Meet Tito Contreras

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

Hi Tito, what’s your definition for success?
How I would define success is achieving the most important goal that would complete the establishment of who you want to be as a person. For me in this case, my biggest goal is to be independent. I want to think for myself and not let others influence my decision-making process. It is incredibly challenging to achieve that goal because of peer pressure and intimidation from others. But to become independent, I must have the courage and bravery to stand up to myself and voice my opinions to others. Building a filmmaking career for myself has been helping me a lot on my personal growth for many reasons, such as the knowledge of film history and networking. My ultimate goal is to establish an independent business in which I can work for myself and express my creativity to make art, whether it be films, photos, or music. I hope that I would be rewarded with independence, financial security, and lasting relationships. For me, that sounds like the American dream. That is my definition to success.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
When I was at the University of North Texas, I had made a few films such as my short documentary “College Life” (2018) and my student shorts “Happiness” (2019) and “Whoops” (2019). Along the way, I went through the slow production of my first independent dramedy short film “Censored” (2022), in which I was the writer, producer, director, director of photography, and editor. I learned so much on set since it was my first film to have a full crew. After I completed the film, I invested money in my own equipment such as a camera, gimbal, and microphone, so I can make more videos to practice my cinematography and editing skills. After I started participating in the pre-apprenticeship program, I finally made a new short film, my short experimental drama “Curiosity” (2024).

This has been a very difficult journey, professionally and psychologically, to get to where I am right now. After being misled about getting a videographer job right after college, and not getting those jobs set me up for disappointment. For a few years, I was gradually losing hope and becoming pessimistic. Also, I was becoming envious of my friends who were moving on up and reaching their goals that I dream of achieving. All of this was getting me depressed. But one day, I was discussing this problem with my mom who gave me this important advice which is something like, “Don’t worry about what other people are thinking or doing. Just focus on whatever you need to do.” At the same time, I acknowledged my envy and finally removed it from inside me. Immediately after that discussion, things took a turn for the better. In March 2023, I volunteered to help the team of Harper Belmont Media by shooting seminar videos from a cryotherapy convention. In May 2023, I volunteered for the Dallas International Film Festival where I shot some footage as a Red Carpet Videographer. I used that footage to create the recap video and emailed it to the festival. Surprisingly enough, they shared my video and posted it on their social media. I was shocked that I got the recognition from the festival after volunteering for it. What’s equally shocking is that in August 2023, I had the chance encounter with the pre-apprenticeship program by email and decided to apply to participate in the program. Although I didn’t expect that it was going to happen, I was very fortunate enough to make it. All this is my reward for investing less of my energy into envy and more into establishing myself as a filmmaker and a person.

So far in my film career, I am most proud of making “Curiosity” because I was trying to be experimental with my cinematography and editing skills; this is my first short film using my own equipment; and this is my first project as a film composer because I also have passion for music and I want to carry it along with my passion for film. Thinking about the other short films that I made, I love telling stories based on my personal experience with the themes of individualism and isolation. So far, I have made mostly dramas. But I would like to explore other genres such as comedy, action, romance, and suspense/horror. I am looking forward to write more scripts and make more films in the future.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my best friend comes over to visit Dallas, I would love for us to just catch up with each other about what’s going on in our lives. For me, this is very fun because what matters to me the most is to be with someone that I care about. Everything else is secondary. About going out, I would love for us to explore different coffee shops and try out different flavors of coffee since I’m sort of a coffee enthusiast. We would stop by one of my favorite coffee shops, 1418 Coffee in downtown Plano. I love their David Mason coffee which is the blend of maple and brown sugar. Mmm, this is so delicious! For a place to eat, I would love for us to go to Terry Black’s Barbecue because they have some of the most delicious barbecue sandwiches and creamed corn that I have ever eaten! I have been to that restaurant in Austin a few times and it has always been an amazing experience for me. I would love for him to enjoy it as well if he likes barbecue. For places to go, I would love to take him to the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum because it is so fascinating to learn about one of the most tragic times in human history. I wanted to learn everything about it, so I visited the place a few times. I want to take him with me so we can be immersed together into the atmosphere and become fascinated of the history and the interior design of the museum. All this should be enough for me to have the best time with my best friend.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would love to give a special shoutout to Pegasus Media Project, the 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization with the mission to establish aspiring filmmakers and creatives with its goals of hands-on education, access, exposure, job placement, and mentorship. I am beyond grateful for participating in its pre-apprenticeship program because I can get to have in-depth information of the film industry, having people of various departments working in their field as guest lecturers, such as a Director of Photography or Hair & Makeup Artist, and getting on-set experience while making films. I have been participating for several months now, and I feel that I’ve been growing as an artist. It has been very beneficial because I’m having more knowledge and it is helping me improve my self-confidence and work ethic. So, I would like to thank the team of the organization along with the cohorts who are participating along with me that are fun, friendly, mature, and helpful. I have plenty of great memories with them and I would miss them all a lot when our time in the program ends.

Website: www.titocontreras.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/titocontreras3212/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/titocontreras/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5KDsEf4O75DnsEffnxWb_A