Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mike Cuenca. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Mike, thanks for joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

Mike, 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?

Guerrilla filmmaker on the dotted line. I write (and co-write), direct, and edit these sort of offbeat comedies/character studies. I self-finance. And I don’t have a lot of money. I work with the same, very special, and incredibly talented people. I call folks who are in more than two movies of mine “Waysiders”, a reference to my second flick— a flick about friendship and inter relationships.

And I’ve been making feature movies for fifteen years now. It takes a toll on you when you have a full-time gig and are working around everyone’s schedule and your own to produce something. So that’s about 70 plus hours a week. And I ain’t no spring chicken anymore, so it’s beginning to really wear me out. Let’s not forget the compromises that have to be made in order to get any of this jazz done.

Regardless… this past fall we shot two back-to-back features, not including wrapping up my BOYS ABOUT TOWN (trilogy?) which we’ve been shooting in real-time, allowing the actors to age naturally; also I’m currently three/quarters into shooting IN THE DITCH, a sequel to a flick made eleven years ago which many folks consider my best (emotionally).

So that’s three flicks I’m adding to the roster and putting out by the end of the year, and the first segment of a trilogy. I am clearly a bag of nuts. But I make these things for myself. If others dig ’em, cool. If not, well, maybe they’ll like some things about ’em. Or even find them in some way interesting. Especially since my sense of humor isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

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

Just sitting back at the end of the day and going, whoa, where did that come from?! It’s fun. And time obviously allows me to distance myself from the movies I’ve made with all my close friends and I can totally watch them as their own thing, without feeling I had any involvement with them whatsoever. Because we’re constantly evolving as people. Or one could hope. My movies play to us as these great time capsules. And the person that made x and x flick, the people in ’em too who are still a part of my life, sure, we are who we are at our core but we’ve also aged together.  And the flicks are independent now. Almost alien to me. And that’s fun on the rewatch. I’ll disagree with some choices, or things I should have spent more time on, and yada-yada, but I end up going, “Hey, not bad…’

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Purchasing physical media! Books, blu-rays, paintings, merch, all that stuff. If you say you don’t have space for all that, well, that’s a modern age thing. Collectors have always been collectors. Saying you have no space is like saying you have no room in your heart. Make way.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mikecuenca.tumblr.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/mikecuenca_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themichaelcuenca
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikecuenca
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeCuenca_
• Other: https://vimeo.com/mikecuenca https://somedaggers.bandcamp.com/music https://dignitary.bandcamp.com/music https://mikecuenca.substack.com