Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Angelo.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Michael. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’m a film and tv producer, camera operator and part-time editor.
My first exposure to videography was in the 8th grade when my family owned a photography business for mostly weddings and quinceaneras. My mom and sister were the photographers and I was the videographer. Now you may be thinking, why trust an 8th grader with the videography because it’s kind of a big risk! Only if you charge for it! Since we offered our videography services for free, I was in charge of capturing countless weddings and quinceaneras.
As I grew up and into high school, I was so fascinated by everything that goes into making a movie. I was enthralled, deep into behind-the-scenes clips on YouTube from some of the biggest movies. I wanted to be there. I wanted to be apart of that collaboration experience; to work and live in that environment.
One of the main things that I had an affinity for were the close relationships formed in the behind-the-scenes videos. When watching three years of production for Lord of the Rings or the ten-year journey that it took to make the Harry Potter movies, you could see the actors, directors, producers living the time of their lives.
Ever since then, I knew what I wanted to do in life. I wanted to make movies. Soon after high-school, I went to school at the Northwest Vista Alamo College in San Antonio where I studied in the Digital Video and Cinema Production program. There I had free reigns to learn both the technical and storytelling side of being a filmmaker!
After two years, I graduated with my associate’s degree. Something you should know about the film industry is that a degree can only get you so far. What really matters is field experience and credentials. Knowing this early on, I started doing freelancing work prior to graduating and that also lasted about two years. I’ve done it all in the indie scene and even freelanced in plenty of reality TV shows. From Production Assistant to Director and Producer, I’ve had every piece that Texas has offered in the indie and micro-budget productions. The real journey for me started when I purchased my first cinema camera on a broke college students budget. It was a used Sony FS100 for $750, which I spent nearly a year paying back. By learning the ins and outs of this amazing camera, I was able to apply myself and separate myself from the pack when it came to getting work or being passed up.
My first “long-term” job as a camera operator was when I was hired by Nelson Treehouse and Supply? If the name sounds familiar, they’re the company featured on the TV show called Treehouse Masters! Only I didn’t work for their Animal Planet TV show Treehouse Masters. I worked for the actual private company that was Nelson Treehouse on a documentary-style shoot. They were in Utopia, TX building four treehouses next to a beautiful river in the countryside of Texas, surrounded by the nature of the forests there. My job was to gather daily interviews from the workers there and document the building process. I drove 3 hours there and back from San Antonio, four days a week. It was exhaustive but when I completed the gig, the credit opened up so many more doors for me down the line.
That’s what matters. It doesn’t matter how much you’re paid, how far you drove, all the crap you had to deal with; what matters is the credit. At the end of the day, will that credit move you forward. Do you have the ability to create a snowball effect with film work? All it takes is your determination and the utmost strength to persevere through every roadblock you face. Eventually, it’ll work out.
Since then, I continued freelancing and also found a part-time job as an associate producer of a local sports show called Sports2Nite. There I gained more experience in the technical aspect of TV production and what it took to make a live show work.
The year was 2018, just a few weeks after turning 21, After two years of fieldwork, I was hired for a full-time salary position as a Traffic Manager and Web Producer for a local hunting TV show that is broadcasted nationally and in some parts of Canada. I’m in charge of taking completed episodes and sending them to the network for broadcast and also in charge of making sure all of the content created there is re-purposed and repackaged for online platforms.
The end of July marks one whole year at this production company. I’m very proud of the work I’ve done here and will continue to work here as long as my heart’s content.
Even though I’m working full-time, I’ve made the extra effort to still continue pursuing the indie film scene after work and on the weekends. I’m currently working alongside my good friend David Carbajal and his production company called Defiant Motion Pictures, where we make shorts, docs, and features on an indie and soon micro-budgets. It’s fun. It keeps me on my feet and I work with him for free because I value the amount of good content and great ideas that David dolls out daily. That man is filled to the brim with ideas. Sure some can be a bit cheesy, but there’s no denying that he has a heart. That’s what filmmaking is all about. It’s about telling a story from the heart.
I hope one day, I can share my stories with everyone and create worlds that people will live in till the end of time.
Shout out to Northwest Vista Alamo College. They’re a good place to start for all aspiring filmmakers in the state of Texas.
What were you like growing up?
You can pretty much describe me as an amalgamation of hobbies. I’m into film, gaming, cosplaying, computer building, film music scores (Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman), streaming/youtube, custom cars. If I want to do something, I go out of my way to make sure I know the ins and outs of that subject. Heck, you should’ve seen the look on the Walmart cashiers face when I walked out with a sewing machine for cosplay, or my moms reaction when I told her I wanted to build a 15 hundred dollar computer without ever knowing if I’d succeed or not!
Contact Info:
- Phone: 5157053315
- Email: michaelangelo.35mm@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelangelo.35mm/
Image Credit:
Michael Angelo
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