We recently had the chance to connect with David A. Flores and have shared our conversation below.
Hi David A., thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: Are you walking a path—or wandering?
I feel I didn’t have the right word to describe what the last few years have been for me, but this perfectly encapsulates it! Wandering. Since 2022, I definitely I’ve been wandering the path of sorts.
What path? Well, the career of an creative artist, naturally!
Since around 16 years old, I felt I was on a very clear and direct path, namely coming in and conquering Hollywood.
I made short films in high school. I made short films in college. I moved to LA at 24 and then spent 13 years trying to break into the industry. To be anointed by the Hollywood players-that-be. Sell my screenplay, move to the Hollywood Hills and, you know, CONQUER HOLLYWOOD.
I’m in my late thirties now and my life is different than 16 year old me envisioned. I live in the suburbs. I’m a dad of two boys under 4. I have a wife, a cat. I’ve never sold a screenplay. I haven’t quit my day job and, since having kids, I’ve chosen to simmer down on my creative output. Before kids, my nights and weekends consisted of me doing the work – in coffee shops, typing away on the next screenplay that would inevitably make all my dreams come true…
Having kids made me realize a couple things:
–Time caught up with me.
–Maybe, just maybe, I wouldn’t and shouldn’t quit my day job to conquer Hollywood.
Hence, the wandering.
I am a creative person at heart. Some of my earliest memories of childhood was writing — essentially fanfiction — to my favorite movies. STAR WARS, JURASSIC PARK, BATMAN, INDIANA JONES. Writing has always been there.
For me, walking the path was honing my craft, all with the end goal of a sale. My creative outputs HAVE to equal a sale. Or else, what’s the point?
I realize now that was a helluva rigid way of thinking. Perhaps, I have my kids to thank for that…
Wandering the path looks something like: I AM a creative person at heart. My creative outputs DON’T have to equal a sale. In fact, they probably won’t equal a sale.
So, now what?
How can I make stuff actually happen? And what’s the best (and realistic) format for my creative outlets.
I’ve been told before I’m a transmedia creator and I really like that. My work already shows that. I’ve done films, comic books, audio dramas. I’ve had to think a little outside the box to get my work created and made and shared to the world.
Have I made a dime off them? Nope. Can I quit my day job? Absolutely not. But, I’ve made things. And that feels pretty darn validating.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hey, I’m David Flores! I’m an LA-based transmedia creator and former mariachi musician with Tucson, Arizona roots. I tell character-based stories with genre twists.
My films include the festival award-winning scifi drama LIKENESS and horror PIT STOP. Both films are now available to stream on YouTube. My comic books have been featured for panels at San Diego Comic-Con and my audio drama SHELL is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
When I’m not creating, I’m hanging with my family – wife, two sons and cat – and try to squeeze in videogame time on my Nintendo Switch 2.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
Teachers really can make an impact on student’s lives. For me, that teacher was Art Almquist at Tucson High Magnet School in Tucson, AZ. Art was the Drama teacher.
Yes, this another story of a theater kid gushing about their theater teacher.
For me, prior to taking his class in Sophomore year, I was a very shy, introverted kid. I always was creative and had the creative spark, but it was internal. Almost like a secret that needed to be contained.
Mr. Almquist saw ‘me’ before I saw myself.
Like any great teacher, he saw potential, yes, but gave me that much needed encouragement, validation and just overall safe space to play and have fun. Enrolling in Drama class was like being a kid again. And in that freedom, that care-free attitude of it all, came a real love for the creative process.
This was and always should be about having fun.
That’s what the arts are. It’s creative expression, sure, but you, as the artist should enjoy the work you do.
Mr. Almquist gave me the permission to play as an adult and I’ll always be indebted to him for that.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
“You’re gonna work the rest of your damn life. Go have a summer break and hang with your friends.”
For context, since around 14ish, I either went to summer school or worked every summer.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That you can do it. If you just believe in yourself and work hard.
The “do it” part can mean so many things. For me, do it meant conquering Hollywood. The next Steven Spielberg, etc. It’s the lifeblood that keeps drawing dreamers in to Hollywood each year.
I want to say it upfront: it’s NOT impossible. Of COURSE, you can be breakout. The next Spielberg. If you have the dream, you HAVE to try, absolutely. I’m not hear to shatter dreams, now.
But, it is the lottery.
Not only the lottery, it is a system that’s designed to keep people with means in power and those with little to no means on the bottom rung. LA is an incredibly expensive place to live in, let alone survive. Paying rent quickly becomes your number one priority when you’re here. If you’re a dreamer who’s bet it all to come here and you have no safety net of money, the stress can be overwhelming.
Let’s say you’re a filmmaker. Cool, “why you don’t just make a film then?” or one of my favorites, “shoot it on your iPhone!”
Anyone can make something, sure. But, to make something that will break through the content-craze of our media age now is a Herculean task, to say the least. Truly, lottery odds.
So many things have to happen exactly right: great script, talented actors, looks professional enough, etc.
The short of is even if you’re making a low-budget indie short film, in LA, making that short for under $10k is extremely ambitious. And, sad to say, unless your short plays at the biggest film festivals on the market, it’s $10k spent to practice the art of filmmaking.
Want to make a feature film? In Hollywood standards, a micro-budget indie feature film is around $1 million. That’s a crap ton of money to come up with if you:
–Don’t come from money
–Are doing it full indie (not in the Hollywood system)
The whole “you can do it” thing is a great marketing sell. It IS the essence of the Hollywood dream.
But, it’s at best, flawed.
At worst, it’s a straight up lie.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I think that’d be my push to fully disengage from social media.
I’m at the point where I’m mostly a lurker or post only to promote my creative works. I admire folks who quit it. I also admit I have the social media addiction. But, at the end of the day, it’s not worth it. I think I’d feel pretty okay living out my last decade social media free.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://davidfloreswrites.com/
- Instagram: @davidfloreswrites
- Twitter: @dfloreswrites
Image Credits
Photos provided by Toby Canto
