We had the good fortune of connecting with Diego Nuila and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Diego, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
In my line of work, the thing that makes me the happiest are the raw emotions in a client’s reaction to my work. Client’s usually see me on set filming, or me at weddings only capturing very few parts of their day or of an event, but because clients are usually focused on other things, they miss some of the small details. It’s these details and other scenes that my clients are unaware of that eventually make it into the final film or commercial that makes the difference. Once I have completed a film for a client, I always set up a “reveal meeting” either in person or virtually so I can record their reactions to their film. It’s during these reveal meetings that I am the happiest because I get to witness how my films, which I’ve put so much work into, can have an emotional impact on someone. The icing on the cake for me is if my client sheds a few tears. To me, it means I have done my job as a film creator. Very few jobs in the world can make someone cry tears of joy. I’m just happy to be part of their joy.
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.
Starting my own film production company certainly wasn’t easy, because you are not positive about the future and where your next lead will be coming from. It’s definitely a risk starting your own company. When I started, I wasn’t making any money. In fact, I started off by doing video shoots, commercials, and photo shoots in exchange for equipment. Investing in equipment for a film production company is very expensive. you’re looking around $8,000 – $14,000 in assets to get you going. In order to reduce my out of pocket costs, I began exchanging my work for equipment. Slowly my assets began building up over a 2 year period, where I was finally comfortable to begin offering my services for a reasonable price. I think the lessons I learned from this approach is that it takes a long time to start a business. It doesn’t just happen over night, so you have to have patience. Patience is key. Nearly all of my clients have approached me through word of mouth, and this is what I believe sets me apart. I do zero marketing and advertising for my business. I like to keep it this way because this gives me the time to dedicate to my clients. I am able to give my full passion to each client project without having to work on other business needs. My main business priority is my clients and doing everything possible to make their film a lasting memory.
Any great local spots you’d like to shoutout?
If my friend is visiting, and they have never been to Houston, I would first want to show them the city of Houston on a bike. I would head down to the Bike Barn Buffalo Bayou Rental shop and rent us bikes so we can take the Bayou trail all around Houston. You get the views from outside of Houston, but then you can ride your bikes directly in the city to get a big city ride. After we’ve gotten a decent workout in, I’d take my friend to get some drinks and some grub. I would usually take them somewhere in the heights (Bungalow, Cedar Creek, etc). We would be able to sit outside and enjoy the nice Houston weather with some sports playing in the back ground. Once we’ve gotten our food fix, I’d take my buddy out to BATL, the backyard axe throwing bar. We would get a couple dinks there and throw axes for a bit before finally heading out for the night. For the evening, I would either take my friend to the Washington area (Kung Fu, Concrete Cowboy) or go to Main Street in downtown. It would all depend on the mood we’re in. A late night pizza from Pink’s Pizza would be the night caper.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to give a shoutout to my loving wife. 3 years ago, when we first started dating, it was around the same time I began to develop a passion for filming. Through her love and continuous support, she has pushed me to grow further into my passion and turn it into a legitimate business it is today. She understands when I am running up against a deadline, and gives me the time to focus on my work and without distractions. She continuously suggest different approaches to grow my business, some of which I would never have thought of. It’s because of her patience and support, I have been able to grow my film production company.
Website: https://www.lastingfilms.com/
Instagram: @lastingfilms
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/diegonuilamsu/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lastingfilmsllc/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClZ1VgIX-WCpNFBv2j5lf9A?view_as=subscriber