Check Out Alan Sanchez’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alan Sanchez.

Hi Alan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in San Bernardino, California, raised by hard working Latino parents who took me to the movies almost every week. Whether it was a major release that caught my eye or my huge stack of VHS rentals I would get for when my sister Sandy babysat me, film became part of my DNA early on. I fell in love with everything from horror icons like Wes Craven and John Carpenter to oddball B-movies like The Guyver and Puppet Master. Film was my therapeutic appetite that I absorbed like a sponge.

At 8 years old, I found a typewriter at my mom’s office and unknowingly started writing in screenplay format—typing dialogue and scene directions without even realizing what I was doing. That quickly evolved into making my own storybooks with hand-drawn covers, some of which raised a few eyebrows with teachers thanks to their gore (I promise I’m normal).
By age 14, I was shooting short films with my friends. Over time, that passion led to projects that made their way into festivals—like Case 1428, a Nightmare on Elm Street fan film that screened at Phoenix Comic Con, and Mary, a horror-comedy short that won “Best Sci-Fi/Horror” at the IEMA Film Festival.

I earned my AA in Radio, Television & Film from San Bernardino Valley College and a BA in TV Production from California State University, Northridge. Since then, I’ve worked for companies including Captivate Entertainment, Angels & Airwaves, Bunim-Murray Productions, and This Is Just A Test Media. I also served as Associate Producer on the indie feature Beats of Rage by Jason Trost.

One of my proudest accomplishments so far has been WATCHER, a supernatural horror short I wrote, produced, directed, and edited. The film was selected for multiple festivals, including FilmQuest, Kevin Smith’s Smodcastle Film Festival, and the Catalina Film Festival—where it was featured as part of the Wes Craven Block. After a self-release on YouTube, WATCHER has gone on to garner over 100,000 views.

Today, I’m still pushing the dream forward in LA and currently working on my biggest project to date—Total Party Kill, a horror-fantasy short with an incredible cast that includes some genre names like Sarah Nicklin, Fayna Sanchez, and Elyse Willems. It’s these kind of projects that brings together everything I love about filmmaking: bold ideas, mixed genre storytelling, and a team of people equally excited to bring something wild to life. As a kid who is always fighting his way against the norm and always dreaming, film has always been my comfort zone to do it in.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The struggle is always real for any artist, and my journey has been no exception. I grew up in the ghettos of San Bernardino. My parents did the best they could to support me, but choosing to be an artist is a huge financial gamble. I was always the kid who refused to settle and was always looking at the path ahead. I’ve seen so many friends with big dreams slowly compromise to life or let go of their dreams entirely either because of fear or tragedies from growing up in SB.

I’ve felt every bump in the road. I’ve gone into severe debt just to make a film, all in the hope that even one person might see it. There were times I was left unemployed for months, scraping by feeling embarrassed to ask for help, taking on whatever job I could just to fund my next project. But I refused to settle. I couldn’t. When I’m older, I want to be a person who can say, “Well, at least I tried,” and feel proud of that.

Beyond the financial strain, there’s an emotional toll too. This path to achieve success can feel incredibly isolating. Not everyone understands the filmmaking life, and it can sometimes feel like I’m chasing a fool’s dream – which creates distance in friendships and family who do not understand it. That kind of distance really stings, especially when you’re someone who grew up battling social anxiety and a deep fear of abandonment from wounds that trace back to being the “weird kid” who never quite fit in.

But despite the emotional toll, I’ve been lucky to have a circle of people who truly believe in me. The real friends. The real family. They keep me going (they know who they are)—and so does my dog Marty, who somehow manages to be my emotional support system, therapist, and unpaid intern all in one.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a writer/director. I am known and proud of my horror short WATCHER, a supernatural horror short I wrote and directed. The film was selected for multiple festivals and has gone on to garner over 100,000 views which is insane to me as I do not have a big follower count. To see that many people re-watch or share my short that many times is an achievement unlocked moment. I can only go up from here.

I set myself apart since as a writer, I tend to look past just the concept at face value. I try to find the story that would be engaging to the audience and myself as if I was seated in that theater watching what i am working on. I want to be that magician that makes people get lost in the world on the screen when in reality they’ve been staring at a wall for 90 minutes. I really just want to give back to the people in the way gave to me when I was a kid in the theater enjoying a popcorn with his parents immersed in that world for those two hours. I want to take everything I love and create bold new ideas.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
As someone who is sometimes afraid at the path ahead, I always push to take the risk. With WATCHER I made the choice to “Kevin Smith” my film by maxing out all my credit cards and taking out a $15k loan just to make sure everything was paid including the cast and crew ontop of crowdfunding. Its a scary choice that I know many people would not choose to do, but I go by my gut feeling and something told me that everything was going to be okay.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alanpoefosho/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-sanchez-505869117/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlanPoeFoSho

Image Credits
Cameron Rice, Joseph Vernon Reidhead