Meet Tony Vallés | Director & cinematographer

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

Hi Tony, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I think that without risk there is no reward and no opportunities. When I moved to New York I knew the risk of such a decision. I betted everything towards my career and education. I did not know if I was going to be able to sustain myself in a city like New York which is known to have an elevated cost of living. Especially in an early career, risks should be taken all the time as long as the risk is not life-threatening or career-ending.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Since I can remember, I always felt inspired to create something visual, something that nobody has ever seen before. A challenge in my career is to be able to have creative freedom while working with brands that have multiple people giving feedback that can transform your original idea into something completely different. At the end of the day, it gives me more satisfaction to have a finalized product with a happy client. Something else I have learned with time is that as an artist, we tend to over-criticize our work the whole time. It is important to be your biggest critic, but it is also important to be happy with your work and even if you do not like it, learn from it to make something better next time.

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.
In Miami, I would take them first to the beach, either to Miami Beach on a weekday or to Hollywood beach on the weekend. Probably one of the best beach trips we can do is going to the keys which is a short hour-long trip. The keys are an extraordinary place since it looks like you’re on an island isolated from the hecticness of Miami. Back in the city, Inari Sushi Fusion mixes Japanese and Latin flavors in sushi with a very unusual yet delectable taste. On a Friday night, Wynwood has to be the place to go out. Places like Centro Wynwood for classic modern club experience and places like El Patio for a more local and culture-rich experience.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to thank both of my professors Angelo DiGiacomo and Frank Prinzi for being my mentors while I was in college. Angelo and Frank helped me understand how the film business works and gave me priceless advice on how should I approach my method of working.

Website: https://vimeo.com/tonyvalles

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tony-vall%C3%A9s-764448220/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX39AacK00Th8mEGP_ncFUA

Image Credits
Charlie Lipman – Cover photo Mónica Naranjo – Car shot