We were lucky to catch up with Vic Mendoza recently and have shared our conversation below.

Vic, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I got tired of dreaming dreams. Growing up, I always wanted to work in films in some way, Acting, writing or directing, but since I couldn’t really act, I started writing screenplays in grade school. There was so much to learn about scripts and storytelling. I watched a lot of films and went to bookstores and self-taught screenwriting. All this was before I even heard about screenwriting programs and learned the structure format from books and copies of scripts. In the early 90’s I had this old word processor which was a real challenge to use at the time. I didn’t start using screenwriting software until way later when I moved on to computers. The next challenge was to actually film something, cameras were too expensive for me at the time, so I had to wait it out and save for one. I was a high school drop out and it was a challenge for me to go back to school and relearn everything. I managed to find a creative filmmaking class at San Bernardino Valley, Ca back in the 90’s, and I thought to myself, OK I’m going to go for that. I took it for a few semesters and dropped out. I really enjoyed that class, but it was rough going to school, commute and tackle a 6 days a week, full time job. It was a headache. I pretty much had to put my foot down and learn everything on my own. I finally went and bought a cheap camera and started storytelling. Just like with any profession you have to practice on a daily basis. Learning camera settings, lighting, camera specs, shutter speeds, lens choices, it was non-stop for me, I learned everything I could about cameras from videography to photography, then slowly to cinematography. I did a lot of free work and I knew a lot of musicians who let me work with them. Then, I was confident enough to start shooting weddings and local commercials. I made a ton of mistakes, and that’s a good thing. That’s how I learned, You’ll always learn something new about filming or photography. We have the technology now to learn a lot more, with online information and tutorials. I wish we had that when I was learning. Another thing is to surround yourself with creative people, other photographers, videographer, cinematographers and people who know marketing. Also, it’s hard to trust some people in the business so study and keep your guard up.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Starting a business isn’t easy, there’s a lot to learn, especially in filmmaking. Vicscover Art started as a freelance, online graphic art over 10 years ago, it wasn’t even a business, I had no clue how to market myself or make any money. It really gave me a headache and everyone wanted everything for free. Once I dumped the graphic art, I went straight to my passion and that was cameras. I really had to push myself in learning and being real with my passion. I pretty much started at the bottom and really had to get myself to focus on how am I going to get Vicscover Art off the ground. I’m still climbing and learn something new everyday. I think I’m more proud of what kind of person I became during this learning process. It’s made me more of a stronger person. For my part, I strive to avoid being used. I love to help people, but sometimes you have to be careful. I try to work things out with clients so we’re both satisfied and I do my best to give them professional work in whatever budget we agree on. I love what I do, and my work shows it. I get a lot of referrals, the people I work with know my work and how dedicated I am to a project from start to finish. I learn not to be lazy and have a decent turn around time, depending on the project. Some projects takes months to complete especially films, but producers know they can trust me on set from start to finish. Vicscover Art recently started producing its own online series which you can find on Youtube. There’s a few in the works, Unshadow, Endreamt and Send to Dark, pretty much in their experimental stages at the moment. All written and directed by me. I think this where Vicscover Art is heading towards filmmaking, but I am still open to shoot weddings and music videos. I’m inspired by a lot of filmmakers there’s really no favorite, I like a lot of genres of films. I do get inspired by music, when it comes to storytelling and filmmaking, I believe God has given all of us a gift and I’m doing my best to practice it and use it.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I really had to humble myself in this area. I was a person that doesn’t like to be told what to do. I think God had to show me something about my attitude and selfishness. I got tired of the me, me, me syndrome and had to realize that there are a lot of struggling artists that needed help. It took a while to see it, and I was put in a position where you get pushed around by directors, I’m sure other crew or cameramen know what I’m talking about. Seeing other artists succeed is a good feeling. I had a guy walk up to me one time that wanted to learn the ropes. He was willing to do the smallest jobs just to be on set. That’s kind of the heart I needed to be towards others, to help serve. We live in a world where people are climbing over each other just to get ahead. I believe there are lots of ways to help support, just taking the time and review the artists work and connect with them. There are things I will support and some I won’t, I guess it all depends. Social media, networking and connecting with other artists with the same mind frame helps, you’ll always find new contacts, It’s worked with Vicscover Art. Sometimes, there are offline meetings that gather from time to time with other artists and entrepreneurs where you can get connections.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I was a glass blower for 20 years, it started great but with every boss things change. Financially, it was up and down with too many empty promises and I knew I had to make a change. I learned a lot from it, and also learned how they made bad business decisions. At that time I was dabbling in other areas of business which wasn’t making me any money. I was running an online Internet radio show which was only paying gas money and Vicscover Art wasn’t making anything with graphic art. I took a step of faith and quit everything and hope to make something with video and photo production. It took a long while, and at that time I had a lot of support from my ex wife. It was a stressful time for both of us.

Contact Info:

• Website: vicscoverart.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/vicscover
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/VicscoverartProductions
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/vmu1
• Other: Our main website is currently in the works. For now it will lead you to Youtube.