Conversations with Luis Reyes

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis Reyes.

Hi Luis, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in the SGV to two Mexican parents, being the oldest of three. I was always a bit of an odd one it seems. My parents like telling this one story about them taking me to a children’s therapist as they were taken aback by my habit of talking ad nauseum about my interests. I guess they were onto something, because that’s still the case. I became very infatuated with the concepts of texture and emotion, recording my favorite TV episodes and replaying certain scenes for a thrill. If my eyes weren’t glued onto the TV, they were glued to books or comics. My favorite spaces were my bedroom and the library. A good friend of mine, Chanel, and I would spend recesses drawing in the library. This is where I first started to get ideas for movies. I would play movies out in my head and recite the scenes out to myself on the playground or at home. I’d doodle storyboards for potential ideas in between the spaces of my math homework. I can probably blame my dad for getting me hooked with movies. Every week, we’d go to Hollywood Video and I’d have the allowance of one film. If my grades were really good, sometimes three! The big thing, is he didn’t care what I picked up. Little 5 / 6 year old Luis was picking up Showgirls and Evil Dead just because the covers looked cool. If not the rental store, it’d be bootleg DVDs from the local swap meets. There was a DVD that included some Felix the Cat cartoons (namely Bold King Cole) and Charlie Chaplin’s The Kid. This is where the spark really began. That, or watching an episode of Action League Now the same day. I saw a Chaplin gag and thought, “It can’t be that hard” and snuck into my dad’s liquor cabinet to snatch the family camcorder. In another world, I went down a completely different path breaking into that cabinet. We are still in possession of that camcorder, and a newer camcorder that I still use to film material today. I caught the bug then, making short films by myself with my action figures. Sometimes I would make a cameo, or I’d convince the neighborhood kids to join in. I got a confidence boost when my school district ran an art contest and my short film I submitted won 1st place. It showed at the LA County Fair that year. It competed in a wider LA County contest, landing at third. I rarely think of that experience at all nowadays, and I honestly forgot the details until recounting it for this. But I guess that gave me the confidence boost to keep going. I went on and on making films well into High School. I became a real big b-movie and arthouse nerd in middle school thanks to the local library’s killer selection. Without going into detail, life at home got really rough so I focused my career goals on something practical. What’s funny is I thought being an English teacher was somehow a safer choice. It took one rewatch of Dazed and Confused on 4th of July to rekindle that dream of mine. So I dropped all my set plans and decided I wanted to go to film school. 2 years at PCC and 3 years at Chapman later and I guess I’m still doing this thing. However, I’ve been looking at those formative years as I figure out what subtext my work is built upon and how I can enhance that. That initial high I got replaying those films and tv episodes over and over and over. I’ve been able to reach it to some degree with my new work, but I’m still on the hunt for that perfect recipe.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Oh not at all. Childhood trauma aside, I was placed in foster care for about 3 years of my adolescence. It really forced me to grow up and straighten up my act. I wasn’t a bad kid, but I was lazy. That experience popped my bubble of hope and made me realize at a very young age that the only one responsible for making this dream come true is me. Couple that with a shattered family and my teenage years quickly shifted into becoming an adult. And fast. Because of the lack of resources, I really put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into laying the groundwork for my career. It’s one of those things that I rarely consider as it all becomes a blur. It’s easy to block out the nasty bits. I didn’t have the grades or portfolio for film school, so I went to PCC in hopes I could transfer to some top school. I basically lived on PCC campus to keep my grades up. This pattern bled into Chapman, where I was one of the lucky few to get accepted as a transfer. I attended via scholarship, so I didn’t have the privilege of enjoying nights out or chill weekends as some of my peers did. All my opportunities I landed while at Chapman had me overworked and exhausted. The beauty of unpaid internships. And even now, I’m sadly out of work and doing my best to get by. But I’ve been reflecting a lot. I’ve been through the mud a number of times. Constant bullying, financial troubles, foster care. I think back on those dark days where I wanted to throw in the towel. But it hasn’t all been bad. Despite the tribulations, it’s been a fun ride. And it’s barely the beginning still. I’ve taken a beating, I can take some more.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work has an emphasis on memory and how we connect with pre-existing spaces, people, and feelings. My memory is something I value beyond so much else. It scares me that I know one day, that library will slowly lose its text. So I use my films to combat that. I tell stories based around the people I grew up around, the spaces I once occupied, and the associated feelings that keep those memories so pure and robust. I’ve found that the strongest way to connect in that way again has been by referencing the material I grew up on. Old foreign stop motion films, 1960s monster movies, video art, vintage documentaries, etc. I also pull from mediums outside of film such as puppet shows, zines, street art, and photography. It allows the films to feel apart from our own time, without being distinctly period pieces. It’s all in the details, and in the texture. I used alternative shooting mediums (35mm, 16mm, MiniDV, etc.) and mixed media (stop motion animation, video synthesizers) to create a collage of phantasmagoric imagery. My goal is to create work that bridges the worlds of dream and memory, while retaining intimate narratives that connect to a broader audience. In doing so, I also want to carve my own lane by approaching Chicano identity in a manner that I feel isn’t as commonly explored. The continuous relation between culture and pop culture is interesting, and something I take seriously when I carve out my ideas. I’m most proud of my short film, Dalila’s Salon. That film was birthed from my annoyance of my 9 to 6 and my desire to make something that touched upon all I’ve addressed above. My prior films had bits and pieces of that, but I needed one film to show people that I have a vision beyond just talking about it. I’m still so proud of it though because it hits on a lot of what I want to continue to explore in future films. And the response has been so heart warming. I wanted to make the film to highlight an aspect of Chicano culture / community that I felt was partially overlooked in film and people resonate with it for that reason. Everything I’ve made since has been informed by the groundwork laid by that film, and I’m excited to continue in fleshing out that world.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I’m pretty approachable haha. I’ve been really surprised with how many people have thought I’d be daunting in-person but it’s quite the opposite. I love talking to people, I just get shy sometimes. Despite being a chatterbox, I have pretty bad social anxiety. That said, I want to collaborate with more people. Film can be a scary world, and we’re living in a scary world. I want others to know that they can approach me to work together and if I’m able I’d love to. People forget that film is a communal effort. Capturing community through collaboration is a big part of the medium and something I value and cherish.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://garbagedayproductions.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/l_r.99/