Today we’d like to introduce you to Zair Montes.
Hi Zair, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started my career as an actress in Venezuela at age 18 when I landed the lead role in a TV show. After that, I worked in different TV shows and some theater plays and movies. In 2010, I moved to Colombia, looking for different and more challenging opportunities. I started from scratch and worked my way there. I worked as an actress mainly, landing different TV series and one movie. During that process, I got intrigued with the filmmaking process and felt the need to dig deeper and explore more about what’s going on behind the scenes in the different processes of making a project a reality. Soon, I started to get curious, and an opportunity came to executive produce an American movie. I took it and got involved in the post-production process, where I learnt a lot, and soon after, I went to Havana, Cuba, to produce my first movie, Habana Instant, which won the Montreal International Film Festival in 2015. That triggered my career and inspired me to produce and learn more about the film industry. That same year I moved to the US, where I have had the opportunity to produce, act and write several film projects both under the umbrella of my production company and independently.
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’s been the opposite of a smooth road, lol. But I’ve come to learn that everything worthy in life is that way, so I have made peace with it. The filmmaking industry is such a challenging one. Whenever you think you know the “formula,” you are proven wrong. It is an industry that is constantly evolving and mutating, and many times, you put in a lot of hard work, time, and even money that only pays out way down the road. It is like a marathon vs a sprint race. Your endurance, resilience, and passion are tested constantly, and you just have to keep learning and believing. To me, it is about the journey, and it’s pretty much like life. There is always a goal or dream to achieve, but along with the obstacles you face, you get a lot of gratifications that keep you going.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I believe my work is 100% creative, even when I’m wearing the producer’s hat. There is creativity in preparing a budget or doing a schedule breakdown. There is even more creativity when you don’t have enough funds because you have to come up with alternative ways to narrate the story and produce it on budget. As an actress and writer, creativity is everything, and I believe my creative superpower is to be able to wear different hats in the filmmaking process and to be able to enjoy them at the same time. My sweet spot is when I get to produce a film that I have written, and at the same time, I get to act in it. That’s the case of one of my most recent movies: El Elixir del Amor (Love Elixir), which premieres in movie theaters in Mexico in August 2024.
What were you like growing up?
I was an extrovert kid. Always playing outdoors, loved going to parks and mingling with other kids. I was always curious. I explored different activities as a child, such as piano, karate, swimming, and dance. However, I lost interest pretty fast and wanted to move on to the next thing. Except for acting. I was always mesmerized when I watched kid actors on TV. I convinced my parents to enroll me in a casting agency so I could audition for commercials (and also convinced them to pay for a couple of acting workshops). Acting got me from the start. I wasn’t nailing a lot of things at the beginning, and for a while… but I had an undeterred faith. That believe was the main reason I landed the lead role in that TV show when I was 18.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zairmontes?igsh=MTBnZWZ5czV4N2dqZg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/DCwC7zFAVAW9DQ1o/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Image Credits
Eduardo Fermin
Juan Pablo
Zapata Itzel
O. Marquez Padilla
