What does G Flip, Royal & The Serpent, PHEM, Sueco, Cailin Russo, Meg Myers, Maggie Lindemann all have in common? They have all trusted in the vision and cinematographic eye of up-and-coming producer, director, and filmmaker Nas Bogado to turn the raw emotion of their music into equally-intense music videos. Nas identifies as Queer/Trans/Latinx artist, and they were born and raised in L.A -the details of which they'll touch upon in this interview, as they tell us about their inspiration, beginnings, and the emotional facets of their work.
Tell us about where and how you got your start in directing. Hm.. where to begin? Well, here’s a summary - Big life transition led to major changes in my pursuit of happiness. I have worked in the music industry for quite a while and through this crazy life switch-up, I had a big film idea (still in the works). I knew the only way that I could get to that concept/film ws to dive straight into the music video space because this was easily accessible to me. I did this so I could best understand film-making (crews, gear, prep, etc). I'm sure there's a myriad of filmmakers you admire. Whom would you cite as your biggest influence/inspiration in that regard? Oh man, there’s such a myriad! But I do have some key players in inspiration. Wong Kar-wai, Gaspar Noe, Darren Aronofsky, David Lynch and honestly many of my influence comes from music videos, tv shows, and anime I digested as a kid/teen. What have you learned are the most important qualities to have for someone who wants to become a director/filmmaker? Empathy and communication - Tuning into the subject, the narrative, the lighting, the movements, the set, the location, the gear, etc, etc - it takes a lot of brain power and thought occupancy, and wow is it a hell of draining. The more I keep inside myself, the less I am capable of taking in - which is where communication kicks in for me. Film-making truly takes a village, the more I pay attention the more I see how vital the production team’s chemistry and connection is important for a vision to manifest at its finest. Communicating what’s in my head to core members is so important, so they also can get into the feeling - they’re not left in the dark, they are wanted on set, they are heard ---. The more your team knows and feels in regards to the overall vision, the more aligned they are with the ‘director’ — the better the direction/director. Big note, FEEL. I gotta ask a bit about the name "Nas Bogado". Which part of LatAm does the name Bogado come from in your case and what does that heritage mean to you? So, Nas is actually short for ‘Naserin’ which has absolutely nothing to do with my ethnicity (my mom named me after a beautiful Persian friend of hers). As for Bogado, it’s actually my Mother’s Maiden name from my Grandfather’s side, he was Paraguayan. I consider myself a Latinx Mutt - My mother is Argentine/Paraguayan/Italian and my father is Colombian/Spanish. :) I grew up with Argentine and Paraguayan culture and was raised by my grandparents predominantly speaking Spanish while my mom was at work. Heritage is a very big thing for me, I am very proud to be Latinx. My grandparents sacrificed A LOT in their life to immigrate to the US. Tell us a little bit about your recent work with G Flip in Waste of Space. Seems like something where that both of you were very emotionally invested in, and like there were also some genuine emotions captured on camera as well. You nailed it! G came to me with this song - they expressed how meaningful it was to them. They had a minimalistic aesthetic in mind and they trusted me to keep true to their vision, but put my spin on it. When I processed the song, meaning and feeling (In Copenhagen Airport - around 3am), it very much instantly upon listening, became equally as meaningful to me to get this video right. I really wanted it to feel broken and isolated (The wall, the lighting, etc). I wanted the center of the picture to be hope ‘G Flip’ - then I felt hope was bigger than anything else, hope was in our community, the strength in unity and not being alone (Out comes the group of people behind G). G wanted for the song to not stand for them, but every THEM — they/them. I wanted to pick people that were truly within our community and wanted to be a part of this - Everyone in this video is a real non-binary person, who reached out my way. I wanted strength to come through this broken environment ‘system’ - insert POWERFUL drummer G through crack/broken wall. :) To top this off - the set was designed by a non-binary, the production and direction was non-binary. :) Most likely, you're going to be doing a huge variety of things and working on many different projects; but what do you want to be the "core" of your work? what interests you the most and what do you want to become the "go-to" director for? The core of my work will always have raw emotion - I am really invested with every aspect of film-making from the talent, and performance, to the lighting, and production design (S/O my Production Designer Olive Kowalczyk that puts up with a hell of a lot from me, lol). The other main-go to is THE TEAM - my production team and I are curating a set environment that is more of a community vs. ‘workplace’ — I think this really shows and plays a vital role in the filming. I see myself as the ‘go-to in understanding the feeling that needs to be portrayed, dialing it in distinctly with performance, environment, movement, and lighting — As I grow, so will my ways of capture, I don’t want to miss a moment. Stylistic - I have some usual go-tos and obsessions, I suppose I’m quite moody, lol. Aside from filmmaking, do you have any other artistic pursuits? I simply like to capture visuals. If I’m not taking it through a lens, I’m drawing it up on a notepad and/or iPad. I love photography and design outside of film-making. What projects you got coming on right now? OH MAN! I am in the process of working on a music doc (excited to have running by the end of the year) and as for coming soon - I am extremely excited for my music video with Buzz, Kailee Morgue and Tillie these videos are a big step outside of my norm in very distinctive ways. On top all of that, I started my own prod company with my buddy Ash Davis called DNI (Don’t Need It) Productions - It’s a Queer-Owned Production company with the core crew being queer themselves and I can’t wait to see what else we have up our sleeves as we continue to grow.
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