Sometimes, demo reels leave me feeling inspired. Other times, I am left sitting in front of my computer screen with envy building within me because I could never measure up. The best demo reels, however, leave me with mixed feelings.
Let me introduce to you someone you haven’t met yet, but someone that is not going anywhere.
He’s a 20-something from New Mexico and his name is Ryan Valdez.
We actually grew up in the same hometown and we had mutual friends, but we never met. I started to hear things about his work such as, “He’s in a film class at NMSU but he’s pretty much the instructor” and “He won $5,000 for his short film and the extended version is going to cause Santa Fe to be shutdown for a day”. Now, I am not sure all of what I heard was true, but let’s just agree that he was creating a buzz.
I recently found out that he is now a director at RSM Creative, who have produced music videos for everyone from Snoop Dogg to Yellowcard. He was recently listed as the director/cinemetagropher/editor on Zeke Duhon’s latest music video which landed on MTV a few weeks ago.
Look at his official bio. His story is just as captivating as his work.
Native to the dry, dusty lands of New Mexico. Ryan Valdez directed music videos among the local indie circuit as a teenager soon rising to the national scene. Crossing state line after state line, shooting one artist to the next, he began establishing his image as a director. Playing the roles of an after school film instructor, to a cinematographer on indie features, he proudly carries on his originating craft of directing music videos.
Get ready, this is his most recent demo reel.
[tentblogger-vimeo 34587664]
His style and eye for captivating shots, as well as his editing chops, have amazed me for years. Seriously. Well, when he hits it big (as if being a director full-time isn’t big enough), remember that you found out about him here.
What up-and-coming creatives are you following right now?
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