Meet Joshua Mobijohn of Red Ear Films in North Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joshua Mobijohn.

Joshua, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born and raised in Queens, New York. I called New York City home until about 12 years old at which point my family decided to uproot and move down to Orlando, Florida. Going from a fast-paced urban jungle to an environment that moves at a snails pace was quite the adjustment and tough initially. We moved because my Mom saw an opportunity to start her own business. Although we were ultimately not successful it taught me two valuable lessons, the importance of work ethic and having passion for the business you run. She now owns and operates two Salons, one which I’m an investor in.

It was during high school where I found myself having a few brushes with the law and consistently getting into trouble. I was hanging around the wrong crowd in a city that seemed to have nothing going on and desperately needed to find something better to occupy my time. I started watching movies again after school or work and studying each of the films I watched. The last two years of high school I found myself in T.V. Production learning how to write, edit and shoot films.

I attended Valencia College choosing Nursing as my major and Theatre as a minor, my Theatre professor John DiDonna was a big inspiration, before his class I’d never had any type of formal training. It was the first time I felt that being an artist might be a viable career path. The bug had bitten me and two years into college I decided to sell everything on a whim and moved back to New York. Many of my friends got “stuck” for one reason or another so I’ll always appreciate those closest to me who supported my dreams and pushed me to get better.

Going back out to New York at 20 and being on my own for the first time was super rough. I struggled for the first few years as an artist barely making ends meet and somehow ended up in retail management……miserable. A good friend introduced me to catering and event work which got me back on track. I met so many wonderful people in the world of catering and events, artists and like-minded people who consistently inspired me. The friendships fostered became collaborations on film projects and eventually business partnerships. 

New Yorks event industry not only stoked the fire of my creativity but built my entrepreneurial spirit as well. I started my own small production team and produced films that traveled the festival circuit. I started branching out on my own doing private events for clients all over New York City and was able to foster some fruitful relationships with a great network of people.

At 26, I was feeling a little burned out from the hustle and was looking for a change of pace. I had never been out to Los Angeles before but had always dreamed of living here, so I packed my stuff and decided to road trip cross country. Los Angeles has its own cultural dichotomy and adjusting came with a whole new set of challenges. I don’t think people realize how isolating this city can be. Six months in, struggling to find my identity and feeling a little lost I decided to take a little sabbatical to help my cousin and wife run a bar and restaurant in Thailand. I returned after about five months with a fresh perspective and feeling more motivated than ever. When I got back to LA a friend gave me an opportunity to help manage a place called Stout. 3 years in I’ve taken the reigns for two locations and have helped guide them both to be more profitable each year. I’ve appreciated the freedom the company has afforded me in being able to pursue other endeavors outside of work as a creative and as an entrepreneur. It’s allowed me to shoot my own content as well as expanding into doing portrait photography for people and restaurants. 

A little over four years into LA I’m in a great flow and am just getting started. 

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Definitely not, its been pretty rocky. Two of the biggest struggles I’ve had have been self-doubt and financial instability.

If success is the journey and not destination I’m glad my tires have held up so far.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Red Ear Films – what should we know?
Red Ear Films is the little engine that could. I helped to produce an award-winning feature called “A Portrait Asunder” with a very good friend of mine Vince Lombardi (No relation to the coach but still exudes greatness) and have been fortunate enough to produce multiple shorts that have traveled the festival circuit globally. As of late my writing partner Jonathan Condry and I have been working on skits and parodies that currently have well over 200,000 views on Facebook and Youtube.

I love photography so shooting portraits, events, real estate and content for restaurants has been a lot of fun lately.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My mother continues to inspire me as an entrepreneur and businesswoman. Seeing all of her hard work and sacrifice in my youth makes me appreciate the process now.

I’m an artist and free spirit because of my father, his charisma is unreal. He went back to school and got his degree at 68. He’ll never stop learning.

Mr. Burley my high school history teacher who taught the importance of perspective.

Judge Rodriguez for giving a young stupid kid a second chance.

My girlfriend Lindsey for being an amazing support system and someone who’s shown me what unconditional love really is.

Contact Info:

• Email: redearfilms@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshmobijohn/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redearfilms/
• Other: https://www.stoutburgersandbeers.com/

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