“Well, I’m a graphic designer. I guess I’m interested in film and entertainment. I just recently moved to Downtown LA in December. I’m originally from LA. I’ve been in and out of downtown for years.
I fell into [graphic design]. I actually went to do game design, but after a year or so doing animation, I decided not to really pursue that. They had a lot of traditional drawing classes. I didn’t come from a drawing background. I wanted to do more computer animation, so after doing it for about a year, I decided it probably wasn’t for me. And then graphic design was the next closest related major.
[I’m] just freelancing on the side. And uh, working on a screenplay right now. I don’t have a lot of details on it yet. It’s more of a futuristic action. There’s some sci-fi movies and books I haven’t read so I can’t consider myself a ‘fan,’ but I like movies like Equilibrium or Blade Runner.
I used to do some photography too. I guess a lot of architectural photography. Not a lot of street photography, but some. Some of it is pretty funny, you know, catching people off guard, or all that kind of stuff. Well I think I did this one series, that I called, From the Left Side of the Bus. So I was on the Metro, I think I was going from Burbank to somewhere in LA, and I just took photos through the window from the left side. People, cars, all that stuff in black and white. And, when I went back, I did the same thing.
I guess [I’ve been doing] freelance on and off since I graduated college. That was 2011. So, not too long. Sometimes it does get kind of slow. That’s why I don’t do it really much full-time, I guess. It’s kind of on the side. At one point, when graphic design was going kind of slow, I just stopped for a while. I was a technical recruiter for a while. God, that was one of the hardest jobs I’ve ever had. I was a headhunter, so it was a combination of phone sells, staffing, cold-calling. Oh man, it was intense. I had to bring in candidates, kinda talk to them, pitch their background to hiring managers. I got hung up on a lot, but I did make some progress with some companies so some companies were willing to work with me. I did that for about half a year, and then I’m like, ‘Nope.’
I still do other regular jobs too. I worked at a warehouse – actually, that’s what I still do sometimes. Yeah, it’s so random. I forklift. It’s actually the easiest job I’ve ever had though. And you know how you get things from high levels? Well, when I first started, I was always worried about things falling on me. ‘Cause they’re like pallets? And, I don’t know, a thousand, fifteen hundred, two thousand pounds? And when you’re in a lift, it kind of jerks a little? But I’m kinda used to that though.
I try to go to a lot of film festivals. Sometimes I go to a meetup every once in a while. I’ve gone to at least one meetup that was put on by Be Great Partners. They’re like a start-up incubator. So they help people with start-ups, funds, and all that kind of stuff. Mostly for like, tech companies.
I think in the next few years, I would like to own a company. Probably tech related, like an internet company. And also, just write. Have a movie made. Or a TV show. Well, I think I’m more of an action kind of guy, but I like comedy too. Like The Office or 30 Rock. Those are some of my favorite shows. Like humor, quirky kind of stuff. If I could write some of those, it could be fun. And here in LA, there’s always something being shot around.”
Excerpt paraphrased and edited for clarity.