Today we’d like to introduce you to Salvador Parada.
Hi Salvador, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and since I was little boy I always felt an attraction to stories, or at least that is what my parents say. I do not remember but they say that since I was a child, I could not sleep unless they told me a story or read me a book.
Then when I had little brothers and it was my turn to tell them stories and read books to them so that they would fall asleep, I discovered that it was something I enjoyed a lot. When they laughed at something that I would tell them, or they were afraid of something of a scary story, that’s when I began to realize the power that stories have in the people who pay attention to them. However, everything changed when I saw Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. Seeing the dinosaurs impressed me so much that it changed my perception of everything, I knew it was something that did not exist but they looked and sounded so real that I became obsessed with cinema from that moment on. I watched and watched a lot of movies to study them and to be able to convey that same feeling to someone else by telling a story with the camera.
To be honest in Guadalajara, it was very difficult to even think about achieving something like this. There were no schools that taught film classes or even people who had the same interest as me, but luckily my parents gave me a super eight camera with which I recorded everything I could. That used my brothers or neighbors as actors but always with stories limited to 3 minutes, which without having that knowledge was really difficult but little by little, I was learning storytelling. It wasn’t until later that there was something that motivated me in an impressive way, and that inspired me to not give up. That was, learning that Guillermo Del Toro, someone also from Guadalajara, was making films and succeeding internationally. That was the deciding factor in me studying something related to the audiovisual medium, but the only thing that was available at that time in Guadalajara was photography, a career that I liked but was not as fulfilling as cinema. I continued making shorts, videos and entered them in various contests where I began to gain recognition and also win awards.
On one occasion, I won a year of free flights for submitting a video for an airline in Mexico called Volaris, a year later I won a Warnes Bros. contest, which was to recreate a scene from the Hobbit movie and the prize was to go to New Zealand to go to the studios and locations where the film was recorded. There I met Peter Jackson and he gave us a master class in Wellington, also a few years ago when the Gravity film came out, I won a master class with Alfonso Cuaron in Mexico City. Thanks to these achievements, I gained the courage to study filmmaking and apply for a scholarship at a school in Los Angeles, a place where I loved studying. I met very talented people with whom I continue to collaborate and create stories to tell, be it by recording music videos, writing shorts or directing projects. I believe that deep down we are still like children, just waiting to be told a story, then another… and another, to be able to sleep and continue dreaming.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not been an easy road by any means, I have always considered myself a pirate lost at sea, or a cowboy in the middle of the desert, always trying to romanticize the fight and always trying to move on without caring about any storm. This adventure has taught me a lot but of course when we tell our story, we always forget the dark passages and even though there have been many, it is thanks to them that we learn to shine. Growing up in a country like Mexico, where building a career in the art world in general is not easy, being successful or simply surviving as a filmmaker is a steep uphill battle.
In terms of studying in Los Angeles, speaking a language that is not yours was difficult at the beginning, and being an immigrant in another country is never easy. It has been difficult but I feel that even if the path is complicated, I am in the right place to create work for myself. I believe that for every obstacle I face there is always a force that helps me overcome it, the force that has helped me overcome my obstacles in LA is my family in the United States, my cousins who besides being talented have always been there to help me when I have needed it the most. They are a big reason I come to LA, and I have no words to thank them for that. I think there is purpose in our way of life, I really believe it. I don’t know if it is right or wrong, but that purpose makes us bleed, it makes us feel alive, real or even immortal, and I think mine is to tell stories with a camera.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a filmmaker and although I have not made any features yet, in the last year I directed two short films, some music videos, and the occasional commercial in Guadalajara. In the middle of the year, I started a project with several actor friends in which I record them performing monologue in order to see the impact words can have. Some of what I’m always doing is writing stories and creating characters for future projects. My next project will be to write my first feature film script and prepare for the pre-production process. The thing I am most proud of is in my work is that I get to meet and collaborate with talented people who help me in every step of my process. Cinema is not an individual art and I have been fortunate to always be with the right team with which I continue to learn and grow as a filmmaker.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
We all tell a story about ourselves. Always, continuously. And that story is what makes us who we are. I have always considered myself a dreamer, the madman who thinks that no matter how many times you stumble on the road, there is always a way to continue. I constantly seek to learn and acquire wisdom, to share to others always in a story.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://vimeo.com/user7543429
- Instagram: @Chiavitta
Image Credits
Carlos Parada photographer
