Meet Rodrigo Occelli of Los Angeles / OC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodrigo Occelli.

Hi Rodrigo , it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I co-founded Veta Films in 2013 with Alex Montes, with a clear ambition: to create original content and tell stories that could connect with audiences across languages and borders.

Since then, we’ve brought together a team of collaborators to produce films and documentaries in Mexico, the United States, and Europe. As a writer, director, and producer, I’ve built my work around turning ideas into stories that people can feel.

For me, Veta Films is a place to keep pushing that ambition, to collaborate with talented people, explore new ways of creating, and bring stories worth telling to the screen.

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?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. One of the hardest lessons has been realizing that a strong creative vision doesn’t automatically build a strong business. You have to learn how to sell your ideas, manage uncertainty, build the right partnerships, and keep showing up when results take longer than you expected.

There have been projects that didn’t move forward and opportunities that didn’t become what we hoped. Those experiences have taught me to ask better questions, choose more carefully, and give the business side the same attention I give the creative work. I still have the ambition that led me to start Veta Films in 2013, but today I bring more experience, discipline, and clarity to making it happen.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a writer, director, producer, and the co-founder of Veta Films. I specialize in stories with a strong human core—work that brings you closer to someone else’s experience and gives you something to think about after the screen goes dark.

My documentary work includes *Luz en el Encierro*, *Las Sanadoras*, and *Me Mataron 3 Veces*. Those projects have shaped my approach to filmmaking: listen carefully, earn people’s trust, and find the emotional truth before deciding how to tell the story.

My work has also given me the opportunity to collaborate with people across film, music, and personal growth, including Terrence Howard, Nora Fatehi, Deepak Chopra, Diego Boneta, Kate del Castillo, Eugenio and Aislinn Derbez, Carlos Rivera, Shilpa Shetty, Greeicy, and Lucy Doughty. Working across such different personalities and cultures keeps me curious. Whoever is in front of the camera, I want to get beyond the familiar answers and create room for something honest.

I’m especially proud of the trust people place in me to tell their stories. With a film like *Me Mataron 3 Veces*, which follows siblings living with the consequences of their mother’s femicide, that responsibility is enormous. Being trusted with experiences that personal is one of the most meaningful parts of my work.

My edge is the combination of creative instinct and an entrepreneurial mindset. I can develop the idea, direct the story, and lead the practical work needed to get it made. I think about the audience, the production, and the business as part of the same creative responsibility. That’s what I bring to every project: imagination, human connection, and the determination to see it through.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Music is a huge part of my creative process. I make playlists for every project, sometimes before an idea is fully formed. They help me find its emotional core, shape the mood, and set the tone. Often, I can hear what a project should feel like before I can put it into words.

I also watch as many films as I can, preferably in a movie theater. There’s something about the scale, the sound, and the shared experience that makes me give myself completely to a story. It feeds my imagination and reminds me why I wanted to make films in the first place.

One of my favorite books is Rick Rubin’s *The Creative Act: A Way of Being*. What resonates with me is the idea that creativity begins with how we pay attention, what we notice, what we listen to, and what we allow ourselves to feel. It puts into words something I recognize in my own process: an idea often starts taking shape long before I sit down to write.

That connects directly to why music and cinema are so important to me. Building a playlist or watching a film in a theater is part of how I explore and discover. A song can unlock the atmosphere of a scene; an image can spark a whole story. The book reminds me to stay curious and leave room for those discoveries, even when I don’t yet know where they’ll lead.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vetafilms.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roccelli/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodrigo-occelli-8872a436/
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm9253225/