Meet Master Sterling | Film Director & Photographer

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

Hi Master, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most difficult part of going after anything you want is telling yourself that you aren’t crazy while everyone else around you cannot see the vision. Claiming your desire to be a film director outwardly to others when you’re 15 and don’t have any clue how it will happen might not really inspire the most confidence in your words. You aren’t the film director yet. Therefore, it isn’t present. It’s not tangible. They can’t see it yet.

You have to weather the storm of doubt and loneliness as you do everything in your power to ascend to your aspirations. It’s not anyone else’s job to see your success before it happens. It’s yours. So it’s to be expected that others will doubt you and even sometimes discourage you at the beginning.

I don’t feel that I’ve done much yet. But I do think that the mentality I described above was what allowed me to see the achievements I’ve made up to this far. It’s about using the adversity, the dissonance within your experiences as motivation and not for self destruction.

In reality, what I’m trying to say is what most internet guru’s express; it really is a mental game.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I love manipulating symbols and signs in artwork. My passion is to use the medium of film and photography to say something insightful about life and existence.

In a practical sense, I mean to say that the world is filled with beautiful and dark experiences that different people have. And society is then the product of how we connect and communicate these experiences into social norms. My mission is to help do a part in constructing the social norms by performing an interpretative examination of said social norms…but by using the extremes of it to stimulate and drive the point during the visual consumption experience.

During this phase of my career which is toward the beginning as I just turn 26, I’m trying to get further into the industry as I can by just making good work. Which doesn’t always allow for the kind of storytelling I will do more of as time goes on. But every chance I get, blending commercial work with social commentary is always the aim.

I would say a few pieces of video work I’ve directed have achieved my primary objective on a large scale. One of which was for the Black Eyed Peas specialty version of “Where is The Love.” This was a heavy social conscious piece that ended up being used by the Biden and Harris presidential campaign. It then played at the Inauguration. I co-directed this piece with will.i.am who has been an inspiration, a light and a big brother to me over the last couple of years. Taboo and Apl along with the Black Eyed Peas family (Polo, Seth, Sara) have been this for me the same way.

If and when I get to continue to make beautiful editorial pieces of artwork in the music video, commercial and cinema world, I want to keep making an impact socially on the world. At the end of the day, nobody really has the “perfect correct answer” to any of the worlds problems. We’re imperfect creatures by virtue of our finitude. Our aim should be to do the best we can with the tools we have and with the most purist intentions so that the world steadily improves. All while looking like rockstars doing it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I drive out to Malibu often. Something about the energy there (I know I sound rather abstract with eNeRgy).

Sometimes I go out there to think. Driving PCH is meditating especially late at night.

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?
Other than my immediate family, I’ve had some people in the industry in pockets of time that helped and encouraged me to continue on the path. I’ve had some people also directly allow me the opportunity to create artwork with them.

Would love to shout out director Andrew Sandler and director Darren Craig.

Website: https://www.mastersterling.com/

Instagram: @MasterSterling

Twitter: @MasterSterlings

Image Credits
Jose Negrete, Dan Vo, Morgan Williams, Ural Garrett