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

Hi James, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Hard work! Putting in lots & lots of hours & sometimes not sleeping much focusing toward the craft of filmmaking. If it wasn’t for me filming videos early on in my film career at night & staying up until 5 or 6 or 7am to finish editing them & send them to my clients/friends the same/next day I probably wouldn’t be anywhere near where I am today.

Here’s a story about that. One of the times I pushed myself probably the hardest was summer of 2020. I had landed my first budget music video that I was very excited about. I got to hire a film crew of about 6 people & a steadicam operator. There was a period of a couple days where I had two different music videos that I was working on. One of the videos was a 2 day shoot, we filmed out in the California & Nevada desert close to Las Vegas. The night we were in Vegas I didn’t really sleep. Both days it was excruciatingly hot, the second day in particular it was almost 120 degrees outside.

After filming in the heat for 2 days & not really sleeping it was time to go back to LA to shoot the budget music video. I didn’t wanna miss out on this opportunity. The drive back to California from Vegas was excruciating. My body was starting to shut down because of exhaustion. I was calling everyone I knew to keep my mind stimulated, drinking 5 hour energies & energy drinks & holding my head out the window to keep awake. The call time for the budget video was around 6am. Needless to say I finally made it back to LA around 3am, slept for 2 or 3 hours than got up to drive about an hour and a half north of LA to have another 13 or 14 hour shoot until around 8 or 9pm that day. Needless to say I made it thru & didn’t give up & pushed my mind & body to prove to myself that I could!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Yeah so to give a brief summary of where I’ve lived it starts way back in 1989 in New York where I was born. In 1995 we moved to Florida where I grew up & went to elementary, middle & high school. I lived in Florida until 2013 then I actually moved away to Montana haha. I lived in Montana for about 6 years until the end of 2019 when I moved to Los Angeles which is where I currently reside.

When it comes to setting myself apart from others I try to be as unique as possible when it comes to filmmaking & music. Be that shooting at different camera angles that aren’t seen so much or sometimes if i’m doing guitar on a song instead of just keeping it than same tempo ill change it slightly at the hooks or verses or different parts of the song.

I’m most proud of & excited about some movies & narrative works that I have in the works that i’m currently in the process of writing! Im also very excited to release my rock album this summer that I’ve been producing over the course of the last couple years!

I got to where I am professionally by being a hard worker, being humble & nice & being a man of my word!

No it was not easy it took me risking a lot, making the jump from having a day job & quitting it hoping that my creative pursuits would work. It took me seeing a lot of friends & people I’ve known for years start to buy houses & start families while i’m over here pursuing a career as a filmmaker. It’s a daunting task!

I overcame the challenges by keeping my head down, thinking long & hard about what the best course of action is & what decision to make. Setting the goals I felt like I needed to achieve & slowly taking steps toward achieving them! Also having good habits like eating healthy, exercising, not drinking or doing drugs helps a lot!

The lessons I’ve learned along the way is to sometimes keep conversation about work simple & to the point. Sometimes long discussions can complicate things when you’re trying to execute a scene for a music video. Ive also learned that when it comes to scheduling communicating up front as EARLY as possible helps a lot especially when it comes to film work.

I want the world to know that Revolving Productions (my company) is here for you! Whether you need a rap or rock music video or a movie, or a guitarist or wanna shoot a commercial for your brand were here to help! Feel free to reach out to us anytime on instagram @jamesddilg or @revolvingproductions

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Definitely the beach Forsure! Either Santa Monica or Venice or Malibu! Id definitely wanna take them to the Griffith observatory. Elysian Park especially during sunset is another great place to go. The Hollywood walk of fame is great, as well as the Capitol records building! The studio tours like Disney or Warner Bros or Universal are rad! Downtown LA is cool, the guitar center music store Forsure 1000%! Definitely wanna catch a movie at the world famous TCL Chinese Theatre. As far as food Saddle Ranch is great & Barneys Beanery is also great! Oh and if it’s accessible the Jim Morrison room in West Hollywood!

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?
Yes I want to give a huge shoutout to my Dad Ronald Adam Dilg. If it wasn’t for him being an artist & musician himself I don’t think I would’ve learned nearly as much at an early age as I did, considered this kind of life or been nearly as in love or passionate toward the arts as I am!

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jamesddilg

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamesDilg

Facebook: Facebook.com/RevolvingProductions406

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/youngaimes

Other: www.instagram.com/revolvingproductions

Image Credits
Photographers for the Photos: https://www.instagram.com/summerrobertsla https://www.instagram.com/shi_xi_official https://www.instagram.com/christie.ho https://www.instagram.com/ho11ywould https://www.instagram.com/bellaguerra_ https://www.instagram.com/skiptailor

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