Meet Irving Zárate | Motion Designer

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

Hi Irving, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
When I was young, my parents took my sisters and me to the discounted dollar theater to watch Tom Hanks in The Terminal. To my surprise, the movie that played that day was Little Black Book, starring the incomparable Brittany Murphy, portraying an ambitious, aspirational career woman determined to make it in the world of American television broadcast journalism. The screenplay is flush with memorable quotes, but the one used by her character that redefined my personality is by the Roman philosopher Seneca, who stated, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” You have to prepare for the life you want, and I have spent a lifetime preparing for a lifetime.

Growing up in the comparatively small city of McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley, I attended an International Baccalaureate high school, graduating a year early, with dreams of working in film and television. I was so intent on leaving my pastorally conservative hometown and making it in Hollywood that at the age of 17, with my parent’s consent, I enlisted in the U.S. Navy. I opted to forgo the traditional college experience, even with my honorable grades, to chase a creatively fulfilling dream. I had mapped out my trajectory meticulously in my mind, stationed in San Diego, California. On the weekends, I would drive to Los Angeles and network with producers and directors. Somehow, I would convince somebody to fund my passionate vision, and accolades would ensue. As fate would have it, I received orders to report to my command in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on the opposite coast of my perceived fortune.

During the time I spent serving my country, I learned honor, courage, and commitment. I was a gunner’s mate, maintaining the ship’s magazines and organizing weapons training/handling. However, as a pacifist at heart, my desire wasn’t congruent with my current rate, and so I spent my free time on deployment teaching myself how to utilize Adobe Premiere and After Effects. I filmed and edited our underway expeditions, including top-secret missions like transporting submarine prototypes to casual, everyday excursions like at-sea fuel replenishment. I had a blast experiencing the world through a military lens but was eager to revert to civilian life and pursue my artistic ambitions. When my contract concluded, I packed whatever I could in the trunk of my car, donated the rest, and embarked on my version of manifest destiny, driving from Virginia to California and finally achieving my goal.

Or so I thought. It would take several years, countless losses, wins, fails, falls, and one global pandemic to grasp that objective. When I arrived in Los Angeles, I began working in hospitality accounting for several luxury hotels but did not understand the concept of a career. I was clocking in and out to pay my bills and survive the city’s turmoil. Through those chaotic years, I sporadically attended classes at Santa Monica College, meeting a pivotal figure in my life, Professor Redelia Shaw, who taught the audio/video production course. I failed her class due to my perfectionist nature. I did not submit my final project assignment as it did not meet the standard I set for myself. I preferred not to pass the class than to sacrifice my artistic integrity. She was disappointed, but she noticed my potential.

Years since she and I last spoke, COVID-19 hit the hospitality industry hard. Travel ceased, hotels shuttered, and I had been furloughed from my job. Miraculously, one day, I received an email from her. It simply read, “Are you doing anything creative with your life?” From there, our conversation evolved, and she introduced me to the Promax Promo Pathway program at SMC, a rigorous course that fortified my skills in understanding editing, animating, copywriting, and producing. Upon completion, I obtained my degree in Entertainment Promotion and Marketing Production.

On the night of my graduation and portfolio presentation, the vice president/head of graphics at a legacy trailer house was impressed by my talent and tenacity, allowing me to break into the entertainment marketing industry when he hired me as a production artist. I started working on Amazon, Disney, Netflix, and Warner Bros campaigns. My luck had finally arrived. I had been preparing for this opportunity inadvertently, but I had to be patient. It’s been 20 years since I first heard that quote, and in that time, every plan I had for my life went so unbelievably wrong. I have learned to live, stop planning all my moves, and just let them happen. Surprises can be good. Perhaps luck exists somewhere between the world of planning, the world of chance, and the peace that comes from knowing that you can’t know it all.

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.
My full-time work is as a motion designer and graphic artist, specializing in movie trailers and television spots for auteur-driven and indie-backed projects ranging from intrepid studios like A24 to IFC Films, Focus Features, and Searchlight Pictures, but also including more prominent distributors like Amazon and Netflix. I began my journey in motion graphics design on big blockbusters for Marvel Entertainment and DC Studios, spending countless hours collaborating with gifted individuals on decks, pitches, and animation for trailers and main titles for projects like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Batman.

I appreciate having had the chance to dive headfirst into these herculean campaigns encompassing 3D animation and rotoscoping because I can implement what I have learned through my mentorships in typography and design on projects that correlate with my calling – telling stories with purpose and heart. My two most recent accomplishments are participating with Greg Brotherton and Evan Bernardin on the movie trailer graphics for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis and A24’s Sing Sing, two films with vastly opposing budgets but with shared integrity for the art of filmmaking that exist to expose their respective directors’ visions.

As a first-generation Chicano who grew up gay in southern Texas, I have always been authentically and fearlessly myself, and my time spent serving in the United States Navy fortified my affinity for accountability and discipline. Now, in my adopted home of Southern California and through my work at Mark Woollen & Associates, I am grateful to have faced the adversities of my past to become a well-rounded individual who exhibits kindness and acceptance through my design and production work. Above all else, I have learned through my experiences to talk less and listen more. Like the songwriter of our generation, Lana Del Rey, once said, “Find someone who has a life that you want and figure out how they got it. Read books, and pick your role models wisely. Find out what they did and do it.”

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Funnily enough, although I’ve lived in Los Angeles almost as long as I’ve lived in Texas, I always feel like an imposter in this town. My father probably knows more about the trendy, noteworthy eateries because he’s a TikTok savant. He’s always sending me a litany of recommendations, and he’s never steered me wrong. When he visits we feast like kings and some of our mutual discoveries include Eggslut and Dtown Pizzeria. The place I feel most comfortable is my neighborhood of Culver City, truly the heartland of what I enjoy most in Southern California, with its central location and easy access to the beach, LAX, Beverly Hills, WeHo, and downtown. I love spending weekends playing pickleball in our beautifully manicured public parks and walking my dogs to the Culver Stairs. Because I work fully remotely, from time to time I like to take a walk around downtown Culver City to take a break from my own familiar four walls. I usually always end up at the Culver Steps, specifically Lillie’s located inside The Culver Hotel, my favorite destination to catch live jazz and drink themed cocktails. However, if I had a friend visiting from out of town, I would make sure to take them to Grand Central Market on Broadway for pupusas and yucca from Sarita’s Pupuseria and seasonal fresh strawberry donuts from The Donut Man before burning off the calories dancing the night away at Precinct, Los Angeles’ most inclusive queer nightclub.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Mark Woollen & Associates is the premier trailer house of choice for award-winning auteur filmmakers, having crafted memorable and trend-setting movie trailers for Sean Baker, Francis Ford Coppola, David Fincher, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Barry Jenkins, and Yorgos Lanthimos. One example I would like to highlight is the era-defining movie trailer they produced for The Social Network in 2010, which set the tone for prestige, musically driven pieces of the decade. Many of the narrative tropes and techniques they established are still endlessly duplicated by admirers today.

MWA is my current creative employer, where I feel most at home, having worked as a staff member and freelance designer for agencies in Los Angeles and New York. I collaborate with the most brilliant and innovative minds in the movie trailer industry, including Becky Dale and John Salazar, my incredibly supportive finishing and graphics producers. It is an honor and a privilege to learn daily through their guidance and experience. I know this opportunity wouldn’t be possible if not for the professional efforts of two other key figures in the tapestry of my career: Samantha Heilig, a highly successful sharpshooting headhunter and friend, and Yuhei Ogawa, my previous creative director, who lent his recommendation and seal of approval.

Of course, I want to thank my mother and father, Nubia and Samuel Reyes, who instilled in me the virtue of humility and taught me to be kind toward success.

Website: https://www.irvingzarate.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/irvingzarate

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