Today we’d like to introduce you to Sergio Valdez
Hi Sergio, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Culiacan, Sinaloa in 1983, the same year that thriller was released. For my luck it was December 24th, so most of the time people tend to forget my birthday, no complaints though. I never really liked school but enjoyed the company of my friends, together we would sneak out of school and go to watch movies and play videogames, one day we were required to make a video to portray a subject that we were looking in class, that was the first time I got a camera in my hands. It’s difficult to describe what I felt, at that moment, having the camera in my hands and putting my eye into the viewfinder allowed me to see life differently, it was like discovering an alternate reality that we were creating, I remember editing with a very DIY VHS setup that we somehow managed to discover, we didn’t know what we were doing but it was way more interesting than playing videogames, so I kept doing them. We created a few short films but really never took anything very seriously, my friends started working more and more and I forgot about it for several months but the idea of being a filmmaker was already in my head somehow.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
“Te vas a morir de hambre” my dad said. At first, I was discouraged but I could see that he was just worried that if I didn’t have a normal job that gave me some sort of security, it kind of crushed me for a few years and I don’t hold any grudge, but my mom kept reminding me that everything was possible if I put the right focus and energy, she really believed in me and always gave me hope, I always looked up to her and still do as I recognize her as a warrior so I kept nourishing that positive feeling that she provided me and I took her in every decision I got to made. A few years later my mother would get a job offer and take us all to Tijuana, México. At first, it was hard to leave your birthplace but somehow, I always knew that city was not for me, when we arrived in Tijuana, I felt very different, from my perspective is a hybrid culture that is sometimes as beautiful as chaotic and complicated, it’s a city that’s meant to be just a passage but ends up being a destination, somehow it has room for everyone. I tried going to different schools to study something that would lead to a secure job but it never worked, tried programming, graphic design, and then I just quit school and decided to buy a camera instead. With the help of my brother I started doing short films for an online film competition platform called “FILMAKA”, this was 2008-2009 so this sort of platforms wasn’t that common, it realized periodical contests and I decided to enter the competition, the dynamic was simple: To create a themed short film within a 1 month period, then after that time the judges would pick three winners a month. We won a couple of times and sadly we didn’t make it to the final competition but I realized that it was possible to generate some income making what I always loved doing. After that, I quit my job and started working freelance and I’ve had the opportunity to work on film projects that are now in outlets like HBO and VICE, my work has allowed me to travel to places like Africa and Japan, places that I used to visit only in my dreams.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a filmmaker and cinematographer, I’m most known for my music video work and cinematography, I was an actor for a brief moment and got to participate in four independent feature films in México but my focus has been in directing, cinematography and post-production. Three years ago we created HAUSU, an audiovisual content agency that provides quality content production, with a special focus in content marketing Besides creating the content we offer an array of services in order to create compelling content campaigns that helps brands and creators to connect to their audience using storytelling and strategic collaborations in order to maximize results.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Perseverance, trusting your gut, and to listen to what people have to say. Not giving up but always analyzing every possible scenario, patience.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.hausumedia.com
- Instagram: sergiov.director
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sergiovaldezfilms
- Twitter: twitter.com/mrbobosan
- Youtube: youtube.com/sergiovaldez
Image Credits
Gabriela Cardona Walther, Misteró, Tarik Badaoui, Saulo Cisneros
