and filmmaker, I have deep roots in the arts and seek to understand life through a creative lens. I am deeply moved by the profound impact of music in our lives and the captivating art of visual storytelling through digital filmmaking. My passion lies in collaborating with fellow artists, using my lens to amplify and elevate their craft. It is my mission to ensure that the world witnesses the abundance of talent residing in Northwest Arkansas.
My work consists mostly of live music performance capture, creative music videos, and docustyle work that highlights some of the many stories happening in and around the Northwest Arkansas arts ecosystems.
My goal for the next several years is to continue delving deeper into long-form video content, creating feature-length documentaries covering meaningful stories.
My lifelong aspiration is to achieve mastery in my craft, perpetually evolving as a storyteller. By doing so, I strive not only to spread the gospel of other extraordinary people but also to inspire and captivate audiences with narratives that transcend boundaries and ignite the imagination.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Like a distorted mirror, social media is showing us more and more that the trajectory of humankind and the planet that we reside on isn’t looking too great, at least at the current rate. The Earth and her children are sick/ill, we can’t continue living the way that we’ve been living. Some of the residual effects of our lifestyles are causing extreme weather events, a rise in global temperatures (July 2023 was the hottest month ever recorded), rising coastal waters, coastal erosion, and consequently affecting many ecosystems, including indigenous tribal communities. Not only that, there seems to be endless compounding of modern problems, with the Western approach of endless extraction and exploitation of natural resources. It’s time to really listen to indigenous perspectives and leadership, and give those communities a seat at the table–especially in regards to policy making around climate issues. There’s a rising movement of the belief that the true solution, is the melding of indigenous knowledge and modern science. In the words of Dr. Daniel Wildcat, “…we need a cultural change, a cultural climate change”.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
After 5.5 years working as Branch Manager for a local bank in the middle of Fayetteville’s Entertainment District, I got a taste of the vibrant arts/music scene. I was driven to pursue a career of full-time artistry. Having played the live music scene for a handful of years, I realized that making a living as a full-time musician in Northwest Arkansas wouldn’t be easy, and so I thought about other creative paths that I could pursue. Having done some acting/modeling as a child, being inspired by my mother’s videography work, and realizing the power and demand of media, I decided to pursue a filmmaking career.
Putting in my two-weeks notice at my bank job after buying my first camera, with not much experience working with one, might’ve not been the best decision. But I wouldn’t change the journey that I’ve been on, and where I’ve arrived to today. I’m thankful for everything that I’ve learned along the way. I’m thankful for getting to do things like interning at Crisp Recording Studios (Fayetteville, AR) and creating a Monthly Music Video Giveaway series to local/regional artists, or working for music nonprofit The House of Songs during the pandemic to issue simple live-streaming and lighting equipment to 85 local artists, or serving the local/regional arts communities in different ways through my work at nonprofit Creative Arkansas Creative Hub & Exchange (CACHE). Those were some of the biggest milestones for me, in learning what it means to be a part of an artist community. I don’t consider myself successful by any means, but a lot of the small successes that I’ve experienced along the way I attribute to the work that I’ve put out in the world in supporting others in some way in their journey. I can’t remember where I read it from years ago, but I firmly believe that the best way to succeed in life is to help others succeed.
After working in the arts nonprofit sector, I became aware of the vast amount of opportunities/resources/organizations out there that support artists. It gave me more confidence that a career of full-time artistry is possible.
One thing that is really resonating with me lately, something shared by a dear friend and mentor, is that you can have anything you want if you ask for it in an unselfish way. The key to it, is finding where your dreams coincide with the greatest gift you have to offer. Which creates a culture of giving, and that every time that you’re blessed with something, it also ultimately blesses everyone whose life you touch.
These days, besides the fact that I get to making a decent living doing full-time freelance filmmaking and music performance, I consider myself successful by the other facts like that I get to work in the middle of the vibrant arts/music/film scene in Northwest Arkansas, that I get to find endless inspiration from my fellow artists, and that I still get to create my own art.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.aenimatemedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aenimatemedia/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AENIMATEMEDIA
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsGzYDdjH1fKtHI70M5XsLQ
Image Credits
Cynthia D. Tran (CDT Imagery) Meredith Mashburn (Mashburn Photography) Evan Alvarado (Aenimate Media Productions LLC)