10 Things You Need to Know

If you’re new to me, About a Week Ago, and my journey here, I hope this preface will give you a better idea of who I am.

1. My name is Sebastien (written and pronounced the Spanish way, not the ian or ion). Nicknames-wise, I prefer Seb or Bash. Basti is reserved for my Filipino/Pinoy family.
2. I am the only child of immigrants who moved from China with nothing and gave me my life here. My half-European side comes from my mom, whose father was the financial ambassador to the American embassy at the time. My dad’s parents were highly regarded educators. They moved over together and had me in 1996.
3. During film school, I did not know unit stills was a career I could follow. I wanted to follow a path into entertainment publicity since I had developed experience outside of class in student leadership, volunteer work, and internships. An instructor and students in my community said, “No, that’s not possible,” which left me tired of film and jaded. I dropped out of the industry throughout the pandemic.
4. My publicity experience became the primary source of my income, and I now serve as a boutique consultant to brands in the portable high-end audio industry. I focus on building virtual communities on platforms like Discord and Reddit for brands that build in-ear monitors for audiophiles and artists. My brands are based worldwide, from Los Angeles to Singapore and Malaysia. It allows me to pursue unit still photography during the day while consulting at night to live.
5. Much of my success is driven by my love of Star Wars and my involvement in the 501st Legion. This worldwide costuming club builds film-accurate costumes mainly for charitable purposes, working with organizations like Make a Wish and Children’s Hospital.
6. Star Wars is also why I went to film school and picked up a camera for the first time. I photographed my first film sets before I knew it was a real job I could realize.
7. Before breaking back into film during the pandemic, I spent most of my time photographing costumes to keep practicing, making me one of the leading go-to choices for the Star Wars clubs. I also photographed my mixed martial arts gym back home, TFW DENVER — this was the first clue that I loved action photography.
8. That decision would lead me to be invited out by Golden Gate Garrison to San Fransisco, where I would photograph and meet my mentor, Lucasfilm’s now-retired director of P.R., Lynne Hale. She and her mentorship would start me on the path to unit photography, unofficially beginning in February of 2022. I wouldn’t formally start until February of 2023 after I moved to LA and healed from an injury. Bryce Pinkos, Manager of Still Photography at Lucasfilm, had a three-hour call with me, mapping out my journey of what I would need to do if I wanted to make this career a reality, playing the long game and bridging the gaps between my communities from Star Wars, Stunts, and USC. On top of teaching me how to be a unit photographer, Lynne would teach me how to think like a publicist and photo editor, making my selections if they were being used in real pressers.
9. Joining All Movement, a mixed martial arts gym that combines stunts and parkour/tricking is my home away from home in California. Travis Wong, the owner and founder, was the first active member of the industry (noting Lynne is retired) to give me a vote of confidence. My relationship with JAM and Travis unlocking the gym as a playground for me to shoot created the basis of my relationship with stunts as a whole.
10. I picked up Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing in layman’s terms) and Kali (Filipino stick/knife/machete fighting) to get me through the pandemic and give me somewhat of a mixed martial arts background before entering the world of stunts so that I could build a network from nothing in LA. Now, the stunt community is a significant part of my life, and my secondary mission — is to document as much of the stunt industry as possible since a photographer has never received access and mutual respect in how I’m doing it.