Life & Work with Gabo of Beverly Hills

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabo.

Hi Gabo, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story is one of movement—geographic, creative, and personal. I was born in Miami in a Peruvian–Nicaraguan household, and in 2008, during the financial crisis, my family relocated to Santiago, Chile. What was supposed to be a three-year stay turned into a decade that shaped me profoundly.

After finishing middle and high school in Santiago, my dad reminded me of the quiet advantage I carried—my U.S. passport—and how returning to the States could open doors professionally. After a gap year spent traveling through Eastern Europe and China, I moved to California and studied philosophy and film at Claremont McKenna College.

Post-graduation, I entered the corporate finance world, where I currently work. But on weekends—and any sliver of spare time—I write, direct, and produce short films with a tight circle of close friends, many of whom are AFI grads. That balance between finance and filmmaking is where I live today.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not at all. The biggest challenge has been reconciling my identity with the constant uprooting that shaped my life. When your environment keeps changing, you change with it—and for a long time, I felt like an outsider everywhere, never fully rooted in a single place or community.

Film became my anchor. It helped me access emotions that felt both foreign and deeply true. And interestingly, the friends I made along the way tended to be nomads themselves—people who understood the feeling of belonging everywhere and nowhere at once. We found our own version of citizenship in obscure movies and long conversations about stories we wanted to tell.

Carving out time for filmmaking while working a demanding corporate job was my first small rebellion. Life has a way of funneling you into a predictable path if you let it. But carving space for my creative work forced me to confront who I really was—and why my peers’ interests often felt incongruous with my own. That tension, though difficult, became clarifying.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in writing and directing short films in Los Angeles, with a focus on stories that draw from faith, identity, and the darker corners of human nature. I’m in the process of getting my work seen more widely.

This year, my music composer, the great Yuichiro Oku, also known as Yoku, joined me on a short film I directed in July—now in post-production—which has become my flagship project. This film is the first project that has gained meaningful traction for me in the LA filmmaking community.

I wrote, directed, and financed this film. We produced it in the deserts of Lancaster, collaborating with an incredible team: AFI graduates, seasoned industry editors, colorists, sound mixers, and composers. The strength of the script is what brought everyone together.

The story follows three Catholics—two altar boys and a sheriff—crossing the Chihuahua Desert in 1888. They’ve been tasked with transporting a porcelain Virgin Mary statue on a three-day journey to a mission in Mexico awaiting her arrival. The boys grow jealous over who gets to carry the statue, and their rivalry slowly corrupts the mission. The sheriff’s warped, alcoholic mind only deepens the fracture. Their faith, their duty, and their humanity unravel by the end.

What sets this project apart is the lens through which I approach faith and morality—heavily shaped by my upbringing in Chile, where I received my grand first communion after arriving from a more relaxed Catholic environment in Miami. The interplay of piety, sin, fear, and beauty has always pulled me toward stories that flirt with the profane to reveal something true about who we are. This film is an expression of that fascination.

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Collaboration often begins with something as simple as a coffee. My writer’s mind works like a reporter’s—I listen, I observe, I trade stories. Meeting people is a gift, and the best projects I’ve ever been part of have been grounded in real friendship.

On a practical level, I’m open to collaborating as a writer or director on films, shows, or creative projects. As I grow in my corporate career and deepen my involvement in the entertainment space, I’m also increasingly open to producing or financing projects that I believe in.

If folks also want to join me in one of my favorite ways to stir up the creative spirits, namely riding motorcycles, you can find me up and down Pacific Coast Highway on Sundays!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://portfolio-vxyudig.format.com/
• Instagram: https://portfolio-vxyudig.format.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-a-benda%C3%B1a?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app