Meet Dominique Zamora of CineCosu Cosplay, Oddelish

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dominique Zamora.

So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Hi VoyageLA! My name is Dominique, I’m a professional writer, photographer, vlogger, and cosplayer.

I’m best known for my cosplayer persona of CineCosu, aka “In-N-Out Ahri”

I also co-produce a food YouTube series with my boyfriend, called Oddelish, where we go around eating weird foods like grasshopper tacos and ramen donuts.

As for my backstory, well, I think it’s similar to a lot of creatives with perfectionist issues.

I’ve always loved doing creative work ever since I was little, but have also always struggled to hone in on just one field. Painting, writing, photography, I liked them all for different reasons, and it was a constant source of stress feeling like I had to pick just one in order to make a living off of it. Deep down, I felt like nothing could feel creatively stimulating enough on its own for me to be truly happy.

Of course, no one tells you it’s possible to make a living doing everything, so in high school, I actively started pursuing writing as my chosen career. I went to UCI, got my degree in journalism, found a job right out of college, wrote for Foodbeast for a couple of years, and eventually lost interest and started pursuing wedding videography instead. I’ve been shooting weddings now for seven years.

Weddings have thus far been my longest stint doing one art form as my main source of income, but at some point, the same ennui eventually settled in and I started dabbling in cosplay and cosplay photography for some creative relief.

It started slow at first, but eventually I started growing a presence in the cosplay community, developing a knack for producing high-concept pieces with bigger-name cosplayers, larger budgets, multiple days of shooting, etc. Stuff the Southern California cosplay scene — which up until recently consisted mostly of low-quality, “con-floor” photography — just wasn’t doing 3 – 5 years ago.

It was through these productions that I finally found everything I was looking for in a creative job. I could shoot, write pitches and promotional material, craft props and set pieces — anything and everything a production called for. It was a dream come true.

CineCosu Cosplay, Oddelish – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
First, I’m not a huge fan of the word competition. Growing up, I always compared myself to other people, always felt lesser, always wanted to “prove myself” or “beat” other people.

These days, I consciously make an effort to look at others more out of admiration. Even if someone is doing something different or better than me, or hell, maybe worse than me, I want to look for opportunities to learn from others or work together to create something better than either of us could have made alone.

Second, because I do also believe in positive and realistic self-appraisal — I do four main things: cosplay photography, wedding videography, food photography, and my business, Oddelish.

For cosplay photography: I specialize in production work. I won’t say I’m the best photographer or retoucher or storyteller. But over the years, I’ve learned how to organize creative people in order to make magic happen. Outside of Patreon, there’s not much money in the cosplay community, so you have to know how to motivate people and manage different personalities and worth ethics in order to make a project come to life. It takes humility and hard work and solid communication, and I can safely say I believe my team has mastered all of those arts.

For wedding videography, the company I work for, JustinElement Productions, is the best at making people look happy. We take the time to communicate and coach people so no one feels awkward or has RBF or weird upper arm fat. Our goal is to make sure everyone feels good and looks good, all while having a good time.

For food photography, I’m still trying to figure out my style and voice, so I have to say I’m most proud of how quickly and efficiently I work. Those are skills I picked up from the other two jobs.

And finally, for Oddelish, it’s a fairly new Youtube channel, where my boyfriend and I go around eating weird foods, but it’s shot super beautifully and cinematically. What I’m most proud of though, especially in today’s political climate, is that it allows me to take a stand against some of the bigotry and xenophobia targeted at the Asian community in the wake of COVID-19. I grew up being teased and bullied for bringing pork floss to school for lunch, and it sucks to see some of those same hateful messages still being expressed in 2020. But through Oddelish, I’m able to pay homage to my heritage, promote unity and curiosity, and do it all in a super beautiful way.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
For me, success is creating work I can be proud of. I think for most creatives, the saying is true: we’re our own worst critics.

Throughout my life, I’ve struggled with feeling “good enough.” I still don’t feel good enough. I look back at most projects I do and scrutinize everything I did wrong, could have done better, etc.

Occasionally though, and through the help of one solid therapist, I do look at something I’ve done and think to myself “okay, not terrible. I’m actually kind of proud of this one.”

And that, though small, feels like a win.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.oddelish.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddelish/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oddelish
• Other: https://www.dzmra.com/ (personal website)

Image Credit:
TheCKM, petengyn, Oddelish, Dzmra

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