Check Out Luis De Peña’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luis De Peña.

Hi Luis, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story is a little all over the place. If I knew then where I would be today, I would have told you that you were crazy. I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and grew up playing and studying music, thinking that’s what I would do for a career. From a young age, I had a special love for the arts. A huge part of my childhood included spending a lot of time indoors because of harsh winters, which meant that all I did was watch movies with my dad. I’ve always associated film and music to those core memories with my father because it was the thing that would bring us together, and it was from that age that I understood the arts to be that exactly, something that brings people together. I studied music under professional instruction until the age of 15. My parent’s then moved us to Salem, MA (I know, SO random) where I still had a passion for music but wanted to delve deeper into the passion for film that I had discovered but never knew how to tap into. The director of the film program, Doug Cabot, made it a point to make sure I was able to get in the program. I was enrolled in animation and started learning about building frames and putting a story together and quickly realized I hated it.

I couldn’t stand how long it all took and I knew what I wanted to be a part of was being on a set. I communicated to the film director that I wanted to try something else and I was then put in an editing class where I learned how to put visuals together. That’s what started it all. I dug deep into the world of film and little did I know that it would change my life because I knew from then film is what I wanted to do. Mid-way through my senior year of high school my parents decided it was time for us to move to Florida, which put a dent in my plans of moving to LA and pursuing my dream. After high school, I ended up going to a private Christian University in Lakeland, Florida, named Southeastern University, where I majored in Film and also met my wife. I lived in Lakeland for a few years after college where I freelanced in film and worked at a church. Even then, I had no plans of moving anytime soon. A few months after our marriage and after a few trips to Los Angeles we started to think and dream about what a move out here would look like. After a trip to Italy, we decided to take a leap of faith and committed to pursue this dream of being a director in film and moved to LA.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
If there’s a person that’s had a smooth road pursuing their dream, I would LOVE to meet them! Of course, it hasn’t. I think pursuing your dream and going for the life you want has SO many struggles along the way, the main one being finances. I think the mark of someone who makes it in life isn’t attributed to their success but more to their ability in staying the course throughout all the obstacles. I think from the start for me, it’s been tough. Moving around as a kid always made it hard to set deep roots somewhere, and one of those moves that was a huge obstacle was moving to Florida in the middle of my senior year of high school and having to pretty much start high school and graduate in the span of 5 months. Throughout college, I had my share of heartbreaks and financial struggles but I think the biggest obstacle I had was the beginning of COVID. I came out of 2019 dealing/navigating depression and when I finally chose to get healthy, I started to see the other side. I started to get a lot of opportunities at the end of 2019/the beginning of 2020 with Netflix and quickly enough, with covid on the rise that was pulled out from right under me. I think it was really tough to see a way out at the time because I was so excited/set on that opportunity but little did I know that it was all a setup. The struggles and the challenges is what’s made me more resilient to continue to pursue this dream in spite of what it may look like at the time.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m currently a director, driven by the desire to tell meaningful stories. For me hope, happiness, peace are all important dimensions to life, and storytelling turns these intangible experiences and makes them obtainable for you and me. This is why film is so important to me. Whether it’s in commercials, music videos, or narratives, I’m passionate about exploring and highlighting the experiences that connect us all and bring us together. Starting off as an editor made me passionate about story and although I’m still working on the narrative part of my career, it’s the part I love the most. I now specialize as a director working with a crew from pre-production to post-production in order to bring a project to life. The two projects I’m most proud of are a passion project piece titled ‘The Beauty in my Brown Skin’ which was a self-written poem about the insecurity of growing up black and the confidence that I’ve gained in it now. The second project is a music video titled ‘Black Boys on the Radio’ that I for an artist friend of mine, Benjamin Carter. I think what sets me apart from others is the ability to just be myself. One of the things I learned early on about my creativity is that if I try to be anyone else I’m always going to fail because I could never be them. I could get as close as I’d like to and copy their style exactly but I will never be them so what’s the point? Being myself means I can bring my perspective, my creativity, and most importantly, my story to what I do.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
The quality I feel is most important to my success is the quality of life. Someone asked me, “If you had everything you dreamed about and desired would your life feel complete?” It was a good introspective question because we focus so much energy and priority in having good finances and material things. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that but what’s the point of gaining it all and not having good friends and family to share it with. People are your greatest asset and they improve the quality of life, and can also worsen it depending on who it is.

Contact Info:

• Website: luisdepena.com
• Instagram: @luisdepena_
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Luisddepena/ 

Image Credits
Christian Suddereth Matthew Peeks