Check Out Felipe Alcalá’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Felipe Alcalá. 

Hi Felipe, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised on a border town in the south of Texas, and I mean way south. My school zone ended on the border with Mexico. I was brought up in a 100% Mexican family in a city where Spanish is spoken everywhere except school (and even there most of the times as well). Thanks to this I have spoken fluent Spanish and English without an accent in either language. See growing up in South Texas AKA the Rio Grande Valley (the RGV) AKA “The Valley” AKA “The 956” is very peculiar because you’re in a very American state living in a very Mexican way. My parents to this day do not speak fluent English and that is solely because they have not needed it to survive even after living 30+ years in Texas. I grew up in a city where the “Spanglish” could be considered an official language. Growing up I always wanted to be from somewhere else, somewhere more “out there” but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve grown to love and appreciate being from the 956, especially now that I live in California. It’s hard to describe it but if you’re from the 956 you’re just connected by inside jokes and traditions only we understand. 

I lived all my life in Texas up until college where I went to university at Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Montrerrey (ITESM) or better known as Tecnológico (Tec) de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico, city I consider to be my second hometown. Like previously stated I grew full Mexican with a strict divider between Mexican and American culture. If you see or speak to me, you see a Mexican and that’s something that my parents worked hard to engrain in my siblings and I. However, I had never actually lived in Mexico. We would go to Monterrey 12-15 times a year, major events and holidays were spent there, all my extended family, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. were all there but I had never actually seen it in any other way than a visitor, so while all my friends departed to colleges around Texas and the USA I opted for Monterrey, to experience life there and be close to my grandparents, but Tec de Monterrey was (and still is) the #1 university in Mexico so it was an easy win-win situation. 

At ITESM I majored in Communications and Digital Media. At the time I knew I was good with people and loved interacting, so the description fit the bill. It was not until my second semester where I took my first film class, and everything changed from there. I was immediately hooked and amazed by the world of cinema and filmmaking. So much so that I instantly started looking for exchange programs at film schools, summer courses, anything I could get my hands on. Luckily ITESM had great exchange programs and I found the school that would end up turning filmmaking and cinema into my passion: New York Film Academy, Los Angeles. I went on to complete two study abroad programs at NYFA and ever since then, I affirmed that filmmaking, acting, and cinema are what I wanted my career to revolve around. 

After I graduated college in 2018, I was at a standstill, but I knew I wanted to get back to Los Angeles. I saved up all of 2019 working as a bartender and Uber so I could make the move in 2020. Luckily, I did, unfortunately, it was right when the pandemic started so I made the conscious decision to move back to Texas after only one month in LA. This obviously hit hard but I persisted. For the rest of the year and afterlife was becoming a bit more “normal” again I started applying for jobs and after 3-4 months of painstaking job hunting, I landed a role at the Walt Disney Company in the Woodlands, Texas where I would be hired for a 9-month fixed-term role. After concluding that job in November of 2021, I started job hunting again landed a job for The Walt Disney Studios, but this time it was in Burbank, CA, on the Walt Disney Studios lot. I have been here since February 2022. 

The move to Los Angeles finally happened and my dreams are slowly becoming a reality. 

I love drinking tequila, listening to Bad Bunny and on most weekends, you will find me waking very early to watch Formula 1. I love working out (F45 CENTRAL BURBANK YEAAAH!!) and reading. Like prior mentioned I just moved here by myself so if you want to be friends please reach out! 

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?
It has and it hasn’t. What’s been smooth about it is that I never had any second doubts on what path I wanted to take, which I think is something a lot of people struggle with. Since the day I decided what I wanted I have not drifted course in the slightest. I’ve been true and confident in my decisions and aspirations and I’m very thankful for that. 

That being said, staying on course and defending it in a very stubborn way has brought various problems and situations in my very traditional Mexican household. Don’t get me wrong, my family has been extremely supportive and nurturing in my journey but being the first artist in the family has really been a struggle if I’m honest. Like I said, it’s hasn’t been so much that I’m not supported it’s just that my parents are from a different era where everything is black and white, where everything is linear, and as many people know the process to work in film is not linear in the slightest. Packing my bags and moving to a new city to search for a dream is frowned upon, in a way, since I have “everything back home”. I would say that it’s been hard on them because they want to understand but they can’t quite get there, and that’s okay. It’s something I’ve learned to understand. They want their son to have a job that pays the bills and has great medical insurance. A job with stability to get me to the next stage in life, and don’t get me wrong these are goals of mine. I want my family, I want many kids, who doesn’t want stability? That just comes at the price of the artistic journey. 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I currently work for The Walt Disney Studios on the studio lot in Burbank, CA. I work in post-production where I’m in charge of the physical and digital asset library at the studios. In simple terms, all media, be it digital or physical, come and goes through my doors to be checked and then stored or sent wherever it needs to go. I moved from Texas to work here in February 2022, and I’ve loved it. I love being able to come to work to a place where so much history has been and is being made. Where Walt Disney made his mark on history. 

I love my job but the real reason I moved to LA is to pursue my acting and filmmaking career. In my 7+ years since I started my filmmaking journey, I’ve written and directed about 30+ short films and acted in about 40+. My film “Misma Sangre” (2018) was selected at the 72nd Annual Cannes Film Festival in the Short Film Corner. Since then, I’ve been dealing with adulthood and many of the trials that us “20-somethings” face, but I’m glad to say that I’m back and am starting to resurface my creative endeavors. 

You’ll see my name around town soon. 

You can find all my content on www.lifeofalcala.com. 

What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the atmosphere. I love the fact that if you put 10 people inside of a room all 10 people will be a different kind of person, no 2 alike. I love that there are events around every corner and that you can feel the collective love for the arts and cinema. I love being around so many diverse cultures and languages, it makes me more curious and attentive. 

What I dislike most about here is that there are few things that you can just get in your car and go to. You must factor in distance, traffic, parking, and safety. Sure, you should do this anywhere, but I feel like in LA there’s more to it, you really must take everything into account because everything is an important factor. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lifeofalcala.com
• Instagram: @lifeofalcala
• Twitter: @felipealcala7