Interview With Diogo Andrade

– What is your job title and what do you do?
  I am a director and filmmaker. I have a strong background in multimedia I produce contents for the creative media, entertainment, information and education sectors. I provide audiovisual and multimedia production, consultancy, training and education services. I work directly with clients, taking their video projects from inception all the way through to final delivery.  My services can include conceptualising and planning, scripting, storyboarding and shoot planning, location scouting, crewing, filming, video editing, colour grading, delivery and project management.   
– What projects have you worked on? What would be some of your most well known credits? 
  I have worked in fiction films, documentaries, music videos, video content for advertising and marketing campaigns, corporate videos, employee and internal communication videos, promo videos and news.  Some of my most well known works are in the field of music programs and documentary films. For example Take Directo, a TV show from the same producers of the internationally award- winning channel – BalconyTV, TAKE DIRECTO is a 24-part, 30 minutes performance series/documentary. A series of 24 Programs with 24 Bands where the objective is to find the “Next Big Thing” in the Portuguese music scene. The format consists in a short and intimate interview with the artists followed by recording the band playing ‘live’ in the studio. I can also refer to balconyTV Lisboa. Founded in June 2006, BalconyTV is a leading daily online viral music show that features bands, musicians and other variety acts on balconies around the world. Their videos have been watched more than 30 million times and are produced in over forty cities on six continents. From Seoul to Edmonton, each syndicate follows the same blueprint: An independent musician or band performing a song (often acoustically) in a single take. Every one of them on a balcony.   
– Could you explain a little about your career journey in the film industry?
  Since I was a teenager I wanted to work in the film industry, in creative roles related with special effects, directing or cinematography. Anything that allowed me to express trough images. I started to paint when I was young. Although parents wanted me to study science or engineering because they didn ́t believe that arts and cinema would provide a decent job and a safe professional future. I had no support from them when I told them I wanted to study cinema. Besides, when I was younger there was only one cinema school in Portugal with very limited places available. I completed a mechanical engineering course and I worked in a vessel as engine cadet for 4 months. I started around the 11th September 2001 to work in an oil tanker vessel in the Mediterranean Sea, bringing oil from the middle east and north of Africa to Europe. It was then that I decided to make a turn in my life and follow what I really wanted to do. With the money I made I was able to stop for a while and I started to take all the free multimedia courses financed by the European Union at the time. I manage to find work producing interactive multimedia contents. I produced contents for many national and international projects. In 2005 I decided to study film / documentary in Barcelona – Spain. To pay for my studies I start giving lessons of video editing in a private school. After that I returned in Lisbon and started to work in an advertising agency as responsible for the audio-visual and multimedia department. During that time I did a master in Cinema and by 2010, due to the economic crisis I found myself unemployed and I decided to start to work as a freelance. Since that I have been working as freelance director and filmmaker and I also work as a consultant and trainer / mentor in cinema and multimedia production. One of the projects I am proud of is the Intensive Cinema Workshop (please check: www.arte-digital.org ). And also training journalists / reporters in Mozambique.   
– How has your work been affected by corona virus?
  I saw many projects being cancel or postponed indefinitely due to the pandemic. Payments from work I already delivered were delayed. Still, I keep active and I look for creative solutions to overcome this stage of our lives. Luckily I manage to keep producing contents and selling images to clients. This results from the active networking work I have been doing as a freelance.  
– What has been the highlight of your career so far?
  I am not sure if I can consider it “the highlight of my career” but I am quite proud of my current documentary project I have been working since 2018. This will be my first feature documentary film and is a very ambitious one. I produced, I directed it and I am now on the post-production stage. All with my own money.  A documentary about cockfighting in Timor-Leste and how, starting from this secular tradition, it is possible to reach many layers of the Timorese society, politics, economy, religion, spirituality, beliefs and superstitions. Also the East-Timorese art and culture, the history of the struggle for independence and the armed resistance to the Indonesian occupation, the ritualistic martial arts and black magic gangs, human and family relations, issues of gender inequality and domestic violence, ethics, the emotional involvement of cockfighters and fans and the sexual implications of the sport.”  During the past 2 years I spent 7 months in East Timor filming this documentary. I am now in the post-production stage and looking for funds do finish the film and for distribution.   
– What’s on the horizon for you? 
  It ́s a bit unclear now due to the pandemics. My plan is to keep active and be able to go through this situation the best way possible. If my work as a filmmaker can contribute to help some people, that would be great. I also plan to finish my documentary and see it in some of the best film festivals around the world. I love what I do and I want to keep doing it, improving and achieving large audiences. Having a positive effect on people and on the society. And I also need to plan my future wisely and know what I will be doing in 10 or 20 years from now. But to be honest I still have no idea.
 
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