Meet Ishmael Meza

We were lucky to catch up with Ishmael Meza recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ishmael, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I honestly can’t say I’ve found a “purpose”. There are different aspects of my life that I love doing. There are goals that I’ve set for myself that I have accomplished and have yet to accomplish. I have a relentless drive to complete projects and grow from each experience.
I know what I want to do with this life and I will never give in to quitting, but sometimes life takes you in directions you’d never expect to go. If life challenges you by placing a wall in your path, do you go around it, through it, under or over, or do you turn around to find a different direction away from the wall? Which ever you choose will lead you closer to your purpose in life. Although I’m sure a lot of us would love to know our purpose as if it was foretold, to me the journey is the part I want to enjoy more.
I love being an artist and because I aim to accomplish one goal doesn’t mean I will end there. There is always higher standard to set once I’ve reached a pinnicle. I’ve been acknowledged for my tenacity to move forward and I don’t plan to deviate from that reputation anytime soon.
Accolades and acknowledgments are great to enjoy around friends and colleagues, and it’s always a nice feeling to impress strangers, make new friends and congregate to set beneficial goals to better the community and each other. In that, there is purpose. Not just for myself, but to benefit others too. As a film producer I’ve brought total strangers together to accomplish the one goal of finishing a project, and whether or not the project has finished, I’ve seen my colleagues become friends and go on to work together on several other projects, that sometimes include me or not, but ultimately forge new bonds.
So all in all, did I find a purpose? Not exactly. Do I know what I want from this life? Mostly. My purpose right now is to keep walking down my chosen path. Whatever challenges come, I will face them.

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’m focused on the development of myself as a film producer and musician. There are many routes within the entertainment industry that I have gained expertise on. A few routes as a musician are singing with live bands and playing big events, teaching various instruments and music to students local and national, and composing music for films and series. I have plenty of lyrics and poetry written for original music, and once I’ve gained enough momentum with finishing specific projects I will be dedicating time to producing my first solo record.
Playing shows and listening to the roar of the crowd is one of the greatest feelings in the world, I live for that feeling. By having a combination of charisma, talent and genuine goodness, the audience will gravitate towards you and respond positively. None of this comes without perfect-practice and lots of time spent on the craft, that’s what the general audience never sees, and when it’s all paid off by cheering you know you’re doing something right.
As a teacher I love to spread the knowledge of music. It’s undercut in our education systems and yet there’s no one in the world who doesn’t listen to music. We surround ourselves with an atmosphere of pleasant sounds to fill the void of silence, we use it to occupy our ears while we complete tasks and/or relax, so why should it not be taught? Through “Ishmael’s Music Tutoring”, my goal is to spread the knowledge of music for people to understand the elements required to create music.
As an actor and filmmaker I just enjoy being on set. I love diving deep into a character and challenging my morality, I love embodying a character that’s far from who I am as a person but yet somehow fit mysef into this character to bring it to life. My production company, Cimitoro Productions, has mostly short films under it’s completed projects list but there are other projects currently at work; my short film “¡UUNCHOP!” is in post production and the music is being composed, once that’s done my series project “Clarity of a Monster” will begin it’s funding campaigns to shoot with pay, then I have other scripts written for projects in the future. To watch any of the projects look for the official YouTube channel.

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?

The qualities and skills I’ve developed are all encompassing.
In college I earned two associates degrees; Music Industry Studies degree with an emphasis on vocals and performance, and Social & Behavioral Sciences, the general study of human nature. After, I studied at Tower Talent Studio West for 1 1/2 years as an actor and model. I also collect textbooks in various subjects. I’m always learning, I like being knowledgeable.
Studying humans through various means has lead me to become intuitive, which has lead me to succeed in developing many relationships. Talent and performance can make people like and respect you almost instantly, which allows people to approach you, and nepotism is far reaching. Friendships lead to recommendations, which is positive, but you should always be able to back up your skills.
My networking web stretches throughout the country. The choice to attend events and develop a skill in networking has presented a lot of opportunity. This also goes for attending seminars, classes and meetings, online or in-person. Auditioning for various roles and putting forth an effort to be the best version of yourself as a character makes a good impression with everyone in the room, and even if you don’t land the role, they will remember you.
Taking criticism in the entertainment industry isn’t the easiest thing to manage. Learning to suppress your emotions in an industry that’s financially geared by emotion is a contradiction within itself. If you are someone who doesn’t take “negative critiques” well, you have to learn to toss your reactive emotions aside, as they will hinder you. It’s not easy to accomplish, it took me a long time.
As a positive outlook on it; you’re the one performing. Not the audience, not your loved ones, not the world, just you, and it takes courage to allow yourself to become vulnerable to criticism and embarrassment. If you do the best you can do, if you gave it your all, then whatever anyone else has to say, besides any judges, doesn’t matter. However, that doesn’t mean you’ve peaked, you can always better your skills and your attitude.
As far as any advice to give, I would say that the combination of the skills I’ve learned through schooling, working, by hobby or by passion, the events I’ve attended to network and develop relationships, and the continuous effort to grow, have gotten me to the point I’m at today.

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?

There’s a few different kinds of people I’d like to collaborate with as far as the film world. I’d like to start shooting local commercials here in San Diego, Ca. Ideally, I would need business owners who are well budgeted for a well-made project and ready to expand the number of their customers and outreach. Social media can take a business only so far, but real commercials for television will always reach farther. I have experience as a screenwriter, director, producer, composer, and stunt coordinator. I have the means to find and book locations as well as present commercials to local stations.
After just over 10 years of acting on camera I’ve achieved signing to an LA agent and with them I obviously hope to land some roles and present myself to a wider audience. Continuously networking and attending events in LA will also boost chances of being offered an audition or a role. I would recommend working with those who have a good sense of creativity and originality and for certain have a budget and can get you paid for your work. If not both, at least one.
As far as music, I’m currently not playing in a band and being consistent with playing shows, so putting together a versatile band with bandmates who can make the time is ideal. The toughest part of being in a band is pulling all the members together for every meetup. Here in San Diego, I’ve played many venues that book paid gigs and have built rapport with business owners and managers.
I am a singer and percussionist, ideally I need a guitarist, bassist, drummer, latin percussionist and keyboardist. There’s a huge need for latin music in many places in San Diego and the last few bands I’ve played with specialized in latin music. I also play blues, funk, rock, old school, r&b, some metal and some jazz. I would love to collaborate on original music, I’m much more creative around other original musicians that know how to blend themselves into different genres.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Official “Why the Nativity?” poster – Turning Point Studios.

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