Luis Tovar: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Content Creator
An Interview With Susan Johnston
Well so much to be proud of but an important element is writing. Writing is the most crucial aspect that we have in life. All of us. If we write, we tell a story. To me writing constantly keeps me sane. I write horrible poetry in my journal but it makes sense to me. I have absolutely no rules to bleed in my own little journal. Weather I am happy or sad I have to remember the importance is to write and let it out. I take pride in that. Then when it comes to writing in screenplay format, I am already conditioned to tap into characters that are poetic and also human. I also take pride in that.
As a part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Luis Tovar.
Luis Tovar has been a cinematic storyteller most of his adult life starting with traditional animation, 3d animation, and eventually live action. He is very knowledgeable of cameras, lenses, and video editing. Adding, working with actors to make them comfortable on set. Using these elements effectively to tell compelling cinematic stories.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?
Growing up in a traditional Latino household and moving around a lot as a child was a huge challenge. Spending a chunk of time living in Hollywood and then bouncing all over Los Angeles County for years to come. My family was constantly adjusting and finding ways to afford raising a family of five children. From all of that displacement as a child and then growing up I noticed that I lacked a sense of community. So as an adult I enrolled in art classes. Anything that had to do with art was the catalyst for me. I felt that being surrounded by other artists was the answer I was looking for and it was.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
Year and year of creating animations was fun but I needed to get out of my desk. For me, what I was feeling as introvert/extrovert was that I craved to be on the field. I no longer wanted to be stuck behind a desk. So I wanted to be active and moving and still creating. Now, don’t get me wrong. Today I do spend a lot of time in front of my computer editing and all kinds of creative visuals and writing but I know that tomorrow or the day after I will be running around creating content with my camera.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your content creator career?
The funniest thing that happened to me was to begin creating comedy with my fellow film friends. I mean, it was so ridiculous at times that we had real farts burst out and laughs we couldn’t control. Shooting comedy with people that are funny and want to create is key to make audiences laugh. It was interesting for us to discover a few elements when it comes to being funny. First, make yourself laugh and then make the cast and crew laugh because once in the editing suite it will translate to be hilarious. It was interesting for us to discover that we were actually funny and that our vibrant energy was able to transfer to the rest of the world.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
Everyone is interesting, everyone! But some more than others. Interesting people you want to utilize and vice versa. Especially when it comes to a creative collaboration. My Quagmire Filmz team was an interesting group of random creators from different backgrounds and cultures. David Holt (Actor), a cool and clean cut cowboy from the south; Chelsea Teel (Actor), a very slim Spaniard lady with a talkative persona; Elena Nardini (Producer), the quiet local LA writer artist observing the crowds; and Daniel O’Reilly (Actor), the fit alpha who can crack joke after joke then get serious in a split second. What made the whole thing work was that I was also an interesting character in their eyes. Luis Tovar, a jack of all trades Latino filmmaker who wants to create his first feature film. What is really cool here is that we became attractive to each other’s unique and interesting behaviors to create art.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Yeah, creators rely a lot on the world. When it comes to cinema it becomes crucial to have a team of people that are not only trustworthy but also helpful. My team and I have learned to be there for each other even when not creating. To the core we are helpful to each other in different ways. From helping each other move houses, to creating our next film. At times we have to ask and other times there is already a hand reaching out ready to help. Sometimes help comes from out of nowhere and when least expect it. One time we needed festival funding for our film “LIQUID” about the binges of alcoholism and the Russian roulette. One person came across our funding page and donated 80% of what we initially asked for to complete our goal. She felt that the cause of the film was very powerful and it could change audiences emotion towards addiction. The film was heavy in awareness.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There is this Mexican proverb “Más sabe el diablo por viejo que por diablo — Anonymous” it translates “The devil knows more from being old than from being evil”. This life quote has thought me that important decisions have to be made with the heart, gut and mind aligned. That for best results I need self-control and strategy rather than out of proportion or delusional about many aspects of life. And that smart decisions are made from experience and patience rather than desperate and naive.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
Currently I am working on shooting a proof of concepts for my written feature “VENUS”. A Spanglish drama comedy that has lots of Latin and multicultural aspects of love. The story is about a Los Angeles Chef that gets catfished and the person whose online images were used for bait comes into his life. Think of the movies “CHEF” and “HER” come together. By mid-summer this year I will have my entire pitch package ready for anyone interested. Let’s make movie magic.
Which aspect of your work makes you most proud? Can you explain or give a story?
Well so much to be proud of but an important element is writing. Writing is the most crucial aspect that we have in life. All of us. If we write, we tell a story. To me writing constantly keeps me sane. I write horrible poetry in my journal but it makes sense to me. I have absolutely no rules to bleed in my own little journal. Weather I am happy or sad I have to remember the importance is to write and let it out. I take pride in that. Then when it comes to writing in screenplay format, I am already conditioned to tap into characters that are poetic and also human. I also take pride in that.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
Well, I think that all of us already know what everyone already told us. When young and other adults see us begin our craft, we already have these grownups telling us the challenges. Then we ignore most of what we heard and throw away all of the advice. It’s quite natural for most of us to all of the sudden ten years later say. I wish someone told me these things when I first started. It would have been way easier. Maybe I am just a knuckle head in that sense for not listening, but I’ve met plenty of people that are on the same page as me. So here are five things. 1. Listen to your heart 2. Stay true to the art 3. Transparency and communication is key 4. Don’t mess with other people’s money 5. Say no if it comes with a headache There is more, but these become successful elements if applied sooner than later.
When you create a film, which stakeholders have the greatest impact on the artistic and cinematic choices you make? Is it the viewers, the critics, the financiers, or your own personal artistic vision? Can you share a story with us or give an example about what you mean?
Creating a film comes with lot of layers, and the goal is to check most of everything in the list of stakeholders. I’ve learned that the best films out there that have won awards and Oscars and all of that gold unfortunately for some viewers is always a disappointment. And the same goes for my films. Long ago, a friend told me “When you create a piece of art and then you release it to the world, it no longer belongs to you.” The greatest impact is the artistic and cinematic choices for me. Sometimes everything else is behind that, because a story needs to be told no matter what. Audiences want to feel and they don’t care about anything that has to do with anything outside of the screen. So I just create and deliver a story that is worth watching.
You are a person of great influence. If you could spread an idea that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can prompt. :-)
A friend of mine who is a sound healer using crystal bowls. Her name is Silvina Vergara and she helped me in the world of meditation when I was living in San Francisco. We had a wonderful conversation after a meditation session. I told her that her therapy changed the way I feel and see the world. She was very pleased. I mentioned to her that one way to change the world is to have the everyone meditate. She said “If we teach every single person in the planet to meditate, world peace would be effective within six months.” That, right there is an idea that can bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? They might see this. :-)
Man, there is this amazing vocal artist from Guatemala living in Miami at one point and he is believed to now be living in Mexico City. His name is Ricardo Arjona father of famous actress Adria Arjona. I was about 25 years old when I discovered his music and lyrics. So much truth to all the vision of his poetry and the way it unfolds to anyone listening. Touching different genres styles to tell the story he needed to tell with music is just fascinating. The reason I bring him up in this conversation is because by the time I was 30 years old I went through a heavy break up that destroyed me. Every song I listened to in English or Spanish had traces to my broken heart. But Arjona had just released an album called “Quinto Piso” translates to “Fifth Floor”. Every single song in the album was the life I was living at the moment. I just want to have lunch with him and maybe a couple of margaritas to tell him that. I think he needs to know that when writing his songs he tapped so deep into his characters that on the other side of that connection there was me living the pain of his album and not just one song.
How can our readers further follow you online?
@ltovar_visuals @quagmirefilmz
About The Interviewer: Susan Johnston is a Media Futurist, Columnist as well as Founder and Director at New Media Film Festival®. The New Media Film Festival® — honoring stories worth telling since 2009, is an Award-winning, inclusive, and boundary-pushing catalyst for storytelling and technology. Susan was knighted in Rome in 2017 for her work in Arts & Humanity.
