Meet The Drakes Andrea and Eugene | Filmmakers and Photographers

We had the good fortune of connecting with The Drakes Andrea and Eugene and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi The Drakes, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
We are The Drakes, Andrea, and Eugene. We are from Venezuela.

Eugene: My background is in graphic design, theater acting, and assistant director. I started as a photographer in 2008 and later worked at an editorial fashion magazine. Simultaneously, I started covering real-life events. I’ve always enjoyed storytelling and have used different mediums during different times of my life. My experience in theater trained my ability to tell a story and connect with an audience. In the magazine, great mentors taught me how to direct models and poses. My graphic design degree educated me in composition. Working in real-life events has prepared me to be flexible and keep the focus on the main characters of the story we are capturing. I believe every experience in life helps us navigate it with different perspectives. My mission is to continue exploring hobbies and passions that allow me to broaden my views.

Andrea: My background is in psychology, education, and business. Eugene is the kite, and I’m the string that keeps us grounded. I joined the company in 2014. Eugene and I married in Venezuela and immediately moved to the US in 2015. Since then, I’ve incorporated my notions of human behavior and business into our craft. I like to draw plans for Eugene’s dreams and make them happen together. I am passionate about education and collaborating with others to shorten people’s learning curves. I have an endless curiosity, so I’m always studying something new. We are a good team because we support each other’s strengths and challenge each other while always having our best interests at heart.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
We are filmmakers and photographers. We are passionate about creating meaningful connections with people and listening to their stories. Everyone is unique in their own way; everyone is its own melting pot; we are not special. The human experience is special. We are honored to be in a position to capture glimpses of people’s lives and share spaces with them. As an immigrant, nothing is easy. We learned a new language, got used to a new system, had to make new contacts, and adapted to a new culture. The United States is an exceptional place where you can create something out of nothing with your own hands. We have always been intentional about where we wanted to go in our life mission and worked persistently to learn and fail as quickly and courageously as possible.
It has been critical to our process to be patient and trust the hard work we do every day. Collaboration over competition is one of our mantras, and Houston has been a great place to put it into practice. Teaming up with individuals from both inside and outside our industry has allowed us to learn from those with more experience than us, resulting in exponential growth.

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?
Our all-time favorite place in Houston is The Gypsy Poet. You have the best pizza in town made by incredibly hardworking and talented people and a fantastic artistic vibe in the background.

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?
1. Vanessa Sanez (Los Colores de Vanessa) Artist

2. Cesar and Vanessa Fernandez (The Gypsy Poet Pizzeria)

3. Alex and Whitney Douglas (Sculpting with Time)

Website: https://www.wearethedrakes.com/

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

Image Credits
Photography by The Drakes