Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ernesto M. Sandoval. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Ernesto, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
Low moments in life is what keeps my creativity alive. What do I mean? Let me tell you.
There have been moments in my life when it was difficult to keep my creatively alive especially after going through something transformative or experiencing an emotional difficult event. For example, after I made my first feature film I went through a bout of Depression that probably lasted a few years because I felt like a complete failure. I failed to capture my vision and I failed to effectively communicate with collaborators how I wanted certain scenes to play out or how I wanted certain images to come to life. After this feature film, I felt creatively dead. I felt the same way during the height of the Covid Pandemic in 2020. It felt like a part of my brain didn’t want to work. The reason I bring this up is because there are times in life when we don’t feel creative and that’s OKAY. In the moment, it can be frustrating, but I knew I had to embrace what my body and mind wanted, which was time to process my emotions. I didn’t fight it. I was annoyed I didn’t feel creative, but then I just impressed not having something creative to say. Sometimes, the brain needs to buffer and after it’s done buffering a burst of creative power will come out. Why? Because only after processing my emotions, will I have something significant to express to others.
I’ve learned embracing low moments not only his healthy for my mental and emotional well being – it also will eventually propel me forward with creative energy. But even in difficult times (especially in difficult times) I like to always be around creative work whether it be art, music, tv shows, movies, or even baseball! Sometimes creatively comes from watching other creatives do incredible work and it can be very inspiring. One of my favorite things to do when I need inspiration or just wanna feel motivated – I check out movie trailers. I love watching movie trailers because they always instill a sense of awe and power. Watching other creative works satisfies my creative mind and it makes me excited to create work of equal value.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’ve been working as a Production Secretary in the film industry and my most recent TV project was FX’s The Sterling Affairs, which will premiere sometime in 2024.
While working as a Production Secretary, I’ve been developing a TV pilot and a thriller feature film. I’m hoping to start production on my new feature film in the summer of 2024 and right now I’m focused on raising funds for the movie. It’s a micro-budget feature film that will pack a punch and I’m excited to get it made!
In addition to working and hustling on my side projects, I’ve started doing more acting. I’ve had some success as a commercial actor and I hope to continue to grow my acting muscle.
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?
I’m still figuring out my journey and I don’t think I’ve reached a decent level of success. Maybe I’m too hard on myself, but I’m not where I want to be in terms of my film career and I’m certainly not where I want to be in terms of my financial stability. With that said, I think it’s important to remember to not take things personally, embrace failure, and if something scares you – you have to do it!
The film industry is filled with a lot of ambitious people and people will step on each other or over each other. You will develop great relationships, but some will fizzle out and others will be fruitful. People have their own agendas and their own plans. Never take it personally if you’re excluded or not asked to collaborate on a project with someone you recently worked with or networked with. At the end of the day, as a great as it is to network and develop great relationships – we’re all competing with each other. Don’t take it personally.
Takes risks and embrace failure. Failure is the best teacher and only through failure can you grow stronger and smarter. Let the bad feeling of failure sit with you, feel it, and become a better version of yourself.
If a project or an opportunity scares you – that means something exciting will happen. Fear is good. Fear is a natural response to something unknown, exciting, and new. You’ll be happy you decided to overcome your fears.
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?
Right now the biggest obstacle has been getting the right people to read or look at my work. There are thousands of filmmakers who want to be seen and I understand it’s hard to take a chance on a new voice. I’ve always felt my voice was unique, but in the film business – the same type of voice and the same type of formulaic movies make a lot of money. I have to prove myself and show that my unique style of filmmaking can be financially viable. But you have to spend money to make money, right? The problem is I don’t have money so I just need that ONE person to believe in me. I just have to keep creating until, to quote Steve Martin, I’m “so good they can’t ignore you.”
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @erniernesto
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ernesto-m-sandoval-a0b23a44
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ernestom.sandoval5330
