Today we’d like to introduce you to Roberto Carmona.
Hi Roberto, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
I was born in Caracas, Venezuela. My parents and I immigrated to Fairfax, Virginia, when I was 7.
From the time I was a kid, I knew I wanted to be in the arts. I played guitar and sang in bands, was the vice president of my high school’s theater department, and was even employed by the public school system as a high schooler to do lighting and sound for local theater and concerts.
Halfway through high school, I had a teacher recognize my work in the theater department, and he encouraged me to apply for a magnet arts school where he taught a film class. I was accepted into the program and went on to study film for my last two years in high school.
I found that in film, I could apply all of my passions – theater, music, acting, tech – and use them to create art in ways I couldn’t do within those practices individually. From then on, I knew I was going to be a filmmaker.
After high school, I was accepted to a few university film schools. I almost attended Columbia College in Chicago, but when my student aid didn’t pan out as expected, I had to pass on that opportunity. I worked full-time in theater lighting for the fall semester before applying to George Mason University and starting in the Spring. From there, I received my film degree.
During undergrad, I wrote and directed my first short film, Highball, for which I won best director at the Atlanta Shortest Film Festival.
After graduating college, my first job in film was as a post-production assistant at a political advertisement agency during the 2012 election cycle. It was a great first contract, and I was able to make inroads with film professionals throughout the country, as well as get hands-on experience in creating commercial work.
Also, after graduation, I wrote and directed my first feature film, Suffering Cassandra, which I also starred in with a few of my close acting friends. It was a full-length feature film made on truly a shoestring budget that was raised on Kickstarter (early days of Kickstarter!). That feature film went on to play a few festivals throughout the country and won numerous awards, including Best Director and Best Screenplay at the IndieCapitol Awards.
I then went on to take my first job at a corporate video agency based out of London and DC. I produced shot, and edited hundreds of videos for organizations, companies, and conferences.
In 2018 I wrote and directed my second feature film, Dakota, starring popstar Phoebe Ryan and Nashville’s Jake Etheridge. It was the opening night feature film at the 2019 Richmond International Film and Music Festival and played in competition at many other festivals, including LA’s Dances with Films. The film took prizes at numerous festivals, including the DC Independent Film Festival, where it won “Best Film of DC.”
My passion had always been for writing and directing, but my skills as a cinematographer were growing as well. I was able to begin bringing in my own clients and start growing my own company, TAG, which stands for The Artist Group (www.tagcinema.com). I also started directing and shooting bigger-budget work in the commercial space.
As the work grew, I bought nicer equipment, such as my first RED camera and Canon lenses. Now, a few years later, my company TAG is an established Creative Agency and Production Company with a team of producers, creatives, and post-production. We also run and operate TAG Studios, which is a film and photo studio located in Blagden Alley in Washington DC, that features a huge curved white cyclorama wall that is available for shoots and rentals. We carry the top equipment, including multiple Arri Alexa cameras, multiple RED cameras, and many different flavor of lenses: Cookes, Angenieux, Kowas, Zeiss, Canons, plus much more.
We work with clients across many industries from political to organizations and large brands such as Hilton and Boston Consulting Group. Hilton, in particular, we just partnered with as their agency partner to create 30 episodes for two YouTube series called Off The Menu and How To, which premiered late last year, and episodes continue to roll out this year.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It’s not always been a smooth road. Starting a small business or getting independent feature films produced is always a challenge, particularly raising funds to do so. There were times before I pulled my feature film DAKOTA together when I had resigned from the idea of making it because it seemed it was going nowhere, but something kept pushing me forward. I firmly believe that effort compounds, and if you work hard toward a goal and persevere, you will always surprise yourself with what you can achieve.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a writer/director and cinematographer in the film industry. I have written and directed multiple feature films, as well as shot and directed commercial work for about ten years now.
I am most proud of the company I’ve built and the films I’ve had the opportunity to make.
What sets me apart from others is not only am I a writer/director and cinematographer, I now also own a company that carries top-end production equipment to execute both my commercial and personal narrative and artistic pursuits.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I am a pretty killer guitar player and a singer-songwriter.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tagcinema.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/tagcinema
- Youtube: www.DakotaMovie.com
- Other: https://www.peerspace.com/pages/listings/63e13416236e8a000ea1bd2a?sort_order=45&fbclid=IwAR2TGoh9JhI8d7mPFtg8diEPWVUisvGAxsP7c8f6jyzZB5qq0YrD4BAd9aI
