The heart of our mission at VoyageLA is to find the amazing souls that breathe life into our city. In the recent weeks we’ve had the privilege to connect with some of Mid-Wilshire’s (and K-Town, WeHo, Mid-City) finest artists, creatives, entrepreneurs and rabble rousers and we can’t begin to express how impressed we are with our city’s incredibly deep talent pool. Check out Mid-Wilshire’s rising stars below.
Cameron Dantley
From there, I wanted to try out shooting things I was more interested in. I’ve worked out since college and I knew a lot of people that were trainers and athletes. So I asked a friend if I could try some fitness photography with her. I told her if the images sucked, I’m sorry I wasted an hour of her time. But if she liked them, she could use them for whatever she wanted (social media, marketing for the group classes she taught, etc.) and the shoot turned out pretty well. So from that, other trainers would reach out to me to set up a shoot, and eventually an actual protein company found me work, and that was my first “official” brand shoot I did. And it’s just grown from there. Read more>>
Petre Bog
At the end of my college degree, I was hired to compose the score for the feature film The Father Who Moves Mountains. It was a huge project for me at the time—I had never worked on a major production before, and suddenly, I was responsible for all the music. I had to figure out a lot on my own and learn as I went, which was extremely challenging. But looking back, I wouldn’t call it a struggle even though it felt that way at the time. It pushed me to grow so much as a composer, and I’m really grateful for that experience. Read more>>
Branndon Brown
I had always taken a lot of photos with my phone, but never really considered photography as a real career path. That changed for me when I met my now-wife Victoria. She had an old Nikon DSLR and let me take it with us on a trip to Yosemite. I took one of my first intentional photos on that physical camera, and I was completely hooked. This is when I really started following photography as an art form. Read more>>
Eric Starr
While on the other hand Mac users were creating beautiful videos, stunning photo albums, and amazing music. How could we bring this to life in a fun, irreverent way? We decided to personify these experiences in the form of relatable Mac (Justin Long) and his lovable, yet troubled friend, PC (John Hodgman). This campaign was episodic, almost like a TV series – picking off some of the most relatable experiences the world has with their computers, and illustrating what life is like on a Mac. Get a Mac won campaign of the decade by Adweek. Read more>>
Jake David
For example, I remember trying to make little videos with my friends on the playground in elementary school. We never got to the filming stage, but that “Futurama” fan-script is still sitting on my old hard drive somewhere. At the same time, I was busy writing stories, singing in the school chorus, and eventually acting in the local theatre scene. Seymour in “Little Shop of Horrors” was my first lead role. I learned a lot from those years on stage, which I fell off of twice – once literally into a garbage can. Read more>>
Javier B. Suarez
Well, truth is that all of our life we are sowing but there are also some few fulfilling moments that are of harvest, and we got to be thankful for all of them. And never forget that sometimes you had to: take crazy risks, like quitting steady jobs and jumping to the unknown, lose loved ones in the process, to missing people back home (my wife, dogs and family), to sleeping on the floor, and accepting the fact that you have been denied to audition for a Big Role because of your Visa status. Those things hurt, but they also make you little by little stronger, if you are able to endure. And endured I have. Read more>>
Lucas Frangiosa
I mean, COVID sure was a struggle. A whole lot of the friends I had made and both personal and industry connections I had established in the first few years living in LA just got Thanos snapped. For a while, I was doing the freelance thing, taking gigs on sets or studios wherever I could. I had a lot of fun and met a ton of great people but found that wasn’t for me. I’ve been really lucky though, can’t complain. Read more>>
Johnesha Couteé
One of the biggest struggles has been balancing the emotional highs and lows of real estate—deals that fall through, clients facing financial roadblocks, and the constant hustle required to stay ahead. Additionally, being an entrepreneur comes with financial uncertainty, unlike the steady paycheck I had in banking. Read more>>
Yujin Iris Jeong
With galleries and cultural institutions closing their doors, and offline art activities coming to a halt, the landscape of the industry was dramatically altered. During this difficult period, we were determined to adapt and find innovative solutions. We transitioned to the digital space, hosting virtual exhibitions, promoting online art sales, and launching the International Photography Award program. This initiative provided a platform for talented photographers worldwide to submit their work, from which we selected several exceptional artists to award and later exhibit at our gallery. Read more>>
Uru
I believe that if you believe in yourself, work hard at being who you want to be, don’t get locked into anything that some people tell you you should be (but you know you aren’t) and always stay humble and open… Read more>>
Xaria Romero
My friends always had somewhere to go after school, but I didn’t. Once I started hanging out more with my Samohi friends, they introduced me to an after-school program. I started as a teen member at 13 years old, attending the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Monica. My mom loved how warm and welcoming they were to me and helped with my homeless situation at the time. I grew to start going to Boys and Girls Clubs by myself, getting involved with a teen leadership program called L.I.T. It introduced me to my liking to volunteer to help out our staff members and our community. That moment I found my passion for one day becoming a teacher of some sort because kids younger than me always wanted to play or have me help them with homework. Read more>>
Idalia Buddington
I often find myself completely exhausted – wondering if my real talent is making poor life decisions. During these moments of self-doubt, I have to remind myself that resilience is key. There’s no map, no clear timeline. In Hollywood, you’re often adrift in unknown waters, with a set of instructions in a language you don’t understand. Read more>>
Andrew Hunt
I had a fantastic teacher at said college who use to be an animator for Disney during the 90’s 2D animation renaissance. She was hugely supportive and convinced me to go to art school. Art school was always a pipe dream to me because it was so expensive but she convinced me to try anyways. “Just see if you can get in. Then figure it out.” She said. So, I did. I applied and a month later I was accepted with a generous amount of scholarships being thrown my way. Read more>>
