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Meet Jerzy Carranza

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jerzy Carranza.

Jerzy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am a SXSW 2020 accepted filmmaker with a film in the Texas Highschool Short program. I am the director, editor, and cinematographer of the film Karmen. Link here: https://vimeo.com/379192266

I am a visual storyteller at heart, and that’s a massive perk when you have a lot of stories to tell. Coming from Mexico City, I have seen many things and experienced certain hardships which many people probably never will. I have lived in poverty, seen animals be tortured for the amusement of entire communities, dead bodies hanging from bridges, and even dismembered body parts. Often when I tell stories to my friends or peers, I try to grip them with every little detail of a story, from the emotions, reactions and looks of my protagonists, to the mood and environment of the settings in which the story plays out. There is no better medium than film for the type of visual stories I want to tell. Everything from the music to the picture works together to form ideas and emotions that couldn’t be conveyed through any other media.

I started my film career in the 6th grade with a film project on violent video games. Over that summer, I began to learn how to properly edit film from videos I found on YouTube. Those tutorials were of great help in learning the basic ins and outs of Premier Pro, but my craft wasn’t fully honed in until I joined the audio/video program of my local high school. There, I met one of my most influential mentors and teachers, Mr. Derr.

Mr. Derr taught me just about everything I know about film making, everything from storytelling, to lighting, blocking, and even how to produce a film. During the class, we were forced to make a short film every semester or take a written exam. Obviously, I chose the short film. I have created many, but none unlike Karmen.

During the filming of Karmen, I also began working on a show called H-Town Takeover in which me and my partner, Rohail Ullah interview the top entrepreneurs of Houston. Anyone with a booming business such as a restaurant or luxurious retail shops, such as rugs or cars is included. The first three episodes are out and can be found on Vimeo here: (https://vimeo.com/397253649)

Since SXSW got canceled for 2020, I will make another short film for the 2021 SXSW festival. Hopefully, with some hard work and dedication, I will be able to re-enter and finally experience SXSW for the very first time.

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?
My family is an immigrant family. While we may live in American now, every year me and my family still go back to Mexico for about two weeks, usually during school, and renew our passports. Sometimes, we must travel from Houston to a border town at 1 A.M. just so we can get an I-94 card to stay in the country. Trips like these would often interfere with my studies and usually happened during finals week in April.

Yes, I experienced segregation and bullying, but I never let that define me. From a young age, many important adults in my life, such as my parents and coaches, have taught me to have what they call: a tough skin. “Think of tough skin as the calluses in your hands or the skin of a rhino. It gets harder the more that is thrown at it. The thoughts and opinions of others should not put you down. You know your worth, and if anyone tries to be mean or rude, just laugh, because they are insecure, and will leach off your happiness” (Coach Glen 2012). There are countless examples of me being bullied in school, especially during elementary school, were having a tough skin was crucial. The other kids would tell me that I was going to end up marrying one of the special needs students because I was “just like them”. During my freshman year of high school, my English teacher, who eventually quit and moved to China after my year ended, tried to accuse me and some of my non-American peers of conspiring against her in the most massive cheating scandal she could come up with. I could have allowed myself to become a victim, but I instead chose to define myself as a strong, reliable, and safe person whom many of my peers have come for aid.

One of the hardest things I am just realizing about living in America is the disconnect me and my friends have. I am not sure if this is because we are growing up, and maybe growing apart, but sometimes I feel alienated and lonely. In Mexico, me and my friends were close, so close in fact, I could go over to their houses without needing to knock. In America, after knowing my friends for over eight years, they will only text me the word “here” when they have arrived outside my house in their car. They will not go and knock, and much less call. Here in America, dirty looks are given out when I try to kiss someone on the cheek to say hello. While in Mexico, dirty looks would be given out if I dared to ignore a satisfying double kiss–where me and the person I am greeting both kiss each other at the same time on opposite cheeks! And finally, my friends have never lived in poverty. I used to live near slums in Mexico City. Just a block away from where I lived, there were houses made of sheet metal and plastic containers. My friends repulse when I tell them that when we grow up, I want to take them to my small house in Mexico City. I want to show them where I lived, but they are too clean to go into my city. Too clean to eat my food and too clean to breathe the same air I used to when I was young.

One of the other hardest challenges for me, both being an immigrant and a filmmaker is that I don’t have a camera. I wasn’t able to work because my VISA didn’t allow me, so I would have to borrow Mr. Derr’s cameras from school. While this worked for a while, now that I am out of high school, it is getting harder and harder for me to get a hold of these cameras. While Mr. Derr still allows me to use his, I will soon need to find a way to get my own.

What else should our readers know?
I am a SXSW 2020 accepted filmmaker. I am a freelance filmmaker, director, editor, and cinematographer. I have produced my own short films and three episodes for a show called H-Town Takeover and even filmed some weddings.

What were you like growing up?
Growing up, I was very hardworking. My parents enrolled me in a private school in Mexico City where I learned English and faced some of the strictest and toughest teachers I have ever met. I learned discipline and obedience during the early years of my life and they helped me to get things done. I was also a gymnast in Mexico, I had won a few first place trophies and after we moved to America, I joined a team here. The kids in my gymnastic class were exceptional, and some even bullied me for being so bad. However, this only taught me to ignore the hate, and I eventually caught up to many of their skill levels and even surpassed them in no time. My coach would then use me as an example of a hard-working, fast learning child who could overcome any setback.

I’ve always been an avid video game player since my mom showed me how to play Sonic the Hedgehog on a small GameBoy. This early love for video games blossomed and allowed me to meet some of my best friends. These friends I met in 6th grade, which I continue to talk with to this day, all bonded with me through online games such as Minecraft. Alongside playing video games, I often watched some of my favorite creators on YouTube. Watching YouTubers not only inspired me to want to make my own videos, but I was able to learn from them how to be entertaining and ways to edit to different audiences. I have always been an outgoing person, and outgoing people seem to do well in the entertainment business.

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