Today we’d like to introduce you to Manuel Moreno.
Manuel, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a professional content creator, but I wasn’t always into being a creative individual. As a child, I would have attention issues as my attention span is not very long, so fidgeting and doodling were always an issue with my teachers. I had been raised in the Pasadena area until around my 13th birthday where I had moved to the Rosenberg area before most of the construction happened. Rosenberg at the time was sprawling with nature and greenery but the energy was nowhere near what I had lived in the cities surrounding Houston.
I had decided to join the military as soon as I was a senior in high school. Joining the Army, I had become a 13B, a field artillery crewman. The US Army had stationed me in Germany and this was around 2009, Myspace had been the peak of social media and cellphones had just hit a whopping 2-megapixel camera. Being a first-generation Hispanic American, traveling outside of my state was a big deal, so being able to go live in Germany was huge for my family and so on my first birthday in Germany, I had bought a Sony PlayStation and a Sony Cyber-shot (not sponsored… yet). The Sony Cyber-shot had a massive 13 Megapixel point and shoot and at the time that was something big… for point and shoots. I had no idea of RAW or JPEG settings, MBPS, 720p, or what HD was… which is 720P and 1080p (Full HD). I just wanted to take pictures to show my family and friends.
Move forward to 2011, I had been deployed to Afghanistan and a medic had just ordered a Go Pro. I was a bit confused yet interested as I didn’t know what the video world was like, but my spark for content creativity was at the moment something truly spectacular happened. It was just after 5 pm, the sun was starting to set and we had just been relieved of duty on our Howitzer when all of a sudden a fire mission came down. A fire mission was a call over the radio where an ally was in need of some serious fire support. YouTube an M777A2 and you will see what I mean. So, the sun was setting and I had decided to pull out my camera and begin taking pictures when BOOM!!! The Howitzer shook the dust out of the ground and that moment in time, the lighting had been diffused with the particles of dirt flying through the air. That moment, I wanted to understand what made me capture that moment. But I wouldn’t be for a few more years that I would even get close to starting to figure out why or how that moment happen.
Skip forward to 2012, I had just left the Army and all I knew where two things, operate heavy machinery and blow things up… I really didn’t have many options and the oil and gas industry was already on a decline. I opened up my first business with my dad but that would not last long. Eight months later and I was at the Art Institute of Houston. I wanted to learn to become an Audio Engineer, but my current GPA was just too low. The admins had me go through the DFVP (Digital Filmmaking and Video Production) program. However, after my first project, I was hooked on camera techniques all over again. Here, I would begin to learn in and out of the school and advance to become connected with other individuals. These individuals would become the very individuals that would help me reach out and work on projects that most amateur content creators would dream to be a part of. To this date, my most treasured moment would be the moment I had been able to record an interview with Stan Lee.
The past three years have been an interesting ride, and I have gone as far as to produce full-length feature films, short films, photo shoots, etc. But what really excites me is where I will be heading to in the near future. I just Finished my first international collaboration on a documentary on the Houston Dynamo. But now, I’m working on a project where all I can say is, stay tuned for MARS!
Has it been a smooth road?
You get what you pay for is not just a term used for purchasing goods and services. I am a firm believer of investing in the universe, call it karma or call it what you want. But getting to where I have gotten has not been easy nor pretty. I have done my fair share of free work to develop a distinctive portfolio. But the one thing that has always ground my gears is this “EXPERIENCE and EXPOSURE” that so many seem to offer. However, the one thing most offering this exposure and experience lack it themselves.
I admit I am not the savviest in the business world of entertainment as I am always learning and the negotiations in this industry are not a solid standard. But with the EXPERIENCE and with being EXPLOITED by some previously, I have learned to identify these kinds of individuals. I have been fortunate enough to have had guidance from those honest enough to keep their end of the deal. Here in Houston, that is rare but not an impossible thing to find.
One thing that has been a huge challenge for me is also the resources available to most independent filmmakers and content creators. I currently have a project that many have poured their efforts and talents into and in the process, I had someone leave us hanging with the final product. This has forced the entire project to now be shifted into the hands of someone else. the resources are of course tough to secure but like my skill set and like others, that too is a resource. So, for anyone out there reading this please be aware that a skilled artisan is a valuable resource and should never be acquired free of charge. That goes for the cast, crew, crafts, and other services. If you wish to hire for free, do not complain when you have followers asking for a free performance.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Enigmo Media – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
Enigmo Media was at first found to be a legal shield to protect me while providing a service to clients. However, after about two years in, an awesome friend of mine, Heidi Rios helped me start this company. She was and still is probably one of the strongest women to ever assist me in this company. Of course, also, the support of my mother and my wife. We started out as a small production company looking to create content and we did a series of short films. But it wasn’t until our largest project that we decided to band together all assets and individuals to bring together a solid team that would help bring goals and visions to life. Enigmo Media is a young production company but probably one of the only few that is up to date with modern methods and standards to help bring an even greater production value to production. Recently, I was tasked to assist on an international production here in Houston and towards the end, I had been able to help with the technical assistance to help bring value to a robotic addition in the production which helped achieve the end goal with no hassle. We strive to bring our clients cinematic vision to their brand, their service, to their customers and even to the information that is shared in-house.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love how our city is just so massive. The diversity in storytelling is like looking through a bazaar or a market of foreign goods. I do not just mean ethically diverse either. The methods, the techniques and most of all the platforms on which everyone tells their individual stories. Houston is the iconic melting pot of multiculturalism.
The one thing I have come to dislike about Houston, however, is the way this city is developing. It does seem to have a method but not a proper one. What I mean here is that it seems that everything has come to a series of patches. Highway 290 is probably the best example of this. For the past ten years, the same exit has been crushed and rebuilt… this is not a joke but can some please fix 290.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.enigmomedia.com/
- Email: manny@enigmomedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enigmomedia/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enigmo.media/?ref=bookmarks#
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