Conversations with Nelan Castillo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nelan Castillo.

Hi Nelan, 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?
I am a 18 year old Latino filmmaker based out of Orange County. So my story is a little bit all over the place but everything I say is relevant to where I got to today. I grew up with a single father who immigrated here when he was 17, and he had me when he was about 27-28. So considering how young he was, him and I got along so well, he was basically my best friend and partner in crime. He would do anything just to see me smile, and was one of the hardest workers I’ve met. I remember how he would wake up at 7 am and come back at 5 pm just to go out again to school and come back by 10 pm. He put in so much hard work and ended up buying his first house in 2017. Those have to be the most memorable years of my life. Growing up was difficult, you see my father was a hard worker and an immigrant so therefore he would always push me to work hard in school, to be somebody, to have a goal. He would always hit me with the same Mexican quote “Hechale ganas” meaning “Put in the hard work.” So I did have a lot of pressure on me, I didn’t know who I wanted to be and that scared me. Now it was pretty funny how I got into film, I remember from a young age around 5 years old my dad would put movies like Transformers or like Iron Man and those movies always resonate with me, I remember questioning “how do they make that,” “how can I get into that industry,” I even remember seeing child actors on Disney and I’d ask my dad to please get me into the shows, even though he’d say yes, he didn’t know anything about the industry so that passion of mine kinda faded. But it all came back with Youtube, I knew I wanted to be Youtuber at the age of 9. I remember grabbing my tablet and posting so many videos and even though they were horrible, I was just so proud to just shoot videos and edit. I even remember investing money into my videos like production, gear, lights, everything. It was funny that my dad supported everything I did, that’s the kind of man he was, support, and not question it. When he saw a passion he knew it was important to keep. The older I got the more I knew I had to start finding what I had to do in life, and I was afraid, at this point high school was coming up and I applied to OCSA (Orange County School of the Arts) and got accepted for Film. We were so happy and I remember celebrating and jumping around that I got into an art school, a school that actually understood artists because there was never programs for me where I lived. During my freshman year I could say I did okay work, but I improved with filmmaking, but I couldn’t find my voice in film. Things took a turn in 2022, after finding out my father had cancer. This changed everything, I had to drop everything I loved in order to support my father, I fell into depression, I had to stay nights at the hospital, my life changed. Even with this upsetting news my father still fought through, he made sure to set a good example of not giving up. I remember during the cancer era, I learned a lot of life lessons, about hard work, not giving up, and finding my voice. Meanwhile at school I felt neglected, I didn’t want to share what was going on to my friends so they’d get upset at me if I couldn’t commit to something like hanging out or going on sets because I was going through this difficult journey. We had ups and downs in this journey but unfortunately my father passed away in 2024, right before my senior year began. I was filled with rage, I was heart broken, my best friend and only supporter was gone. I knew I had to change for the better. Immediately I began trying to get my own actual work out there, I began shooting music videos for artists which the biggest hit was 250k views, I made a short film, which won awards and got into film festivals, I was finally finding my voice. At this point it was time to do my last short film for high school, and I knew I had to do it for my dad and make it about him. (I can get into the details of pre production later) But my last short film was a tribute to my father and was a film about my life. A coming of age film about growing up while also losing a parent. That film changed my life, it won YounArts, many other film festivals, became finalist of OC artist of the year, opened so many doors to meeting people in Hollywood. Now im trying to find my next project and I have a couple things I could share. My main reason of doing this film stuff is for my dad who supported me in every way he could. My goal is to be a director and make music videos, short films, and feature films. I want to change lives and uplift/motivate people with my films, I want to make them about life lessons I learned so other people don’t have to learn the hard way. I really wish my father got to see what I was able to do in the industry and how far Im going, but I know he knows. He is my reason to keep going, my biggest fan.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No it hasn’t been a smooth road, I dealt with depression, bullying, the loss of my father, and multiple rejections, especially with college.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a Film Director, I shoot music videos, short films, concerts, commercials, and documentaries. I’m most proud of my short films and music videos as they show my true identity. What I say separates me from others is my drive and how obsessed I am with this industry. I gave my dad a promise and I will do everything I can to make it true. I would also say my work ethic, and my perseverance, as well as always shooting my shot and never backing down.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I think the industry is struggling right now with getting people in the theaters and also getting jobs, it’s super competitive. I understand the struggles it’s going through. But I predict there’s gonna be a bigger demand for independent filmmaking and also the industry will need time to get back on its legs.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nelancastillo.film/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelan-castillo-175233333/
• Filmfreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/NelanCastillo
• Email: [email protected]