Meet Ray Roberts | British Filipino Filmmaker & Content Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ray Roberts and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ray, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I owe everything to the risks I took. Pursuing a creative career as a filmmaker was a huge risk in itself. Risks are vital to go further I believe. I didn’t come from a well-off background. I didn’t have rich parents who could pay my rent, let alone pay for my camera equipment. I moved from a small town to London in order to go where the creative work is, and that was a huge risk. I was terrified. I let that fear fuel me. I forced myself to constantly ask myself questions like “How can I get better at my job?”, “How can I find more work” because it was a case of do or die. I I started with no money in my bank account and just went towards what I felt would make me happy. Failing that would mean not being able to pay for rent or food. Honestly, I think as an artist, growing up in poverty was the greatest gift my family gave me.

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.
Reconnecting with my Filipino heritage has been the subject of a few of my videos. Sharing my experience of a mixed-race asian growing up a small town, witnessing and experiencing racism towards me and my family really shaped me. I used to feel different and weird but now I want to embrace it. In my personal work, especially on social media, I want to try to share culture and give a voice to cultures that are less represented.

Food has been an easy way for it, as it’s something every person from all backgrounds can relate to and I believe food is an incredible gateway into learning about another culture and their history. Food can help everyone learn a little bit more about eachother. Although on YouTube, I would like to expand a bit more from food. Start interviewing and other exploring areas of culture. I’ve been working on a video about training wing chun kung fu for the past two months, documenting my progress and interviewing my teacher about the cultural history and principles of the martial art.

I started making YouTube videos back in 2006 when I was 12. My early videos were just silly skits. I would copy and rip off nigahiga’s sketches, namely ‘How to be Ninja’. I carried on, making silly little comedy sketches.

In 2010, I attended a YouTube gathering in London called Summer in the City. I met a lot of other creatives that I went on to collaborate and work with. I quickly was able to learn how to develop my technical skills to better tell the stories I wanted to tell.

Wanting to learn more, I went to film school in 2014. Obviously, alongside my industry-level training, I met so many driven and inspiring creatives at the start of their careers there. I think surrounding yourself in creative and artistic individuals is so important. Back when I was a small town, I felt like an outcast. Most people would question why at 16 my top priorities weren’t learning to drive or getting a part-time job. Instead, I was applying to assist on film sets for low to no pay- or I was working on YouTube videos and passion projects. Surrounding myself with like-minded creatives was not only more accepting but vital for developing myself. We were able to learn together.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In London, you can often find me in Chinatown probably eating something. Chinatown is London is not only a spot for Chinese food but you can find food from all over East & South East Asia. Trying Filipino ice cream at Mamasons immediately having Cantonese dim sum at Wan Chai Corner in Chinatown is a must.

I also love East London. Spitalfields market near Shoreditch is a must. Try the pan-fried soup dumplings (sheng jian bao) from Dumpling shack there.

It’s a bit out of the city but I also love Richmond Park. It’s a beautiful large park where you can really escape the city for a day. I shoot there a lot. You have areas of fields and forests, and plenty of deer – that are super calm around people, to surround yourself by. It’s my way of detoxing the stress of living in the city.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I really want to show some love for Bam & Beyond. They’re a group of British based East & South East Asians. Over the pandemic, they’ve been hard at work creating conversations across social media platforms and harbouring a community of ESE Asians, mostly within creative fields. I’ve met some incredible like-minded creatives through there. See them champion Asian representation on social media makes me wish I had a community like this to look up to and be a part of when I was starting out on YouTube.

Website: www.rayroberts.co

Instagram: www.instagram.com/RayRoberts

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayrobertsfilms

Twitter: www.twitter.com/rayroberts_

Youtube: www.youtube.com/rayroberts

Image Credits
First photo: Taken by Max Green. Second photo: Taken by Emil Biese.