We were lucky to catch up with Franklin Fuentes recently and have shared our conversation below.

Franklin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I remember seeing “Film Class” as an elective in middle school and intuitively selecting it without knowing what to expect. On the first day of class, our teacher showed us “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.” The film had me in awe. It was everything I enjoyed in films. It was black and white with a slight twist of horror and comedy. Previously I had been introduced to “Sunset Boulevard” and “Psycho.” Those films are classics and continue to be staples to the Golden Age of Hollywood.

However, “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” was also a black and white film with major players. Yet, It had a much different feel. I then realized that story telling had no limits and I knew then that I wanted to create films that would keep audiences entertained, guessing and amused.

I continued the next few years doing all I could to learn more about the craft. I put myself through acting classes. Learned post-production, production and writing. It wasn’t until about ten years ago that I decided to pursue it professionally after completing my own projects and graduating from film school.

Franklin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Writing was my first passion. I remember writing my first short story when I was about twelve years old. My school was hosting a contest and I ended up winning first place. It was a short horror anthology based on true family experiences during the civil war in El Salvador.

From that moment on, I knew I wanted to continue telling stories and expressing myself.

After graduating High School, I attended collage in pursue of obtaining a degree in criminology. After one year, I decided it wasn’t for me and that I wanted to continue to tell stories. So I dropped out and began to work a nine to five in order to be able to fund my own projects.

I always regretted not completing my degree and spending so much time, money and energy into projects that would ultimately never see the light of day. I could not afford film school so I would write, produce, direct and edit my own short projects and submit them into film festivals in hopes that one day it would all payoff.

Fortunately, a few years later I ended up obtaining a scholarship to a film school based on the projects that I had completed along the way. The school became very interested in my work and gave me the opportunity to continue my path.

I was always taught to never stop doing what I love to do and was very fortunate to have a solid circle of support. No matter what I am doing or going through, I always have film somewhere in between my busy schedule and life.

I try to stay unique and true to myself by telling stories that are complex in emotion. Life isn’t so black and white so why should films?

My stories tend to go one way and then take a turn somewhere along the way. This, I feel, helps my audiences connect with the protagonist and ultimately the story as well.

I have been fortunate enough to grab the attention of notable actors who have wanted to collaborate with me and help me along the way by acting in my films. It’s something I will forever be grateful for and proud of.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Once you get to a certain age, society makes you feel inadequate if you don’t meet certain social standards. I had close friends begin to travel, start lives and build careers for themselves as I continued to struggle in my passion. This was always very difficult for me and for some of my closest friends.

There were trips I couldn’t take, major mile stones I had to miss and events I couldn’t attend because I was either working on a project I couldn’t get away from or spending most of my income on it.

I have such a love for film and continue to be loyal to it. It could have been easier for me to walk away and enjoy life along with the others. However, when I look back on my projects and see how much I’ve grown internally and how far I’ve come along with my story telling I get filled with an unexplainable amount of joy.

You have to remain resilient and love what you do. If you do just that, then you’ll never live with any regrets.

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

There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that one of your stories has touched a strangers heart.

I remember being at the first film festival I ever attended. After the Q & A, the festivals director came up to me and personally thanked me for the story. They felt compelled by the story as it reminded them of the turbulent relationship they had with their mother while growing up.

It touched me and I knew, even more then, that this was something I needed to continue doing.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fralexfilms.com
• Instagram: @fralexfilms
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@fralexfilms

Image Credits
Renee Lawless Jonathan Banks Vicenzo Carubia James Wright Diego Aldabaldetrecu