Rising Stars: Meet Sergio Allard

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sergio Allard.

Hi Sergio, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today. 
”Why don’t you study film?” 

That was the question asked by one of my best friend’s mom after saying, ”Architecture is not for me.” I was in my junior year in high school in Chile. Since then, movies have been my life, that and commercials, music videos, and a lot of other stuff. I started from the bottom while still in film school and then managed to get into bigger and bigger productions. I’ve worked in almost all departments in movies; ask enough times, and I’ll confess everything I’ve done. Live on-set translation on sets was what made me land in LA in 2015 after working on set with Eli Roth, Ana de Armas, and Keanu Reeves on ”Knock Knock”. After that and many, many commercials, music videos, and movies later, here I’m standing. It’s been a long road, and there’s still a road ahead. I now work with our production company based both here in LA and Chile Chronos Cinema with Ignacio Walker and Denis Arqueros. We produce narrative and documentary films, commercials, music videos, and whatever comes our way. This industry just keeps surprising you at every turn. I’ve been fortunate enough to work with legends on films I can talk about and others that are still under NDAs. Today I keep focused on working in the industry but more importantly trying to make my first Hollywood film. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t think there’s such a thing as a smooth road. If there is, you probably don’t learn as much on that road. The bumpier the better, I guess. Once you get into Film there’s really only one objective you pursuit. Making your own movie. 

That’s how 4 film school graduates decided to skip an entire summer of fun and make a feature film. It was 2010. Did we get paid? Nope, we were there to make a movie. Did we have any idea what we were getting into? No, of course not. Did we love every moment of it? Yes. Our movie was called ”Juan in a Million”, the story of a young man waking up to discover that the entire city where he lived in was empty and he was left behind. We had to shoot early in the summer morning to get a real empty city before everyone packed the streets. It was a labor of love that gave us our first success in the Chilean Film Industry. We got into a bunch of festivals, some of the most important ones in Chile as well. 

Once living in LA and working in Hollywood, I really got a sense of how the industry really works. People from outside tend to say a lot of things about Hollywood, but once you’re inside, you get a clearer picture. 

What you really understand is that everyone is constantly challenged. From the multiple Oscar-winning directors all the way to the office PAs working every day. Hollywood is challenging; I guess that’s what we all like about it. The constant pressure of having to make something completely original work. That pressure is where the best of us comes outside. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a filmmaker. What does that mean? Well, to be honest, a lot of things. Being a filmmaker can mean directing 50 people on a set to do this and that, writing a dramatic scene with comedic purpose, being behind the camera, lighting, editing late at night, we are all one. I consider myself a writer/director, well also a producer… an editor many times. It’s not as simple, really. Filmmaking means knowing a bit of everything and doing pretty much all. 

I’ve been so fortunate of having worked in really small films and then having been on sets of monster Blockbuster movies. The best part is that you learn out of all the experiences. The small and big. Then, that translates to your own work. I hope that this continues work will nurture my own films in the future. 

I wouldn’t say that something sets me apart from others. In the industry, we all have different stories of how we got in. What sometimes plays in our advantage is coming from smaller countries where the film industry is just too small. Where everything is even a bigger challenge. Coming to the US, you find that things are easier in a sense. The industry has a presence here. When you’ve gone over so much, you get used to everything. 

I’m proud that even though I constantly get surprised out of what we get asked to do… I’m still happy to say ‘Let’s make it work.” 

What do you think about happiness?
Many things make me happy. The happiest I’ve been has been on set, either directing, behind the camera, but also at home. Writing. Editing. I love it all really. 

Making up these worlds is the best part of this job. Diving into a script, making up characters, designing a place for them, and seeing how they grow and evolve. Nothing gives me more adrenaline than reading the story and seeing how something that was in my mind has jumped onto the paper and will go to the screen. 

Directing on set has brought me a lot of happiness as well. Seeing how a vision that was only an idea until that moment is there, in front of you, being filmed and that it will eventually get in front of other people’s eyes. 

But not only happiness comes from that. I’ve worked in many big Hollywood movies, and just by being there, it’s an amazing experience. Being part of this industry is happiness. Never would have I thought I’d be part of Hollywood in such a way. 

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sergioallard.com/
• Instagram: @tecoallard
• Twitter: @tecoallard
• Youtube: https://vimeo.com/tecoallard