Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Anthony Sturmas. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Anthony, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
My father, seeing him work graveyard shifts and provide for the family and his strength to never stop. He was like a tank, a hero in my eyes. With that being said I was gifted by his talent —but at the time I didn’t know how hard it would be to break into this business. Acting, art, modeling is a very difficult industry to break into, so having a focused vision is very important in your journey. Never settling anything less.
After High school I got accepted to Art Center and studied illustration under Marc Stricland. I excelled and left for ten years and began knocking on the doors of businesses because tuition back then was like buying a house. Nothing has changed even by today. I also studied comic books, famous artist like Robert Williams and Jack Kirby who refined my style and who I was as an “artist”. I was studying how to ink and how to use your pen, which was the secret of refining your illustration style and how to ink. This is when I got interested in filmmaking, the process and storyboarding. Storytelling, making movies…
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?
In 2006 I began teaching a pilot program at USC. I received my BFS in Multimedia Animation from The Art Institute of Los Angeles CA, also in 2006, While attending the Art Institute I rocked my first film ever by completing it with thirty other artists under my belt and completed a short 2d/3d film. I have written, produced and directed a music video as well as an animated film called “The Red storm” by Asturmas Studios. and a music video by Boy Boy West Coast where we completed an animated music video under one month with a three-man team, that hit 176k views. I helped storyboard and direct while Adam Santana did the 2d backgrounds and Infamous Animations did the animation.
Once I graduated I dived into filmmaking, i.e.: storyboarding. At the beginning it was really rough because I knew nobody in the industry, and nobody knew me. In college they teach you all the skills, which is half of your problem when you graduate. The other 55% are who you know in this business. In fact, it is a huge part of your career knowing who to write to, who to talk to and learn from. Yes, talent is a crucial part of your career but I have seen some many artists that are so incredibly gifted that they shouldn’t have any issues finding work, yet, later they were so convinced and banking on their talent that the work is never turned in, jobless, it’s not what they asked for and never heard again from the director, I’ve seen this so many times.
Today I have worked on (as a storyboard artist) on several films including “Enough” directed by Michele LaBrucherie, a film where Luz Guzman will be launching his own production company called Mascot Camp where he plans to get the ball rolling with the release of two feature films including “Enough.”
Another film a I enjoyed working as the senior storyboard artist on Z DEAD END by Robert Restro, the cast includes The all-star cast includes actors: Robert LaSardo, George Lazenby, Robert Mukes, Felissa Rose, Brinke Stevens, Dave Sheridan, Shawn C. Phillips, John Fiore, Tina Krause, Vincent Ward, Nea Dune, Mike Ferguson, Billy Hartmann, Maximo Gianfranco, Genoveva Rossi, April Love, Bruce Soscia, Lance Caver, Aizhan Lighg, among others.
I am also in the process of doing the graphic novel for Z DEAD END and doing a limited edition signed by the director and storyboard artist.
Lastly, Wages of Sin 2023 American crime thriller about a mob enforcer fighting for his life after he’s betrayed by a criminal enterprise. Directed by Victor Rios making his feature film debut – from a screenplay written by co-star and co-producer Stephen Cyrus Sepher (Heist). Also produced by Nazo Bravo.
The movie features Paul Sloan (The Greatest Beer Run Ever), Danny Trejo (Machete), Jeremy Luke (The Irishman), Meredith VanCuyk, Nazo Bravo, Jason Scott Jenkins, Dan Wicksman, Heather McPhaul, Jamal Trulove, Al Burke, Sean Samuels, Curtis Webster, Richard Conti, P.J. Marino, Angela Cela, Caroline Hallum, Daniel Joo, Matthew Henerson, Amber Amato, Marcus Ray, Frank Lyon and Sophie Blondin.
My IMbd: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5337505/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
So, I am grateful to those who extended their hands while in my younger years as a storyboard artist. Storyboarding is extremely important in the process of filmmaking. Storyboards should be simple and more importantly the motion of that frame. We basically draw the entire film.
Anytime an up-and-coming storyboard artist wants to learn, my door is always open. Come next year I will be teaching storyboarding in Mexico. Anybody interested in knowing more about this please feel free to reach out to me through my website www.asturmas.com under contact
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?
The three qualities for me are drive, passion and keeping that vision, that light ahead of you even in the darkest days when you want to give up. Never give in, it is not easy, but it will pay off.
Living in the mecca of fitness and Hollywood entertainment your focus cannot be second guessed even in the darkest days especially when you are competing with thousands who want the same gig as you. Everyone I know in Hollywood puts on the “happy face,” doing great, doing well when in fact it is not all sunshine and rainbows. Some of us work odd jobs in order to pay rent while still doing what we love.
Resilience is the ability to withstand adversity and bounce back from difficult life events, over and over. In this case, being the best in your field. Which means long hours studying experts in your field, studying films, reading books, leveling up on your game, networking. In this field you will get the door closed on you more times than you can count and yet you will still need to bounce back as if nothing happened. You are competing with the best and if you are not on your game every day, it is not going to happen. You get what you put into it.
“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.”
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
In the community storyboard artists are weary of AI and what it might do.
It may seem that storyboards are a prehistoric form of advertising but it’s far from the truth. A storyboard, done well with all the bells and whistles can push the creative idea/concept without giving it all away. Unlike AI storyboards that rely on pre-existing footage (nothing creative about this nor original) and leave anything to the imagination. Storyboards are made perfect in a sense; the storyboard artist is reading line per line to make that one shot or scene dynamically powerful. The storyboard artist is delivering the message, flow, and pacing of a commercial or film.
Note: Storyboard artist demand is projected to grow 5% from 2018 to 2028
Contact Info:
- Website: www.asturmas.com
- Instagram: anthony sturmas
- Facebook: anthony sturmas
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-sturmas-2b4847128/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUunqGerMdZAAPsFcPtpzJw
- Other: tik tok anthony sturmas
Image Credits
Alondra Cervantes Monterrey Nuevo León
