Check Out Aidan Vincent’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aidan Vincent.

Hi Aidan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’d say I first got into movies when I was very young. Some of my first memories are of watching movies and TV at my grandparents’ house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and in the trailer park we lived in right after that. My whole life was movies. I often caught myself reenacting scenes from films on the playground. I was really into anime like Dragon Ball Z, superhero movies like The Hulk, and shows like Young Justice and Superhero Squad.

Eventually we had to move away from the trailer park and back in with my grandparents when my mom passed away. That kind of took my love of movies and TV shows away for a while, because I had always watched them with her. For a couple of years, when most kids into film like me might have joined theater or gone to filmmaking summer camps, my filmmaking gene kind of just stayed dormant.

That changed during my junior year when a bunch of my friends joined a filmmaking class at the tech center near our high school. The idea of going to a separate school for three hours a day instead of taking a math or science class sounded super sick, so I signed up for it the next year, not realizing it would change my life.

When I stepped into that room for the first time, it was the first time I ever felt completely right in a place. I walked around playing with the lighting gear and cameras, and I felt so at home that I knew I needed to do this as a career.

I finished out that year and immediately signed up for the closest film school to me, which happened to be across the state at the Motion Picture Institute in Troy, Michigan. I found a relatively cheap place to live and moved there with some friends from the tech center. While juggling classes and a full-time job, I tried to make it all work.

I networked a lot and was able to get involved with two different movies shooting in Detroit around the same time (watch out for 1972 and Evil One Percent coming soon!). I worked my butt off on both of them.

Now I’m working with Mangiardi Pictures under an NDA, so I can’t talk too much about that. But I’m still working every day on my filmmaking journey and hope that one day I’ll make it big.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road at all. I’ve had to juggle my home life, school life, and work life all at the same time to try to make this work.

During my time at MPI, I had to work a full-time job at a company that truly worked me to the bone every night, sometimes until 2 or 3 in the morning when I had school the next day at 8 a.m. Around that same time, my grandma also passed away, and I had to take a few days off. I also got COVID pretty badly during that period.

My whole life has involved struggle, though. With depression and anxiety, things have been very difficult at times, but I don’t think art exists without struggle. There’s something beautiful about the effort it takes to make a film, and all the work you put into your art really shows in the final product.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work primarily as a Camera Operator and Second Assistant Camera. As a filmmaker, I really enjoy creating drawn-out, person-to-person conversations that feel natural and real. I like to think I’m known for writing realistic dialogue.

A lot of my inspiration comes from Kevin Smith and J.G. Quintel, especially in the way they write scenes where two people are simply talking face to face. I took that idea and ran with it in my short film “Comic Store / More Than Just Comics.” For the film, I sat in a comic shop on a Wednesday—new comic book day—after school from three o’clock until closing, just listening to the conversations between the owner and his customers. I heard some wacky and downright insane conversations, and I wrote many of them down in my notes app. Those moments later became the foundation for the script.

I’m very proud of how the project turned out, because it really shows what I stand for today: elevating the people around me. The film featured original music from one of my best friends, Conner Larsen, and the entire crew was made up of friends from my classes.

I’m also very proud of my work with Mangiardi Pictures. Through that work, I’ve been able to do projects for the community, including working with an almost entirely deaf crew and helping deaf children in need. It’s been an incredible experience, and I’m grateful to have been part of it. Mangiardi Pictures is an amazing company, and I’m thankful for the opportunity to work with directors Adrean Mangiardi, Michael “Mac” Aulay, and the rest of the crew.

What I think sets me apart from others is that I’m willing to work on just about anything. I’ve worked on advertisements, interviews, weddings, two horror films, comedy short films, and projects for schools. I’ve tried almost everything I’ve been asked to do, and honestly, I just love filmmaking and everything around it. I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’d like to think the book that got me into writing was the perks of being a wallflower. It was revolutionary in my mind and influences a lot of the decisions and my writing to this day.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dareelaidanvincent/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/aidan.vincent.880808
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Mcvinny27