Today we’d like to introduce you to Jose Luis Medina.
Hi Jose Luis, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Thank you for the opportunity. My beginnings were a little harsh; came to the united states when I was just 12 years old after having a very rough childhood due to my parent’s divorce. Came to this country without knowing any English whatsoever, and depending on my single mom and me being the older sibling of four, I would take care of my siblings while mom was trying to find work until eventually she did and at that time, living in an apartment in phoenix arizona our apartment had no electricity for months until our mom was able to come up with the money to have electricity and decent food.
Grew up a little afraid since I did not know the language of this country (United States) eventually after people tried to bully me because I was from a foreign country and not knowing how to express myself even though I always thought to myself, “It will get better” I finished middle school and once getting into high school I was enrolled in a high school that was approximately 12 miles from my place just because that same school offered ESL which were classes given in Spanish due to my lack of English, at that point I wasn’t learning english because I took every class in Spanish until I asked my mom to switch me to a full English school where I would have to CHALLENGE MYSELF after going to a different school was very hard to the point of dropping out high school to work in construction at the age of 16 years old for $7.50 hr. and even stood in a home depot parking lot searching for better jobs at one point.
I worked so much I did not have the time to get back to school, bought my own car and kept moving up in job positions and it was there that in knew I had something special in me and I was going to believe on my potential, years went by became a worship leader of my church, youth pastor and got married (2009), I remember my sister had bought a small camera I remember it was a NIKON D3200 and I asked if I could borrow it so I started taking photos of friends and family until I fell inlove with creating, (photos) I continued to work in contruction, warehouses, and at some point as ENGLISH TEACHER, yep an English teacher in a small private school and as I was practicing that job the business was growing to the point where I started creating viral content on facebook with millions of shares and business was booming, trust me when I say booming I was taking photos and filming small videos inside my house and my garage of artists like EDGARDO NUNEZ, DANNY FELIX, LOS PARRAS and I was able to film a meet and greet for GERARDO ORTIZ (mexican regional music) at the time and many more. After seeing the success and decided to quit the English teaching job and go full-time into photography and ironically as soon as I get home on my last day, I find my door busted open and all my electronics, personal belongings including my sister’s camera, the one camera that was giving me business was also stolen and I was left off with NOTHING I was not able to finally be a full-time photographer because someone stole everything from me, that did not just delay my dreams but put me and my family in a very bad position even the community started up a GOFUND account to help me get some of my stuff back and I did but I needed to get back to work on a regular job, the same job that required me to work 14-16hrs a day inside of a warehouse and this is where everything started to change.
While working so many hours, I wasn’t able to see my wife and two kids because of so many hours I was working to be able to get back up and had to put my DREAMS ON HOLD, but as I was working so many hours, I still felt like this wasn’t my destiny that I was not there to stay because I loved photography and I was finally able to buy a camera and some gear to continue with the dream.
After working there for a few years, I finally decided to leave and everyone was very upset and I was told all types of things by my superiors because they needed me working full days, I leave and decided to go for real estate agent and passed the school test but for some reason, I ended up working at the bank with NO DIPLOMA, NO G.E.D. I applied and the manager knew who I was because I had been doing photography for quite some years, created charities and started working with influencers I believe that was a plus to be hired and I did such a good job there that promotions were offered but I did not take them because business was growing so much I had to take the leap of faith and finally pursue my dreams.
Left the bank (2019) and finally and started to learn videography/ filmmaking to the point of having opportunities to work with public figures, musicians, influencers and the biggest at the time PUMA MEXICO, yes I had the pleasure to meeting an influencer involved and sponsored by puma and we were able to connect through Instagram and that how the whole PUMA collaboration started because they saw the first photoshoot I did with EDER DOS SANTOS and they connected me with the famous soccer player JONATHAN DOS SANTOS who was one of their biggest ambassadors in MEXICO.
At that point, I couldn’t believe the dream was finally happening but I didn’t know years later was going to get better and started working with bigger influencers and even make-up brands, having viral videos and #1 trending videos on youtube posted on some of the most popular influencers in the LATINO category such as THE AGUILARS, LVE FAMILY, BRAM FAM, FRANKIE ROSE COSMETICS and many more until one day I receive an email from a talent recruiter working for DISNEY offering me to film a RED CARPET WORLD PREMIERE of the Star Wars series ANDOR starring the icon DIEGO LUNA and the first thing I thought was “it’s a scam” how in the heck did Disney find me or even saw any sort of value in my work when they can hire anyone they please? And that is where my life changed.
After reviewing the email and asking for more information regarding the project, I was in disbelief because how did a content creator with the background that I had would be able to work with DISNEY? It was one of those dreams it was so impossible to have because there was no way in my head not even the smallest thought, that I was being hand-picked by them to be able to film as what they call “CINEMA INFLUENCER” even though I had signed the contract and agreed to the paid partnership I still was in disbelief until I was finally walking in Hollywood blvd and saw the whole block closed and as soon as I arrive they had the credentials that said (DISNEY STAFF) I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, I was the only videographer stepping on the red carpet along with my assistant for the day (sundaze) I was so emotional & happy to be there and there it was the moment where I thought to myself “I MADE IT” after so many battles and struggles in my life I was living the dream, I was able to be the director of what they call “SIZZLE REEL” I was able to talk to DIEGO LUNA and got so inspired that I said, imagine going back?
As my emotions were running high, the next day I see my “SIZZLE REEL” being posted on the Starwars, Lucas Films, and Disney Plus social media accounts and I broke down when I saw my name on the description my name that represented me, my family & friends that were there throughout my whole journey, my whole life that was one of the most emotional moments in my career right there I was starting to believe that I could still dream to be back in Hollywood.
I had learned so much in such a short amount of time, I was able to meet so many great people and I was starting to believe I had the potential to come back but nothing was written.
Weeks go by and there it was another call from DISNEY we would like to have you come to Hollywood and film the MARVEL PREMIERE “BLACK PANTHER WAKANDA FOREVER” and also invited to go to Mexico City to cover the premiere there as well and it was insane! My family and close friends were so happy for me, we had so many emotional talks because of the dream I was living, flying out to Mexico, staying in 5-star hotels with everything paid and I was able to get my assistant to come with his whole trip paid as well because I asked for it? It was unbelievable, it was literally my dream and all the hard work of so many years reflected on him as well because he never thought of living this never, got to meet the actors and have a few conversations with them and the premieres were a total success, paid partnerships with marvel were a total success and I was still living the dream, see my work on these pages was such a great feeling.
Got called to film the premiere of the biggest movie of all time, “AVATAR” not just in Hollywood but all the way to SOUTH KOREA; I was able to meet the cast and film all day for the movie promotion imagine how I felt. Then MARVEL ANT-MAN call came in, Hulu Calls to cover WHITE MAN CAN’T JUMP .
Keep in mind that a few years back, I was literally working in a construction warehouse for 14-16hrs a day because I was told that was my destiny that my culture showed me to work hard and stay working hard in everything I did but I always believed in myself I knew I was special, I knew I had something in me that was gonna inspire so many people and I believe that is my purpose after traveling around the world, filming so many premieres and meeting so many importannt people was such a DREAM I will always be thankful for everyone who believed in me, my family, my friends, the recruiters KATIE, TESSA, Disney’s marketing team ARIN, YAZMIN, RACHEL all the way to the vice president of digital marketing for disney Dustin I will always be grateful, imagine being able to travel around the world and work with disney, marvel, 20th-century studios, hulu, starwars, sony, puma and more it’s dream come true a dream I never had because I thought I wasn’t good enough but GOD & life showed me otherwise.
You can can never dream too big everything is possible…
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?
It has never been a smooth road and that is what makes my journey even more beautiful, from coming to this country with lots of struggles, to what my culture made me believe I was destined to be all the way to discover the potential others never saw in me.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a photographer, videographer and I create content not just for myself but for Hollywood (Marvel, 20th-Century Studios, Starwars, Hulu, Sony), puma, influencers, brands and exclusive clients, I am proud that I discovered my full potential and was able to live the dream any content creator would love to have which is travel around the world doing what I love the most, CREATING CONTENT.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My wife Daisy definitely, kids Joseph (13), Zoe (10) & Mila (3) deserve as much credit as I do because they have been with me and believed in me since the beginning without them, I wouldn’t be able to be here because they have seen the struggles and the victories throughout our lives.
Also want to give credit to those who saw the potential in me above others in the same list as I was; they saw something in me that no other saw Katie, Tessa, Arin, Yazmin, Rachel and VP Disney’s of social media marketing (Dustin).
Contact Info:
- Website: uscreatorsmedia.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/luismilanp?igshid=Y2I2MzMwZWM3ZA==
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@Luismilanp
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@luismilanp?_t=8dwJIaDPKx8&_r=1
