Today we’d like to introduce you to Kellen Lor.
Hi Kellen, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started my journey as a filmmaker when I was 19 in my first year of college. I didn’t go to school for film, rather I pursued a business degree. I wanted to become a filmmaker because I wanted to create dope visuals. At the time, camera equipment was way more accessible than ever in combination with the boom of content creation on the internet, it was a great time to start. I shot one of my first music videos with an artist, Luix, who was a mutual friend of a college friend. I saw that Luix had music videos shot by another fellow filmmaker in the area, Pedro Garcia, and bugged Luix to connect me with Pedro in exchange for the music video. Ever since connecting with Pedro, we’ve built two businesses together: Hidden Temple Media, a media production company specializing in documentaries and Imported Studios, a creative space for creatives. It has been six years in the making now and looking forward to more successes in the future.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Man, looking back in retrospect, it seemed pretty smooth but me reliving the memories, it was rough. As a full-time college student, working a full-time job and trying to build Hidden Temple Media all at the same time, it was a lot to manage. I didn’t really know how I even survived all that but I did. In the beginning of 2020, it felt like I had a promising future because I just had quit my full-time job, was on my out of college and planning to go full-time with the business. The pandemic hit and about 80% of our clientele from Hidden Temple had to cancel all their production needs, leaving us in a rough spot. We had to creatively figure out how we were going to survive the pandemic. Though times were uncertain, we eventually found a way out of the pandemic and thrived.
In late 2021, barely making it through the peak of the pandemic, my business partner and I decided to start another business, Imported Studios. The intention of the second business was to create an asset for our first business as well as offer a need for other creatives in the community. This opened up another can of worms. We had to learn and implement a whole new business model, learn how to do construction and many other things that came with the business. It was a rough time but it definitely thickened my skin. Honestly, after going through both of these instances, I’m ready to take on the world.
As you know, we’re big fans of Hidden Temple Media & Imported Studios. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
My business partner and I started Hidden Temple Media back in the summer of 2017. We specialize in documentaries and commercial work by using a blend of creative storytelling and cinema technology to deliver our messages. Through my journey of building the business, I’m proud to say that we’ve developed a pretty dope production company. My business partners and I come from very similar but different walks of life and we’re able to implement our own personal experiences in on the work that we deliver. For example, for me personally, I previously wanted to pursue music production and that career path was cut short for me, but I am still able to tap into that passion and deliver that within my work. I think that’s what separates us from the competition is that as a production company, we’re not afraid to show who we are and we don’t succumb to what is trendy.
Imported Studios is my second business, founded in the fall of 2021. We offer a space for other photographers, filmmakers and creatives like us to be able to express their artistry without boundaries. This gave us an opportunity to meet other creatives in the area and build community. I’m super grateful to be surrounded by hella dope creatives and to be able to build and nurture our creative community, it’s been a dope experience so far.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important lesson I’ve learned along the way is such a cliche one: “Don’t give up.” In my journey, I’ve been faced with hella challenges and I found that as long as I keep pushing and trying, something will happen. If it’s a positive feedback, I’ll keep pushing in that direction and if it’s negative feedback, maybe that’s something I’ll stop pursuing. I believe that in the grand scheme of things, it really breaks down into those two things, you get better or you get worse.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hiddentemplemedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellen.prproj/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellenlor/
- Other: https://www.importedstudios.com
Image Credits
Andri Tambunan, Pedro Garcia, Gelli Pascual
