Meet Zachary Pierce

We recently connected with Zachary Pierce and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zachary, so happy you were able to devote some time to sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our community. So, we’ve always admired how you have seemingly never let nay-sayers or haters keep you down. Can you talk to us about how to persist despite the negative energy that so often is thrown at folks trying to do something special with their lives?

I stay dedicated to my passions and dreams by the simple decision to do it no matter what others say. We don’t fail, we give up, and where the much easier option may be to find a job we are either skilled at or offers lifestyle security, the real question is, does it make us truly happy? With one life guaranteed, I have made my decision on what I would like to spend it doing, and no one should feel they have the right to tell others what they can or can’t do. Not everybody has the same dream, but as Alan Watts once said, “It’s better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing, than a long life spent in a miserable way.” No matter what we do, there will always be those who say we aren’t on the right path, and the only way to prove them wrong is to see it through to the end. As often as the haters and nay-sayers, there will be the people who have their suggestions coming from the best places in their heart, but as good as their intentions may be in telling us to find a safer career path, only you can know what you really want out of life. My mission is to show people that anybody can accomplish anything they set their mind to, and where some people are born luckier than others and have less steps to climb, the staircase always exists. My advice is to climb it no matter what it takes for the sake of your lifelong fulfillment and happiness.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am pursuing a career in film production, taking in knowledge and experience in every department possible through my love of the industry. My pursuit has introduced me to camera operation, audio mixing, editing, writing, production managing, directing and so much more! One of the most exciting parts of this as a job has to be seeing my own art come to life in so many different ways. Something that I am very passionate about is adapting my own style of filmmaking and perfecting my craft through the many different types of projects I have been lucky enough to work on, from short films and music videos to documentaries and commercials, and even reaching the point of working on my first ever full length feature film! In the time I have been in the film industry, I have been awarded four Telly awards, Best Music Video at the LA Live Film Festival, a Hollywood Music in Media Awards nomination (HMMAs) for Best Music Video, and the Deb Bauer Unsung Hero Award of 2023 at the Catalina Island Film Festival.

I also work as a Tour Manager for award winning Cali-country music artist Presley Aronson, working to organize headlining live shows, plan out set lists, handle travel logistics and make important industry connections with so many incredible people who share the same passion. In this line of work I have been lucky enough to help organize for sets at the Toyota Arena, The Venice West, and even the Catalina Wine Mixer along with so many more. This has sparked a love for music in me, as where speech is translation, music is telepathic; there is no form or craft truer towards the inner emotions and feelings than one’s taste in music, or what they create out of it.

Finally as a side hobby, I am currently developing my expertise in music production, starting from experimental instrumental hip hop beats and progressing towards the ultimate goal of orchestral soundtracks to incorporate into my own projects in film production. I currently have 5 projects released and have planned ahead for the next several, thinking deeply into the psychological and thematic concept I would like to share with each. Most recently as of January 3rd, my brand new EP “Air Pressure” has been released and introduces a mixture of lofi boom bap to orchestral strings and synths over a layer of atmospheric pads for an auditorial journey.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

One of the most important things that I learned on my journey through the industry is to stay committed to your hard work on something and not backing down or giving up because of a lack of confidence. Our biggest critic is ourselves and everybody will see your work in a completely different light, so create what you truly would like to put out into the world and give it your all! Nobody wants to see something they see every day, and doing it different is crucial towards originality and pride in your art. A recent example would be my upcoming short film, which has undergone a long period of trial and error and constant reconstruction to implement new skills and ways to approach the final product, teaching me a whole new way to present something I am passionate about. I am proud to say at last that “The Time We Spend” will be making its debut premiere in 2025, highlighting concepts of mortality, the fear of eternity and the existential struggle between one’s preference in death or life that goes on forever.

Another impactful area of knowledge I have acquired is that trying something hands on is the best way to learn. Being able to put aside the fear of failure and diving into something ready to gain experience will leave us with the familiarity to return to it. And when failure does arrive, and it inevitably will sooner or later, and sometimes more often than success, it gives us something that our wins in life won’t; the ability to improve on what didn’t work the first time. Do not give in to a loss, be strong enough to wear it as a medal of what you have overcome.

Lastly I believe that success in passion is found through a balance of following your heart and listening to your mind. Our brain will tell us the technical aspects of anything we are doing and will absorb the experience we gain for development of our work, but only our heart will tell us what we really want to do to be happy. Without the heart, we submit to what logistically makes the most sense, even if it makes us unhappy; without the mind we follow our dreams without a plan to achieve them. But finding where to even start on this journey is not found by giving ourselves anxiety in trying to figure it out, it comes from awareness of when the lightbulb turns on. It is something that will happen naturally, and when the time comes, embrace it and do not let it fizzle out.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

It would be a dream come true to collaborate with as many people as possible on both the film and music sides of my career. I have a love for meeting new people as well as learning about how they see the world, and how they adapt that into their own art. Not one person sees the world the same way as another, therefore inevitably anyone you come across will have a new approach to a similar challenge. If it comes down to film, the strongest scripts may come from teams of writers who can bring up an angle or point that someone else on the team may have not thought of, and vice versa, creating a story that can appeal to even more of an audience. Along with that, cinematography and editing style are only two of the many major factors at play when it comes down to scene production and giving the energy a moment on screen should have, and even the slightest tweaks can change the entire direction. There is not only one way to construct a scene, if done effectively and with the right individuals, the finished product can be translated in so many different amazing ways.

Musical collaboration is something I am always hoping to find as any song is like riding a wavelength as if it were a rollercoaster, a day in the studio is a day at an amusement park, and what better way to do that than with others to enjoy the ride with? Being self taught in my own music production and working to generate my own lane, I am eager to see how others would utilize their own craft for a song / album and see what goes through their mind when constructing something from scratch.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://presleyaronsonenterprise.com/
• Instagram: @king_fourhead
• Youtube: Comatose – Topic
• Other: IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5089645/

  https://shoutoutla.com/meet-zachary-pierce-director-production-manager-editor-tour-manager/

  Presley Aronson: https://presleyaronson.com

Image Credits

PAE Studios