Today we’d like to introduce you to Ernesto M. Diaz.
Ernesto, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My career in the film industry started out because of my brother. I started working for NBC/Telemundo in the prop and scenery warehouse as a warehouse assistant, warehouse lead, data entry, and warehouse manager at times. This went on for about 2-3 years. I was working on several different Novelas or Spanish soap operas on and off, because I always worked for the term of the soap opera and then had to wait a few months before working again for the next soap opera. Eventually, I was called to work for Nickelodeon in the Art Department as a Prop Master Assistant, Set Dresser, and Art Assistant, or Art Director Assistant at times. Once again, on and off which was a huge hassle all the time, but it was really my only option. The money was always good but when they wanted to end the show they told you the week before and after you didn’t have a job. So you basically never had time to prepare for it really, at least I didn’t as a 21-year-old starting out in this industry.
Eventually, I knew it was coming, but you never really knew when, which was always a huge hassle when it did. So one day, when my brother and I were on break during the filming of one of the seasons of the kid’s soap shows for Nickelodeon. I got a huge idea in the back of a prop trucks, that we could do something similar to what Nickelodeon is doing. I told him we could totally have a production company, especially because we have the knowledge of production and definitely have the business background, as we were taught about business from my father and both grandfathers who were all entrepreneurs and built their business from the ground up. I also have my A.A in business. For me that was the ultimate plan to have my own company and be my own boss. Despite him not really being about it, for me the seed had been planted and I truly feel that’s when the idea of Tartarus Creative Brain Lab was born.
Then one day, I spoke to my friend at Nickelodeon and he told me about how he went to the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and how the school was cool and they taught you a bit of everything that had to do with production. So I started looking into it and found it interesting but eventually stopped because I got called for another project at Telemundo. When I went to go get rehired and I was at HR with the manager of the data department, they asked the manager, what my rate would be. And he said he thinks $12/hr. I was shocked. Giving me this rate was the trigger that changed everything. Now keep in mind, I had already worked for the manager for several years and I already started at that rate several years back, even the worker of HR asked, if he is sure and he was like “Yeah”. This just rubbed me the wrong way and I felt no form of appreciation or importance. I took the job and made some form of excuse to myself, that it was because I didn’t have a Bachelors Degree or something dumb just to make myself feel better. But eventually, once again, they ended the project and let everyone go without any warning.
So I decided to leave and go to the Art Institute for a meeting with an advisor. I was lucky to have received Patti Fullimino as my advisor she asked me what do I want to go for since they have so many different programs. And I ended up stuck between majoring in Interior Design due to my background in Art Production, Set Design, etc. or majoring in Film because of how much I always loved movies. And she told me I had to choose one. And I really couldn’t, so I told her how I always loved to write stories when I was little and everything I read, I saw as moving images in my head and thought I was crazy for it. That is when we came to the deciding factor that I ought to take film. From there, she said I could start the following week on Monday if all my paperwork and transcripts worked out and I was thrown off guard. Because I just went to ask a few questions.
And suddenly I was going to be going back to school again. She told me to take the time that it would take for the paperwork to get checked, to think about it. She called me back for another meeting later on in the week and told me it’s time to make the decision on if I wanted to attend or not. I found out some of my credits weren’t transferable from my first College, so I had to basically redo all my credits in order to receive my Bachelor’s Degree. So Patti asked me if I was willing to take a drastic pay cut in order to go to school full time for four years and without hesitation, I said let’s do it and I dove in head first into the unknown. And it’s the best decision I’ve ever made! So I started film school and was the first person in and the last person out, because I didn’t have a Mac computer and all the programs were on Mac, so I just stayed in school all day from 7 am to 10 pm. Literally open to close.
After about a year of film school, I opened up Tartarus Creative Brain Lab and started looking for clients to work with from my room/creative office space. I basically was running a start-up with no capital, besides my own money, while still having a part-time job at the school’s equipment cage, going to school full time, doing fashion videos and other types of videos for friends in school for free (since I needed demo material). Oh what a roller coaster it was. So I endured all the ups and downs of doing all that. I remember all the times I wanted to quit film school, just to focus on making money and telling myself what my dad always told me that “the time shall pass regardless”, this helped me every day to push through to get my Bachelor’s Degree and not to give up, and believe me, I did want to give up but I never did.
So after four years of ups and downs, I graduated from Film School with a perfect score at the top of my class and with a really tough competition, I received 3 out of 5 awards for Best Portfolio, Best Branding, and Best Cinematography, and graduated with my Bachelor’s in Film and Video Production. Additionally, Tartartarus Creative Brain Lab or TCBL had the number one franchise in cleaning company as its client. The videos we created were recently even showcased by the Las Vegas News as best ways to keep things clean during COVID-19. I also got to shoot videos out of a helicopter for the City of Fort Lauderdale and worked with several different fashion brands and several huge cruise lines.
After graduation, I was trained and certified by Tiffen in Steadicam in NY and I was the Director of Video for the Fort Lauderdale Fashion 2017 show for the promotional content and during the fashion show I was running a multi-cam setup. TCBL has also created content for Hard Rock international clothing brand, Riptide music festival, Crystal Cruises and we’ve worked on several features including the most recent Bad Boys III and also on major music videos with Anuel AA, Karol G, Akon, Gucci Mane, Meek Mill, Sebastian Yatra, Luis Fonsi, Nicky Jam, and many more. We’ve had the chance to interview Latin major artists like Sebastian Yatra, Fuego, Sech and so on for Tidal. We have also worked with City Furniture, Xbox, ESPN, Home Depot, Overstock, Pollo Tropical, Disney, Pixar, La Voz, and many others. We recently finished our Pilot “The Inevitable Guide to Average Adulting” which was produced by my partner Selina Savage. It’s a Drama/Comedy about a girl growing up in Miami and attempting to maintain her sanity while maneuvering through everything Miami throws at her. The pilot was directed by myself. We are working on getting it to a network soon, then everyone can see it.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
This has definitely not been a smooth road, but I accept the hard times just as much as I accept the good times. I’ve had equipment stolen from me during a video shoot. Luckily, I had production insurance that was able to cover some of the costs. That was years ago and I learned my lesson with that one. Also the typical struggles of any business when starting out which is knowing who you can and absolutely can’t work with.
And also dealing with clients that have a low budget with a high expectation for a project. But this one is more of a setback because we put in just as much work regardless since our name is attached to it, and it’s another opportunity to show what we have to offer. And now the COVID-19 pandemic that cancelled all the projects we had lined up both here in the US and even one in Europe. This is unfortunate as no one was expecting it, but we stay content and know productions will come back soon enough.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Tartarus Creative Brain Lab – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Tartarus Creative Brain Lab is a Video Production Company based out of Miami Beach, Florida with Satellite locations in Sunrise, Germany, and Peru. TCBL specializes in all forms of video content from narrative films, TV pilots, commercials, corporate and real estate video, fashion and social media content. We are known for training videos, fashion videos and our independent films and TV pilots. I would say the thing we are most proud of as a company, besides having worked with major corporations at an early stage in the companies age, is our established and valued relationships with industry professionals and how they always look forward to working with us regardless of the project.
The thing that sets us apart is that even though we are a small team we are able to handle projects of all sizes. Every member of our crew is like a Swiss Army knife, meaning they can handle several departments if needed. And not just because we’ve learned how to do it but because we have been trained and worked under some of the largest studios and productions in Miami. When our crew comes together for a project, our only goal is to make that current project the best we can and we give it our all. Most importantly, we’re all friends and maintain positivity and have fun regardless of what obstacle we may have in front of us.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Our plans for the future are the same ones we had when we started, which is to work on great video projects while helping to give back any way we can as we continue to grow the brand. We are definitely planning for a few big projects, but I’m not at liberty to release any information about them yet.
Contact Info:
- Website: TCBrainLab.com
- Email: e21@tcbrainlab.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/tartaruscreativebrainlab?igshid=f7ptorcnaf3e
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/tcreativebrainlab/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TCBrainLab
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC–mIrceKRYnHsgrIepLyww
Image Credit:
Amy Bass, Martin Villa, Ciarra DeBritto
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