LateBoots let me introduce you to my man Maestro. The next top notch director coming out of Las Vegas. Maybe one day we'll team up and hit you guys with a LB documentary. That's far down the line, but for right now I want you to give me your undivided attention and focus it on Maestro-the man has a story to tell and wants the world to not hear him but feel his presence through filming. Interview after the jump..."If I ever make any kind of film it'll be something I write that I truly believe in...I'm a better writer than cinematographer, actually a better thinker. But I don't know anyone that gets paid solely for thinking." -Maestro
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-Introduce yourself and let everyone know who you are and what you do.My name's Maestro, I'm 22 and live in Los Angeles. I direct and edit videos for a lot of different clients primarily for internal and web content, as well as my own projects.
-Where are you from and how did it influence your career, if any?
I'm originally from Las Vegas. There's not much character or culture there at all so I was influenced by all outside resources, music, skateboarding, magazines etc. I always had the mindset to leave.
-A while back Richy Ro$$ interviewed Dom Kennedy-a client of yours. How was it working with him on his single "Notorious DOM" and how did you guys meet?
Haha "Mr. Kennedy titan like Tennessee". I met Dom just via email off of hearing his music, he took a look at my stuff and I told him I wanted to do that song. He was great to work with especially since he never complained while the footage sat on my computer for 5 months before I edited it.
-You had a part in the recent Hypebeast video "Reel Style-Los Angeles", not only behind the scenes but on screen. How does it feel to be put in that category?
Its cool, its a brand new project and we got to start it out. Also though, for as bad of a rap that Hypebeast often gets, its still the biggest streetwear fashion blogs there is and nobody can really take away from that.
Reel Style - Los Angeles from Hypebeast TV on Vimeo.
-How does style and fashion have a part in filming, in your opinion?
Every one of my own projects I've done so far I've let the talent wear what they've wanted. To me fashion plays a bigger part in photography where theres a still image that you'd stare at but with moving images there's so much more to soak in so I feel like fashion isn't as dominant.
-How would you describe your personal style?
Just pretty simple, I like to be all over the place minus overdoing it.
-We had a conversation recently and our lack of being movie heads came up. How do you feel about the current state of films right now?
Yeh I was saying that I don't wanna make movies because they're too much. Too long, too much money spent and there's usually nothing learned, nothing taught. The last movie I felt benefited my life was The Pursuit of Happiness.
-Most film directors love movies, commercials, and music videos. I personally get into the work behind music videos more. What does the name Hype Williams mean to you?
The best. To have the constant and consistent creative that he has....I don't think that's something that can really be attained, its something you posses. He's the only one still making good music videos.
-You did a piece called "Time" the 24 hour project, could you explain what that was about?It was me kicking myself in the ass. I had been real preoccupied and wanted to get something done fast so I called me friend Mycole who was in it and told him to meet me at my house at 7am the next morning, that we were gonna shoot something and I didn't know what it was but that we I would have it finished within 24 hours. So I wrote the words and picked locations by like 5am, slept till 6am, shot at 7am till 3pm, recorded voice overs at 4pm and edited from 6pm to midnight.
-How do you feel you could make an impact on the industry and share your story differently?
By eventually writing my own projects cause I feel like I'm a better thinker than anything else.
-Any last words for the people?
BJ the Chicago Kid.
To learn more about Maestro and the films he has directed click the links below.
levimaestro
maestroknows
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