Today we’d like to introduce you to Raymond Gerard Braza.
Hi Raymond Gerard, 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?
My story is a little bit complex, so I apologize in advance if it gets messy. When I was around five years old, my grandpa and uncle would always record homemade videos with a JVC camcorder. I thought it was the coolest thing because you get to relive the moment by watching everything that has been recorded through a small camera. They would always record road trips to Disneyland, the freeways, funny conversations you can think of, and most importantly spending time with family. This was in the late 90s, so of course social media and all things technologically advanced weren’t apparent yet. I was so hooked on just the camera itself and how capable it was to record something that is entertaining. That is simply how I got into filmmaking today. All because of my grandpa and uncle recording memories when life had less distractions back then.
When my uncle and grandpa gave me their camera to use, I first started using it for goofing around with my cousins. But then, my love of horror films began at an early age after watching John Carpenter’s Halloween, and I was starting to get into narrative filmmaking. This time, I was around ten years old or something, and I would record my cousins pretending to run away from a killer doll or a masked killer. I was in no way in love with gore, but it was just super fun creating little horror films with family. I think the first horror skit on film I ever recorded was called “Oxnard Horror.” I have yet to find that tape somewhere.
Throughout my teenage years and the end of high school, I continued to do film passionately. When I was around 14, my cousin got me into skateboarding. Aside from learning how to physically skateboard, I was soon introduced to the world of skateboard filmmaking and videography. Because my friends were getting really good at skateboarding, I wanted to document every trick on film, Creating montages, skateboarding video parts, etc, was something I later wanted to pursue as a career… and I did!
After high school, I went to community college to study computer science. While doing so, I knew deep down that I wanted to study film. So, after applying to various colleges with a film program, I got into all the film schools I wanted to choose from. I ended up choosing California State University, Northridge and studied Cinema and TV. During this time, I was still interested in how I can film and edit, specifically skateboarding, as a career. During my senior year of college, I took a class that required me to get an internship. One of the biggest skateboarding YouTube channels in the world, NKA Vids, happened to be looking for an intern at the time. Nigel K. Alexander, the owner of NKA Vids, was one of the people I looked up to so much in skateboarding content creation. I was watching him years prior to applying for the position. One day, I contacted him, and he ended up being interested in me and later worked with him on several videos. After various videos, I began working with him part time as an editor in which I am so thankful for because he was the reason I got into editing today. I was able to work on videos for Nike SB, Mountain Dew, and a whole bunch of companies. After three years of working for him, I later respectfully parted ways because I found more opportunities that I wanted to try out. I still keep up with Nigel today!
Around 2016, I was living in Oxnard, CA, which was one of the big decisions as to why I stopped working with Nigel, whose office was located in San Pedro at the time. Though location was a minor issue, I wanted to edit and film other things besides skateboarding, so I got a job at SmartFit Inc. in Camarillo. With SmartFit, I was the cameraman and editor, so I would record a bunch of brain training and fitness drills. Because this was full-time, I was able to raise enough money to create my first short horror film… that is my first “legit” short horror film that had a budget. During this time, my interest in narrative filmmaking was coming back, especially because a lot of great horror films were releasing like Hereditary, It Follows, and a lot more indie films that I was super intrigued by. Not only did I love working at SmartFit because I believed in the product that the company was selling and the videos were fun to do, but I was able to save and raise a lot of money on my own to invest in something I wanted to do in the future. My first horror short film was called “Wayward Nature,” and it was received really well by several film festivals like Creeper Film Fest and SFAAF to name a few. A year later, I made another film called “Pigmenta,” and that was my last horror short I did.
After the film festival circuit of “Pigmenta ” in 2019, I began writing my feature film called Enshrinement, which is another horror film in the works, as well as a dramatic-musical short film called “Novelty,” which I will get into later. During the midst of writing Enshrinement and beginning pre-production for “Novelty,” COVID happened. When the world shut down in 2020, I thought to myself that I was not able to do any more films for a while. “Novelty” was on hold as well as a bunch of other productions I was involved in. To make matters worse, I was laid off from SmartFit, and so many of my colleagues were laid off as well. During this time, I knew I couldn’t just be doing nothing, so I picked up my camera and created content.
In the summer and fall of 2020, while still being unemployed, I was creating content for small businesses around my local area as well as creating a small Instagram video about my city, Oxnard. After my little video was seen by a lot of people, a lot of amazing individuals contacted me and wanted to collab, one of which is one of my good friends now, named Kris Mangaccat. When we first interacted via Facetime, I knew we were so much alike. At this time, he has already worked with big named artists and all I had was my short narrative films and skateboarding companies. Meeting him really motivated me to work even harder in this so-called entertainment industry. Since meeting him, he allowed me to work on my first music-style video with an artist named Ezi and while this happened, I got a job being a freelance editor for a company called TasteMade. I’m really thankful I met Kris because he helped me push myself get out there. With his push, I was not only able to land an editing role at TasteMade, but I was able to land a role as a freelance editor for IMDb in which I did so many videos for today’s best actors and directors. After landing IMDb, I felt like my career heightened overnight and now that I wasn’t worried financially, I decided to go back to my short film that I have been working on since 2016.
After meeting Kris, I spoke to him about wanting to do this short film, “Novelty,” and asked him about his thoughts of the script and if he wanted to help. Because the film involved dance, he immediately wanted to help because he would be such a great asset with his experience. Originally, “Novelty” was supposed to be a short episodic-dance series that was going to be pitched to GoPro back in 2016 when I was working with NKA Vids. Since life got in the way and COVID happened, I had a six long year hiatus with it. Right when COVID happened, I did however have a specific cast in mind for the film in which at the time the script was totally different. The original cast had only Byron Bucao, creator/owner of Oxnard’s very own infamous Alias Dance Company, Zauriel Luna, one of the founders and directors of Oxnard’s Oxchord dance team, and finally Benjamin Comrie, Channel Islands Dance Team Alumni. When I contacted them, they were so incredibly patient with me on when everything was going to begin… and it did!
Today, while still working with companies like TasteMade, IMDb, Amazon Prime Video, and many others, I am happier than ever. I have my own company called RGB & CO., in which focuses on film, podcast, and commercial production as well as digital content with the people who got me to where I am today. Today, “Novelty” is my main focus as well as continuing helping others make it in this entertainment industry. Without spoiling anything, “Novelty” is a short film about a group of troubled high school students recall their dreams and ambitions through an assignment given in detention. The film will be musical-like and is inspired by my favorite movies of all time which are La La Land and The Breakfast Club as well as anything coming-of-age like Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. We recently wrapped Part I of the production and are in pre-production for Part II. The film stars Zachary Trotter (represented by Go 2 Talent Agency), Zauriel Luna, Dalia Santana, Benjamin Comrie, Jasmine Basilan, Fernando Ayala, and Byron Bucao. The film also stars Marlene Erwing, Branden Dale, Wayne Delos Santos, Dailan White, Emma Navarro, Malachi Lawton, Isaac Flores, Johnny Partida, Aaliyah Flores, Ruben Cervantes, Rigo Navarro, and Ismael Monter as supporting roles. The film is produced by me, Marissa Garcia, Kris Mangaccat and executively produced by Andrew Tsai, Byron Bucao, Mychael Earvin Magat, Jennifer Zhang, and Michael Nusbaum. I will give more details on the film in the next few questions!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
When doing anything in entertainment, yet alone trying to pursue it, it will never be a smooth road. When it came to my career choices, my family was a bit skeptical at first. They would question my decisions and ask if working in entertainment is stable financially. Growing up in a Filipino society where sometimes film is frowned upon, it was at first daunting to hear that a lot of people, especially in Asian culture, dislike film as a career because it is unstable. You just never know when work is going to come and go. For me, I took that risk. I didn’t want to grow up traditionally majoring in nursing or engineering as a Filipino-American, I wanted to stand out from my family and peers. A lot of people doubted me on my career and now I was able to move out of Oxnard and work in film full time, not many people in Oxnard can or will do that. It was emotionally difficult to get some of my family and friends to support me, but in the end, I didn’t need validity to make me happy. As long as I was working in anything creative, I was happy. No matter if I was always being compared to other industries.
Another thing about my career is how competitive everything is. I had so many job gigs and opportunities that I didn’t get because of how many people there are that are more qualified than I am, but that makes me want to work even harder. My family and peers are right that my career isn’t stable, but again that is why I am the hard worker I’ve always wanted to be. The third biggest thing I had to devour was making my most ambitious film to date – “Novelty.” Like I mentioned before, I first began shooting it in 2016 with different actors and dancers; however, due to the wrong people being a part of it respectively, I gave up and didn’t want to bring it back until 2019. Yes, COVID messed up everything when I tried bringing it back in 2019 and 2020; however, having the money and the right talent and crew slowed down the process even more. 2021 and 2022 were the years where I finally found the right crew members and cast with the biggest help from Byron Bucao, Marissa Garcia, Kris Mangaccat, Selina Gallegos, and Vincent Solis. When I first pitched the idea that I wanted to make a narrative-musical-like film, people thought I was crazy because they knew this film was going to cost a lot of money and time to make it given the scope of ambition. All the years I did my films, I was able to receive a little crowdfunding help which I am extremely grateful for; however, 90% of those films I funded myself. With “Novelty,” I funded 100% out of my company pocket for Part I of the production, and I don’t regret it because I knew it was an investment into my career and ultimately knew how. Impossible it is to fund short films that aren’t going to make money out of it. Right now, doing my projects, like “Novelty”, under my company is my life, and I am willing to continue to fund my own films until a big company in the future says otherwise. I cannot wait for people to see “Novelty” at the end of this year. It’s been my life the last few years and will continue to be!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What I specialize in is mainly film and video editing since that is what I mainly do career-wise; however, doing all the short films is helping me practice with directing as my main goal in the future. Right now, I freelance video edit for companies like TasteMade and IMDb but also worked on videos for companies like Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. With editing as my main job, I do have a film production company called RGB & CO., that of course all my films are under, with clients like: EditAudio; one of the world’s biggest audio production companies; JB Smoove, infamous actor and comedian; Black Circuit Media, video production company in the east coast; Stack Overflow (Under EditAudio), the world’s largest software developer subreddit; and IAPAC (under EditAudio), the International Association of Providers of Aids Care. Under my company, I currently work with freelance artists that I am very thankful for like Louis Schwartz, my amazing video editor, Trevor Cobb, my best friend and amazing videographer and video editor as well, Marissa Garcia, one of my best friends and amazing producers who’s worked with me since my horror short films, Ryan Yere, an amazing costume and graphic designer and is the owner of Oxnard’s clothing brand called Retour Co., Connor Berriochoa, good friend who does audio engineering and makes amazing music, and Selina Gallegos, also one of my best friends who has helped me with production designs since the beginning.
What I’m most proud of is where I am in my career and who I surround myself with. Without the people I work with today, I wouldn’t have been as a hard worker as I am right now because the people I surround myself with are so inspiring and hardworking. My company, RGB & CO., is a reflection of myself and the people I work with. RGB of course is Raymond Gerard Braza, my name and “& CO.” essentially is everyone I love and work with. If it wasn’t for Selina Gallegos, I would not have been able to discover Facebook groups where I got pretty much all my jobs and connections like Andrew Tsai, who is an amazing composer and is currently scoring “Novelty.” Without Marissa, I wouldn’t have met all my crew members apart of “Novelty” like my amazing Director of Photography Sam Ashrafuzzaman. Without Ryan, I wouldn’t have an amazing graphic designer who does Stack Overflow’s Podcast Video thumbnails which we all love and wouldn’t have had amazing costumes, with the help of Vanessa Serratos, in “Novelty.” Without Louis, I wouldn’t have extra hands in helping me edit and without Connor, our audio wouldn’t be the best. I am super proud of the people I met that has helped me shaped my company, my films, and who I am today.
What makes me stand out from others is that I am not like your average Filipino-American. You don’t see a lot of Filipinos doing film and working in the entertainment industry, so that’s what I believe makes me stand out more. I really believe in representation and helping the people who are underserved like myself. What I stand for, for my company RGB & CO., is diversity and representation. All of my team, clients, and cast and crew members in “Novelty” are all of BIPOC-communities which I would love to keep that way. What also makes me stand out is I am one of the few Filipino-Americans doing film from Oxnard. Oxnard is very minuscule and I am glad I am representing the city, my culture, and the dance community. I do believe “Novelty” is something that has never been done before that represents not only the Oxnard dance community but dance as a whole. Like the cast mentioned before, our choreographers and crew members range all over California and the East Coast. Our choreographers of the film include Matthew Sabino, Ivan Parades, and Aaron Aung of GRV, Zauriel Luna of Oxchord, and Zachary Trotter, who is the coach of Alias Dance Family’s Undeclared and has credits with Snowglobe Perspective Hip Hop Mindset, and Pandora’s Box. The rest of the crew includes our film composer Andrew Tsai, who resides in New York, additional soundtracks from John Dannenbaum, who resides in Florida, and finally additional soundtracks from Connor Berriochoa and Los Vigilantes who both reside in Oxnard. I cannot wait to show everyone our film because I believe this film is what makes me and others stand out.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
When it comes to Los Angeles, I love the feeling of being in a movie. Before living in Los Angeles, it always felt so magical in a way that makes me dream of one day getting my own Hollywood Star in the Walk of Fame and of course my own movie! I currently reside in Woodland Hills, which isn’t too far from Hollywood, but every time I drive to Hollywood, the feeling of dreaming does not go away. Growing up in Oxnard and having all my cast members live in Oxnard, I cannot wait to finish shooting “Novelty” so that some of them can feel like they’re in Hollywood. The magic of filmmaking will never go away. If some of my peers cannot go to Hollywood, I will bring Hollywood to them. Besides the obvious traffic on the freeway and the crazy high gas and food prices, I think what I like least is how competitive it is, but it has its pros because I am a very competitive person, and therefore it makes me work even harder.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.raymondgerardbraza.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/g_rad92/ AND https://www.instagram.com/rgbandcompany/
Image Credits
1. Trevor Cobb @trevorcobb 2. Johnny Rivera @irawfilms @rrparadox 3. Andrew Mori www.AmoriPhotograhy.com @amoriphotography
