Meet Alejandro Cortés

We recently connected with Alejandro Cortés and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alejandro, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

Every art school has that one professor who likes to say, “only 10% of you will make it in this business”. I always wondered if that’s one of those weird things people say for good luck, like “break a leg!”, or if it’s a harsh reminder of what to expect. I’m not sure about that 10%, but I know for a fact that in order to be an artist, you need to first be resilient.

One of my mentors, Ralph Toporoff used to say, “All you have to do in order to be a filmmaker is 1) say you’re a filmmaker and 2) go and shoot the damn film! It may be good, it may be terrible, but you’ll have something to show. The only thing that counts is a finished film.” Ralph, may he rest in peace, taught me that nobody will tell you when you’ve become an artist, it’s only through the process of trying new things and taking risks that you own the role of the artist.

I moved to New York City at 18 against all odds, leaving behind my family and everything I knew. With no prior knowledge of filmmaking and a limited vocabulary, I knew that I wasn’t taking the easy path. Starting a completely new life in one of the most competitive cities in the world changed my mentality, and drove me to work harder than ever. As a Mexican immigrant living in the US, I hold the status of an “alien of extraordinary ability”. This means that every year I must demonstrate that I’m “extraordinary” to continue living here. As exhausting as it is, I use this as motivation to work harder than the average citizen. I’ve been working in this industry for over a decade, and unfortunately I still encounter employment discrimination from time to time. Yet, these experiences drive me to persevere and work harder each time. I’m equally grateful for the blessings as well as the challenges.

Bradford Young, one of my favorite cinematographers, once said: “Your vision is determined by your story”. I believe what makes an artist valuable isn’t just their skill, but the way they interpret the world through their experiences and resilience. After all, what’s a story without conflict? It’s the struggle that gives the narrative its depth.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a Mexican cinematographer with eleven years of experience in shooting documentaries, narrative films, commercials, and branded content. Based in New York City, I also work in Los Angeles and Mexico. My role consists in designing the visual style of a project based on the director’s vision, translating the script into images that tell a story. This requires a combination of both technical and creative skills… and a great deal of intuition.

Recent highlights of my work include “Black Girls Play: The Story of Handgames,” which was shortlisted for the 2024 Oscars and won Best Documentary Short at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival. I also received the ASC Haskell Wexler Heritage Award for my work on “Adrift,” which was also considered for the Oscars in 2019.

I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with esteemed clients such as Adidas, Dior, Harper’s Bazaar, Amnesty International, National Geographic, Netflix, Discovery, Disney + and Peacock. Additionally, I have worked with artists like Alicia Keys, Cindy Lauper, Bella Hadid, Anya Taylor-Joy, Issa Rae, J-Balvin, Killer Mike, Julianne Hough, and more.

Whether working on fiction or documentary, I feel incredibly fortunate to witness some of the most amazing stories and capture them for a living. No project is ever the same, I have to constantly adapt and evolve, and that keeps things interesting. I love being on the field getting my hands dirty. Office jobs just aren’t for me. I’m all about the experience.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

1) Less is more – Some times, keeping it simple is the most powerful choice. It’s not always about adding more, often, it’s about removing what isn’t necessary. When in doubt, take a step back and look for the simplest solution, it’s often the way to go.

2) It’s not about how it looks, but where you stand – Anyone can make a visually appealing image, but not everyone knows how to communicate with it. In a subjective medium, understanding the perspective from which you’re telling the story is crucial.

3) It’s not a competition – Comparing yourself to others is counterproductive. Everyone has their own time and path. Focus on your story and look forward, rather than sideways.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

It depends on where you are in your career, but if you’re just starting out, I’d encourage you to focus on your weaknesses and learn from your mistakes while you can, rather than wait until you’re faced with a challenge that you’re not prepared for.

I remember writing my first script in 2013. I asked my professor what’s the most difficult genre to write. He said, “Comedy, because anybody can make an audience cry if they play the right music, but not anyone can make an audience laugh”, so the first script I wrote had to be a comedy. I think this mentality is good if you can afford to fail, in other words, as long as you have the creative freedom, you should be looking for those situations that throw you out of your comfort zone. This is one of the number one reasons to go to film school. When I was in college, I used to get together with a group of friends after class and try everything we were insecure about until we started feeling confident- mostly technical stuff. We called this group the “Film Krew”, and every weekend we’d try new things. The idea was: we can try and succeed, or fail and learn.

Ultimately, I think it’s important to know your strengths, but it’s as important to know your weak spots and work on them, because no matter how good you are at something, there’s always room for improvement.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Mike Doyle, Carly Zavala, Alejandro Cortes

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