Meet Nacho Pajín of Young Equinox in North Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nacho Pajín.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Nacho. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was born and raised in Spain, the youngest of three siblings, by my parents. I remember discovering Tim Burton in my preteens and falling in love with his magical world. He had this very coherent style no other director had; all his films were somehow connected by a common language, and they all shared the same universe. Repetitive for some, but the fact that he had managed to keep an unconditional audience who would always feel excited about his forthcoming projects, no matter their age, made me look up to him greatly.

Well, over the course of that year I thought I should try and do the same. I shot twenty-minute remakes of films I liked, as well as some original stories, but I never had a cast or a crew. Not a problem! I used toys and dolls instead of actors, just like Tim Burton himself did several times. The results, far from being memorable, were satisfying enough to my mother, who would wait impatiently for the next family screening I put together. Nevertheless, I quickly outgrew these cheap techniques and, except few sporadic occasions, I left the craft of filmmaking on the side for a couple of years… until I turned 18. At that time, I was focusing mostly on writing and painting, but I felt that wasn’t enough. I had tried several artistic disciplines, but I still had many stories to tell, and I had to do that visually. The images seemed so clear in my mind, I could see the actors, the camera angles, feel the pacing, hear the music. I decided to study an 8-Week Workshop in Filmmaking in Italy, and a BFA in Los Angeles, which I’m currently undertaking. So far, it’s really a dream come true.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Every big change in life is hard at first. Adapting to a new city is always a challenge, especially when you don’t drive a car, and you are thousands of miles away from what you used to call home. On the other hand, this gave me the opportunity to start over and discover what this city had to offer. To this day, I would lie if I said my work here is a bed of roses. Over the past weeks, I found myself in several stressful situations, dealing with paperwork and deadlines, in order to shoot my upcoming project. Pre-production was truly an alienating process, not my idea of filmmaking: instead of focusing on the creative side of directing, my main concern ended up being how to gather a cast and a crew in the same room at the same time, working around their availability. In the meantime, I had to cope with people backing out of the project and finding replacements. It made me miss the days when I used to do things on my own, like painting or writing stories. I kept telling myself: “You’ve been through this before, and it worked out, why wouldn’t it now?” Even then, part of me knew that, if I made the movie, the outcome would be twice as satisfying. But I kept wondering: “Is it really worth the headache? Can a movie make up for all the frustration… and all the money spent?” I always thought optimism without honesty is denial, and it’s hard to find that balance.

Sometimes we see things clearly, others we don’t. Well, the truth is that, as crazy as it sounds, sometimes you just need to let go and eventually things will fall into place… and they did. It was a lot of hard work, but I got it done. As soon as I knew I had done everything in my hand to make this film shoot happen, I stopped worrying, even though some documents were still pending, but I just couldn’t do anything about it. We want control over everything, but we can’t have it, especially when we work with other people. All in all, I ended up filming this project, successfully, I would say, and I couldn’t be happier. Even many of those initial mishaps proved to be beneficial in the end.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m a filmmaker, occasional painter, and writer. Like many people, I came to Los Angeles following my dream. Ever since I was 11, I said several times I would end up here, but not many thought I was serious back then. Although it may seem I had things clear at the time, my mind has changed over the years. I started out thinking I wanted to be an actor, probably as a reaction to my inherent shyness. Then I decided I wanted to make movies, instead of just being in them. After that, I realistically considered becoming a novelist. The truth is that I don’t want to be only a director, my ultimate goal is to become some sort of 21st century Renaissance man. I don’t believe humans are meant to specialize in anything. For me, the highest form of fulfillment is the ability to range freely through all the fields of disciplines. That’s why I would rather be known as an artist in general. I would like my work to be seen as a whole, rather than individual films, paintings or novels. Besides, I’m still trying to find my voice, since I’m just starting out, and I’m aware that I may change my mind on the way, just like I did several times in the past. So I can say I’m open to pretty much anything at this point: I haven’t started a band yet.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
This is something I’m still trying to figure out. I look around and see instances of self-sabotage, self-fulfilled prophecies, and I would like to think everyone eventually gets what they deserve, but there is no way on earth to know that. Especially in a city like this, you see lots of frustrated artists. There are talented people who never make the cut and the other way around. Nevertheless, I try to remind myself to work hard and have good time on the way. With all this being said, sometimes I think I don’t give myself enough credit when something goes right in my life. I consider myself a highly fortunate person for being able to be here and study what I always wanted to. I tend to attribute my success to my favorable circumstances, which to some extent may be true. However, sometimes I need to sit back and see the whole picture to think: “Well, actually I did that.” I think we all overlook some of our good habits, particularly those we might have been interiorizing for years. And it’s those habits that can sculpt our work ethic and lead us to succeed.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nachopajin/

Image Credit:
Rosa Pérez, Boris Schaarschmidt, Alexandra Galletta

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