Today we’d like to introduce you to Ace Salvador.
Ace, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
So unlike a lot of filmmakers, I initially didn’t come to Los Angeles, CA, to get into film. I was always creative and loved movies, but I loved surfing more. I wanted to become a professional surfer. There is actually a great surfing beach in Long Island, NY, where I am from called Long Beach. I spent summers training and then made a promise to myself that when I moved out west, that’s what I would end up doing. Be a pro surfer, retire in a bungalow and then maybe write philosophy books for the rest of my life. The easy life, right?
Instead, I got into a big surfing accident in Malibu during the first few weeks I was in LA. The waves swelled and threw me into a bunch of rocks – I clearly didn’t know what I was doing and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Luckily, a few surfers happened to be nearby and got me an ambulance to the hospital. I didn’t tell anyone for years because I was so embarrassed; surfing was tied to my self-worth.
After I recovered, I was sort of aimless, wandering around the streets of Hollywood, not knowing what to do with myself. But I knew I had gumption. I had the ability to be an entrepreneur. And I had the imagination as a writer. Most of all, I’m stubborn as hell. With a name like mine, you kind of have to be a winner. So as I walked the streets of Sunset Blvd, I saw the letters “The Los Angeles Film School,” – I went there and never looked back.
Today, I feel grateful. I own and am a managing partner of Prodigium Pictures, a social impact production company co-founded by my partners Tobias Deml and Hiroki Kamada, who believed in me. We have an office building in Hollywood that is three blocks from that very same film school I saw that sunny afternoon nearly ten years ago. I’ve produced several feature films, got them sold to distributors like Netflix, and ran the film festival circuit with them and have been nominated/or won awards. I’ve traveled the world to work on projects. As I work on producing the next films, I also write and direct, so I am setting up those projects now.
And that athletic drive I gathered from surfing, I now pour full steam into filmmaking and running our company with only the stars being the limit.
And yes, I still surf. I just need a new board!
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
Art
noun
The quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
I’ve always wanted to truly understand the definition myself. First art to me was about authentic self-expression. I’ve even viewed surfing as an art–the way I would surf down the face of the waves, how I would move my body as they crested, the delicacy or the aggression I would embody when taming Mother Nature, and realizing I couldn’t, so I had to go along with her.
Then when I got into film, that definition changed. It changed into the expression of others’ art, which is why I got into producing. I wanted to lift the beauty of society’s art to another level, by championing, contributing, and helping get these films made. Even though that involved business, business itself is a form of art, and film is an entrepreneurial venture that combines artistic forces with business acumen.
By the time I came around to Prodigium, art also took another form: social impact. Producing lasting value for others for the world. Art was not just about beauty or extraordinary authentic expression anymore; it was about using that expression to induce behavioral change; to maximize goodness, and to improve the status of humanity’s welfare at large. That was accomplished through making films with deep meaning, with purpose, through the infinite power of storytelling because that is our greatest asset.
For me, art is about evolution. What it will evolve into next I don’t know, but it’s giving me fulfillment and purpose as a productive human to translate the mysteries of the universe for audiences worldwide.
How can artists connect with other artists?
Find a group with values you share. Humans are social creatures – we desire and hunger for connection, wherever we are.
For me, I wanted to be with a circle of entrepreneurial artists with the kind of fierce ambition and athletic drive that I possess. I found them over a few years and have stuck with them ever since. They’ve become my family, and I am grateful for every single of them.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can check out our company website and reel here: http://www.prodigium-pictures.com/.
As a social impact production company, we’re definitely at the tip of the spear when it comes to content that a more conscientious Hollywood wants the world to see. You can find information on our newest film, Strive, here: https://prodigium-pictures.com/wp/strive/ – which we screened in Harlem, Miami, and San Francisco.
For more information on my personal projects and past projects, you can email me here: acejsalvador@gmail.com.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://prodigium-pictures.com
- Phone: 516-528-7498
- Email: acejsalvador@gmail.com
- Instagram: @acejsalvador
- Facebook: Ace Salvador
Image Credit:
BTS credits to Taylor Holland, Tobias Deml
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition, please let us know here.
