Meet Diego Noriega | Cinematographer | Content producer @ LERMA Agency

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

Hi Diego, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
Always believing in myself and my capabilities have helped me succeed the most in my career. The film / creative industry is incredibly competitive and niched down. Finding a way in and making sure you’re at the right place at the right time takes a lot of initiative, dedication, and sometimes luck. There will be a lot of let downs and “no’s” in this field, it is inevitable. What has helped me succeed personally is taking criticism/ hardships thrown my way in a positive manner, and not letting negative circumstances discourage me or steer me away from my end goals. Rather, taking negative situations and seeing how I can improve next time or learn from them. Believing in yourself at all times is super important and I think that is what has helped me succeed the most. If you don’t believe in yourself the journey is already over.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
As a Cinematographer I think what sets my work apart from the crowd is my attention to detail but also my intuition I have developed from an early age. I started playing with cameras when I was around 10 years old and continued doing so from that point on. Anybody can learn the trade of cinematography and practice it, but building up that intuition as an artist is something you have to develop over time, and is something I have been developing for about 14 years now. Building up my intuition and creative eye as an artist has allowed me to work fast on my feet and be able to make critical decisions on the spot. The journey of getting to where I am now has been very difficult. Starting out my career in the creative industry at a young age I would say I got 95% “no’s” when trying to find gigs and work. At times it seemed so discouraging I was not sure if I would be able to continue pursuing these dreams of mine. Yet, hardships are 50% of the journey and without them you can’t grow as an individual. If I would have quit pursuing my goals after the first “no” or obstacle I would have gone nowhere. I spent years really developing my craft and taking every opportunity to meet people in the industry, which brings me to a second point that has helped me succeed, being “networking”. In the creative field you will hear the saying “it’s who you know” being thrown around constantly, and it is a very accurate saying. I made it a constant priority of mine to network as early as possible from the ages of 19 to now. I would make it my mission to try to meet as many people as possible in my field, doing tons of work for free to almost no pay, taking internships with production agencies, being a production assistant countless times for free, and simply just trying to get my name in front of people. I did this religiously starting out, and that is how I now land all my work as a cinematographer is by word of mouth / referrals. Making networking a priority has really helped me in my journey. As of recently I am a full time Content Producer for Dallas based advertising agency, LERMA, a very reputable agency producing work for clients such as Dr. Pepper, Metro PCS, Home Depot, etc. I also take freelance work as a Cinematographer and have shot for brands such as Sephora amongst many others. Being able to tell stories through such a beautiful medium is something I cherish greatly.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
There are many things to do in DFW! You can visit The Forth Worth stockyards and see the longhorns taking a stroll on the street. Downtown Dallas is a must too with a variety of different things to do. You can explore Clyde Warren park, the Arts district, Dallas World Aquarium, Dallas Museum of art, the Reunion Tower GeO-Deck, etc and that’s only a fraction of stuff to check out in Dallas! You also can’t come to Dallas without eating Barbecue and some of the best I’ve personally had is at Pecan Lodge in Deep Ellum! ( You just have to go try it. Describing how good it is through text is impossible)

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Danielle Wheeler, Executive Producer of Sofia Video Production. I freelanced as a Cinematographer for Danielle’s company for about a year, and she was one of the first people to really trust me and give me some big opportunities as a Cinematographer after graduating University. I owe a lot of my current success to her for allowing me to really grow as an artist.

Website: diegonoriegadp.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diegonoriegadp/

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/diegonoriegadp