Conversations with Efrain Flores

Today we’d like to introduce you to Efrain Flores.

Hi Efrain, 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?
It all started when I was a kid. I would draw on this notebook my mother gave me for school and I wasn’t really into school so I would just draw cartoon characters I would see on T.V. From there, I would write short stories about anything, mostly to cope with my loneliness. I got my first Apple laptop in the 3rd grade to do my school work but again, I hated school but I love the movies. So being the kid I am, I decided to make movies with it. I recorded these short films using the camera from the laptop; it wasn’t the best quality but it’s what I had to work with. I would edit my films on the software iMovie and upload them on YouTube. I would also make and record my own music using Garage band. As you can tell at eight years old, I was already doing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I live for the arts and I can honestly say I’m meant for it. In middle school during lunch, I would make beats instead of hanging out with friends because honestly, I didn’t have people to go to. The beats I would make around this time were inspired by Skrillex but honestly it didn’t go anywhere. It wasn’t good at all to be honest. When I became a Freshmen in High School, I joined the Theatre Program, and it wasn’t to learn how to act to be honest. I joined it to meet pretty girls because I heard all the pretty girls would be in the class but that wasn’t the case. I actually fell in love with acting, I wanted to study. I didn’t have money to study so I would buy these cheap plays and used books from Konstantin Stanislavski. Stanislavski is one of the first founders of Method Acting and I want to be one of the greatest out there so I took my craft serious. I auditioned for my first play and landed the lead role. I guess all that studying payed off. I would continue doing Theatre in class but couldn’t help notice the other kids would make fun of me for taking it too serious. So serious that doing Theatre got me writing scripts that I will hopefully get to produce one day. It didn’t discourage me in any way but it did suck feeling I had no one to talk to in Theatre. Around Junior year in High School, my anxiety started getting really bad. I felt like I had to do more than what I have accomplished.

I’ve been trying to get into the film industry in LA but weren’t really giving me a chance, I mean why would they right? I was just a 16 years old kid. I decided to start making my own short films. I called my Production company Culores which is a made up word I made to make the company feel more unique. I would record my films using a Canon camera I bought using the money I saved up from working with my Mom cleaning offices. I didn’t really have a crew. I would ask for favors from people I barely knew from my Digital Media class. On top of it all, I would write my films in a way where I knew it was possible to make. I didn’t really have a budget. My senior year, I decided to make my first Feature Film “Home.” I knew it would be crazy to pull off but I had this desire in me to make it knowing this would be my only shot if I didn’t do it now. I wrote the script in a way where most of the locations would be free and crew would be light. I had only one crew member to be exact actually. We filmed the movie in three months juggling school and the other actor’s schedule considering he was only 11 at the time of filming. We edited the movie using my friend’s computer because I didn’t have one at the time. Luckily the film ended up on Amazon Prime and did pretty good for my first movie. After that, I directed two more feature films in my city until I finally decided to Produce a 6,000$ film in LA called “Stand Still”. 6,000$ is not a lot to most filmmakers but it came out of my pocket at 18 years old so I knew and felt I was doing something here. I made the movie renting a couple of indie studios and hiring a small crew, it wasn’t easy making this picture but it was worth it. It really taught me a lot about filmmaking and storytelling in general. In a way, it was a good start to a legendary life. Straight after wrapping, I was able to convince a friend of mine to help finance my next film. Luckily I was able to film that movie before the COVID-19 lockdown.

Around the time of the “Stand Still” release the lockdown happen but it didn’t stop me at all. I continued on with my ad campaign and found a lot of time to do other things. I wanted to get back to doing music because I love music so much I wanted to give that a shot. I didn’t really know how to sing and only picked up a little bit of music theory in Choir class so I had a good small feeling about it. I wasn’t too sure in the beginning if I wanted to make music again but in a way, I’m Efrain Flores and my life is not meant to only do one thing. I started making beats again and it excited me. I bought all my music equipment using my stimulus check and started writing music right away. My lyrics in the beginning weren’t very good but the more I did it the more I felt I was getting better. I made around 40 songs but only ended up releasing 14 into a mixtape I called “The Perfect Album” released on December 4th. I released my Movie “Stand Still” in 2020 while also finishing up my newest film called “The Perfect Movie” which is scheduled for release in December. 2020 was a tough year but in a way, it was a really good year. It made me be more of who I am, more of who I am supposed to be. I found an apartment in LA and have been really productive since. Right now, where I am at is just the start to what the world isn’t ready for. I am planning my release for my newest movie “The Perfect Movie.” which is coming out this Summer and I am working on my newest Mixtape called “The Perfect Album that healed my Broken Heart.” I don’t wanna say much about it yet but just wanna say that it will definitely be a cinematic experience put into a rap album.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Some of the struggles along the way were just dealing with a lot of people in a way. I like to be alone, you see and I hate fake people especially fake creators who just feel like they only do things for clout in a sense and I hate when they would try to use me for that reason and I didn’t roll that way. I’m not a sell-out. I also had to deal with people that had a huge following and that sort of thing on social media and it always felt like they lived for that, as if they would die if they didn’t reach an amount of likes or views. That never mattered to me but when you’re an artist, you start to see the people around you can either be two ways, one way is they really love what they do or another way is they only do these things for fame. They don’t really care about the work and that always bothered me. Another struggle is money, making movies ain’t cheap.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I don’t really like to say I only do one thing to be honest. I am still a student in all areas of the art form. I just love doing what I do in terms of making stuff. Being able to roll out of bed and the first thing I would be doing is making a beat or writing a script or editing a movie I have filmed is enough for me. There is people that know me for my movies and others that know me for my music and if you’re lucky, you happen to know me as just me doing me. I am most proud of being myself to be honest, there is nothing greater than being yourself, I would say because I’m just grateful for the things I have discovered about myself during this time. It all happened for a reason and in perfect timing I would say. Efrain Flores, I am proud to be Efrain Flores and I will continue to make myself proud in the future. It’s all about time and just continuing to work hard. I think what sets me apart from others is the same way everyone is different. We are all born to grow and do things differently, a least for me I happened to be a little crazy and obsessed with what else I can make. You know, what else can I accomplish and then I just go from there.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
What’s surprising about me that people do not know is that I’m actually weirder than what they see.

Pricing:

• 4$ to rent movie
• Music is free
• Sweaters cost around 30$
• T-Shirts around 20$

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWaVIeOyhImvg5nZYGMw44Q
• Instagram: @Efrainflorestheartist
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/EfrainFlores27?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGJycys1BNuWaz8f9z0j4Gg
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6ylGLx0I3fGMrJFEeab9Nl?si=K-ivJ_iJQrmE1WsC8VWwgA