Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Wilborn.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Andrew. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I grew up in San Diego, Paradise Hills, to be exact, with my two brothers, my parents, and my grandmother. From what my mother tells me, I was a kid who was “always in his own world, you could visit, but you couldn’t stay”. That’s how she liked to describe what it was like when someone interrupted me while I was playing haha. Like most kids, I had action figures and video games. I would play outside with my brothers and would see what kind of trouble we could get into. However, I always had one special action figure, usually a power ranger. No matter how broken or beaten it got, I would fix it (tape it) and keep playing with it. With my trusty toy, I would run around our living room, making explosion noises and jump off the furniture. Or at least that’s what other people saw, to me I was making the most epic movie you’ve never seen. This is the world my mother said you could visit but couldn’t stay.
As I hit my teenage years, I put down the toy (mostly) but still wanted to make stories. I’d make up stories in my head, but they would just stay there. I hated writing, so I never thought to write down what I said. Sometimes I would tell my family stories, but I didn’t want them to know I made it, so I made up fake episodes to TV shows they knew and said, “oh they’re not showing that episode anymore” or some lie like that. In hindsight, I know they knew I was lying, but I’m glad they never called me out. My mother finally caught on and encouraged me to tell her a fresh story. Something of mine. So I made one. After telling it to her, she asked: “what happens next?”. This confused me, so I made a continuation. After telling her once again, she asked: “what happened next?”. Long story short everyday I would make a new episode of this TV show in my head and tell it to her. She made me. One hundred thirty episodes later, I told her my series finale. This is when I knew for myself, storytelling was my passion.
As a kid, I hated movies. They were loud, huge, overwhelming. But I was deep down addicted to that feeling. Going into a whole new world every time. By high school, I was basically a film connoisseur. I figured my path in life would be that of screenwriting. I love movies, I love telling stories, perfect match. After high school, I decided against college. I felt I did not need it for screenwriting. I kept working at my martial arts school as an instructor and just kind of went through life like a normal 18-year-old. I kept writing but found it boring and felt I had no way of actually showing these stories to people.
One day it hit me. I’ll film my stories myself! At 20 years old, I bought my first cheap DSLR Camera, a Nikon D-3200. With it, I took horrible photos and made even worse short films with my friends. However, I taught myself everything about a camera. Bit by bit, one YouTube video after another, I learned how to use a camera. At 23 years old, my brother encouraged me to make money with my camera. I had no clue how to. Until one day during some research on the YouTube page of Peter Mckinnon, he gave tips on how to do it. Full of new encouragement, I bought a brand new camera, the one I still shoot with today the Fujifilm XT-3.
I shot one commercial for a small cafe that I loved and would make little nature short films for my YouTube and Instagram page. I had the camera for a while and thought this career would go nowhere. Finally, a local rapper by the name of A.Dub saw some of my shorts and asked if I could make a music video. I agreed and shot the video Seven Seas. From there more and more local artists would ask me for music videos. As I worked more, I would charge more, as I would make more money, I would upgrade my gear. Fast forward one year and I have shot 26 music videos, made commercials for local businesses and brands, made a Kickstarter video, shot a documentary, have begun to start filming for clients in LA and am now starting my first short film from one of my scripts.
It’s easy to say things moved very quickly in one year, but years of hard work and honing my craft have got me where I am. And I am not even where I want to be. I’m still growing. Being able to bring other people’s stories to life and to help them build themselves and their brand makes all of this worth it to me. Now getting to a point where I can bring my own stories to life is why I put so much of myself into this career. I’m only a year into this profession and I can only hope it grows even more in the coming years.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Definitely not. A lot of challenges can come about when trying to make freelancing a full-time career. Logistically is money. It’s not always consistent and it’s not always guaranteed. Within my jobs are a lot of free ones in order to get myself a portfolio that I could send to potential new clients. When I first started charging money, I quickly realized most people are not going to pay top dollar for a first-time videographer/director. So not a lot of money was coming in at first.
Then there’s work-life balance. Working a full-time job to make ends meet, plus trying to run this freelancing business takes a toll. Because money is not consistent, I decided to keep a full-time job on the side. I’ve had to call out sick and be late in order to make some gigs that I knew would help further my career. Sometimes putting my job on the line. I’ve also missed a lot of time with family and friends in order to make video shoots. Luckily I have a great support group that understands and encourages me.
On a creative level, there are some challenges as well. As a filmmaker, the freedom to do what I want with the video is what I strive for. But when you’re working with clients some if not all of that freedom can be stripped away. You’re at the mercy of what the client wants, and if you want to be hired again, then you do as they ask. You have to suck it up and get the job done. Because this one job can and will lead another down to the road, all of the sacrifices now build towards the goal of the creative and life freedom I desire.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Wilborn Films – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I guess I’m known for my music videos, if anything. They are what most people see and how my name has been spread. I am an all-around videographer, but if I had to pick my specialties, it would be music videos, commercials, and promotional videos. My goal as a business is to be able to provide high-quality videos for people, businesses, and brands. Video content creators can charge an arm and a leg for a short video that comes with all types of strict stipulations. I decided to have a more loose approach with my business model.
Fair pricing, the ability to have a round of revisions on your video, having the video editing done by myself, and charging by the day not the hour. I believe being able to know you can look over the video and ask for revisions allows for a relaxed environment. You do not pay extra for the revision. You are not stuck with a video you do not like if it doesn’t come out the way you want. In some rare occasions, thanks to the day charge, if it’s an easy enough video, I’ve been able to provide multiple videos to a client. Once again, it’s not by the video it’s by day. This model and attitude, I believe is what sets me apart from other video creators in my level.
My most proud work I’d have to say is my documentary Tree Life. It was my first personal project after becoming a freelance video creator. I met a wonderful human being by the name of Brenden Raasch, who had spent around 300 days living solely in a tree. After talking with him, I asked if I could make a documentary about him and his experiences. I don’t want to spoil anything, but this has to be my most proud work. Some of my friends and family do not watch all of my videos but they tuned in for this one and loved it. It was great to be able to put this project together myself and have people enjoy it.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Going forward, I’m definitely going to start creating more personal projects for myself. More short films and more documentaries. The ultimate goal is to get to the point where I can make feature-length films. Everything I do is to help get me there.
As for the business, just going to stay the course. No big changes in mind yet. One thing that is changing is the size of gigs. I’m starting to not be able to take as many gigs because they’re becoming bigger and more complex, which is good! Always learning and always growing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://wilbornfilms.com/
- Email: booking@wilbornfilms.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilbornfilms/
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAOmzZ3pctinVnQUCFjH43A?view_as=subscriber
Image Credit:
Davante Wilborn
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