Meet Alex Peña

We recently connected with Alex Peña and have shared our conversation below.

Alex, so great to have you with us and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the community. So, let’s jump into something that stops so many people from going after their dreams – haters, nay-sayers, etc. We’d love to hear about how you dealt with that and persisted on your path.

I’ve always had in mind that chasing your dreams and accomplishing big things will bring detractors and people who doubt you along the way. That is the inevitable price of success and aiming to be different. I have also always had the mindset to use the hate and the doubts as fuel to become a better version of myself and to achieve the objective. It is of course easier said than done, but discipline and being faithful to your mindset has been fundamental to stay focused and get through the challenge of doubt.

Throughout my life I’ve faced multiple challenges in my process of personal and professional growth. I’ve had to face doubters and I’ve learnt that some people will show up in your life only to represent more noise and doubts. This can trigger the biggest distractions and it might even bring you down to the point of questioning if you want to continue or give up.

It was through passion, faith and determination that I came to terms with this and accepted that when you challenge yourself to grow, haters and doubters will always be around. And it is my responsibility to embrace it and focus my energy on what’s really important. Establishing space for mental health, exercising, and having a network of authentic people who listen and support me is also essential.

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 production designer from Mexico City, now based in New York City. My work is to essentially design sets and build worlds for films. I design worlds that help tell a story, and that add layers of complexity to characters and spaces. I grew up watching films and being curious about the spaces and the stories that took place in them. I always liked the idea of going in to a movie theater and being transported to crazy and different realities. From the Roman Colosseum in Gladiator and the desert of Arrakis in Dune, to a possessed girl’s room in the Exorcist… I was always immersed in these worlds and the architecture shaping the space always caught my attention.

I always imagined a life that was intertwined with film, whether it was writing stories, or making films. I decided to pursue a career in architecture in Mexico City as an entry point to film, designing spaces and imagining the stories of its inhabitants. This always sparked the creativity in my work, but I often felt the need to experience architecture as a more lived container, rather than a product. This was an easy fix, since my school offered some classes for architecture for film, set and production design.

I had found my way into film, and ever since, I’ve been working on designing and building sets for film and TV, while also pursuing a Masters degree in Production Design in the Design for Stage and Film program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.

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?

I believe anyone can find their own way to film and production design. I don’t think there’s a particular formula or route to get to it. I think one of the most valuable aspects of film is that people from very different backgrounds find their way to it, and that’s what brings all the different voices and stories to the art.

I do think, however, that there’s skills and qualities that can help you get closer to film and production design. Particularly, for me, having an enormous sense of curiosity to tell unique stories was essential. Also, having a big curiosity for other cultures and landscapes in the world that can somehow feed a “visual vocabulary” into your brain to pull from when creating stories and their worlds. Traveling, getting yourself out of the comfort zone, and exploring different voices and stories are also elements that will definitely make your journey in film more impactful.

From a technical aspect, I believe architecture, and any kind of design can provide you with the skills to start a career in production design. However, I believe that curiosity and creativity will get you very close to film, no matter what your background is.

What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?

I think the biggest challenge in this journey has been to be away from home. It will always be very challenging to be far away from your loved ones, in a new and different environment, a different culture, language and challenges. Ironically, even though this is a big challenge, it is also a very big motivation to make my loved ones and myself proud. Also, it has been very rewarding to make new friends and interpersonal relationships that expand my network of support in this new challenge. It is through discipline and passion that I’ve been able to remind myself of the ultimate goal, which is to challenge myself and become the best version of myself, personally and professionally.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: alexinanadon