We had the good fortune of connecting with Branden Loera and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Branden, what do you attribute your success to?
I can attribute it to a few things that have been stalwart in my life (in no particular order):

1. The support of my family (some support is *tenuous* but its there).

2. Mentors. I have 2 of them and I’ll mention them any chance I get – Shawn Gann and Marcus Stimac. They both believed in my ability when no one else would – enough to help nurture it in a sub-category of the acting field I was pretty unfamiliar with, and both gave me resources and opportunities for me to thrive.

3. You have to have a certain resolution and drive. A persistence and force of will no matter the cost (and believe me, the cost is NOT cheap), and the ability to desensitize yourself to rejection.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started as someone in the singing field, as my theatre classes werent the best growing up…At the time, I was juggling sports with theatre and choir. I ended up going to college for Vocal Performance and choosing to forgo sports, but found the musical scene enticing as well. When I graduated, I found I did a lot of Shakespeare. In participating in these shows, opportunities landed in my lap by way of recommendation. There were a few voice directors I happened to work with on multiple shows. They asked me to come in for One Piece and see how I did in that setting – that if I did well, I can get contract work from Funimation (now Crunchyroll). So along with opportunity, you have to have the chops to be able to deliver in a fast paced industry. You have to seize control of the opportunity youre given and capitalize on it.

The lessons I’ve learned:

-Improv is so important
-Failure and mistakes WILL happen
-Don’t give up, no matter how slow it may become
-A support group is a must
-You most likely have to spend to make

What I want the world to know? I’d like the community to know I’m a helpful human, that there are a million different doors into this type of business, to not judge or compare other people’s success to your own, and that the company I’ve helped run (Bluenova Studio) shall be a staple in all things ADR in the future.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
#1 thing we do is go to the Asian market in Carrollton – SO much good food and merch there (not to mention a beautiful bakery)!

#2 – Id want to show them a Shakespeare show in Dallas (like Shakes Dallas) or one of the ones in bars called Shakespeare Everywhere (which i’ve been a part of multiple times). They just put on a very intimate and inclusive fast paced shows for the audience and make them feel like they’re on stage with us.

#3 – Round 1 in Grapevine no doubt. Arcades? Bowling? Karaoke? Rhythm games? All the while connected to a pretty nice mall? Say no more.

#4 – I’d take them disc golfing. The DFW area has so many great parks. A lot of my friends tease me that i play too often, but there are some truly nice hikes you can go on in the Texas area where you can get your sport fix in as well!

#5 – Honestly, Downtown Grapevine is so great as well. They have car shows, vintage trains to ride, interesting food courts, a couple bakeries, pie and candy shops, some thrift stores, and some awesome restaurants and wineries sprinkled about.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Besides the two mentors I already mentioned (Shawn and Marcus), and my family, I’d say theres another couple of guys who encouraged and assisted in my growth: Jax Winterbourne and Eric Sheffield. They are friends of mine who have helped my career immensely.

Jax helped me create an all-important website, and the knowledge with how to update it from time to time. Jax also helped to further advance my directing career. We’ve partnered to create Bluenova Studio, a place where animation/game devs can find a talent pool of diverse and extremely talented actors, along with demo, casting, directing, writing, and engineering services.

Eric helped me to make a character demo that I felt proud to showcase to the world, along with incredible mental support, and general knowledge of the industry.

Website: https://brandenloera.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/bran_flayk18?utm_source=qr&igshid=NGExMmI2YTkyZg%3D%3D

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/branden-loera-a82b10276

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrandLoVO?s=09

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/branden.loera?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Other: https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm6728039?s=20c4fe54-c7bf-0223-f10d-97a9d2927d13&site_preference=normal

Image Credits
Jordan Fraker shot and edited my professional headshot.
Marukmpos (Insta) drew my cartoon portrait.

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