Meet Bradford Uyeda

We were lucky to catch up with Bradford Uyeda recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bradford, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I would say I got it from a number of places over the years. Let’s rank them from most influential on down. Number one is my father, he set the bar when I was young. He taught me to lead by example, not just in work but in family life as well, I had three younger brothers that looked at my behavior as the road map. My father was tough and hard on me which now having been in the real world I am grateful. The world is hard and ruthless. The habit he has passed on to me is “do it right the first time and finish what you start”. The next is my grandmother, she taught me to “work smarter not harder”, she was just under 5′ and having worked on a farm as a child developed a “do it all” mentality. During the summer as kid I would work for her in her yard. I learned a lot ways to figure the fastest and most efficient way of doing chores without injuring myself. From there I would say it was my high school varsity football coach who instilled a “push yourself to be better” followed by my supervisor of my first real job. I worked at Piccolo’s Pizza which would eventually become Papa Murphy’s a few years later. I learned speed, efficiency and pride in the quality of work. I learned prep and how getting ahead of the days work benefits all. Then finally when I started my first retail job in college I learned planning and leadership skills from probably the most diverse but thorough groups of managers. I’ve found that you could learn a new skill from just about anyone.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I have been a freelance animator for almost two decades. I specialized in stop-motion and traditional (cartoon) animation. When Covid hit and the country went into lockdown I had time to realize a few things: 1. That life is extremely short and tomorrow is promised to no one, 2. I want to leave something behind for future generations, I did not want to be someone who just did the “basic life” of working at a mundane job, basic home, basic family life and then die. When people ask who was I and there isn’t an answer bothered me. I want my bloodline to know who I was. 3. I want to make a contribution to this country, to this world using my gifts.

And so I emerged from Covid with a new desire and hunger to push myself out of my comfort zone and try to do new things. I decided to make my first animated feature film. During Covid I began to research my family tree starting with my grandparents. I was fascinated and fixated on world war 2. Both my grandfathers served and both have very different stories. I decided that they both deserve to be told. I am starting with my father’s dad. His story is I feel more powerful, historically and culturally. He was Japanese American and was sent to concentration camps right here in the U.S. in 1942. He then volunteered to serve in the United States Armed forces in a segregated unit the 442nd. I am currently in pre-production developing a proof of concept or short segment of the film. A crowdfunding will have begun by the time this interview is published. We need everyone to help on this because I’m not going the route of the Hollywood system. I am making this my way and tell the story from my grandfather point of view.

While that is in the early stages I have written a short film about another family member I discovered during covid when I inherited a Purple Heart from a great uncle that was not wounded in world war 2. It belonged to his younger brother who died in 1950 during the Korean war. The short is based on a letter that accompanied the letter from the soldier my great uncle died saving.

I am also creating stop-motion music videos for a rock band from San Francisco. It will be ongoing throughout the year and into 2025 I imagine. I love sculpting so this is a nice way for me to relax. The band has several video ideas that are linked together in one big narrative so it will interesting how it all comes together in the finale.

In October there is a film festival in Phoenix, Arizona that I have been a part of the committee. It’s the Japanese Film Festival of Arizona and this year we were lucky enough to get Phoenix Art Museum to allow us to screen the festival there. It’s pretty exciting for our second year running. We have curated a wonderful collection of films. I even animated the promo for the festival this year. I only had to draw 190 frames but it was worth it.

I also fabricated custom trophies for a film festival in Phoenix called “A Night of Misfit Films”. It happens every year on the Thanksgiving Day weekend. This year I made 16 resin trophies. I do have a lot of fun creating these. I get to be creative and try new techniques every year.

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 most important take aways that I tell my kids and anyone who I say “I wish I know how” is this; 1. You can learn to do anything. The web has given us so much access and there are so many like me that wish to share their knowledge. There are youtube videos, tutorials, books and classes available in every subject and specific skill set. 2. Practice, practice and keep practicing. If you want to learn to draw, then draw. It may start out as stick figures, but everyone’s did once, the more you do the better you get. The hunger to learn keeps you motivated, gives you a purpose…longevity. 3. Fail. Fail. Learn from the failures, adapt and get better but don’t give up and don’t stop. There is fire that ignited you to take on this mountain keep fueling the fire no matter the conditions.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

The number one obstacle I face is that my feature is a story of a minority group. A lot of the feedback from meetings and pitches is that let’s just say I don’t have roles for top name actors. Agents want me to write a meatier role for their actor that would make them the lead. Studios tell me if I have a top name actor they’d fund my film, but the actors want their character to be the main character. Sorry I am telling my grandfathers story from his point of view. I am going to get this funded independently and stay true to the story. I am going to crowdfund for a small amount and make a proof of concept that I can use to get investors.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Head shot by Lilybelle Studios

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