We had the good fortune of connecting with Raymond Gerard Braza and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Raymond Gerard, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
As someone who is inspired by so many talented people, especially my best friends, I wanted to create a company that not only represents what I stand for, but who is involved in it. For me, I am a very collaborative person, and I wanted a collective of film and video professionals that not only represents what I believe in but rather what we all believe in as a whole. The entertainment industry is very cynical and narcissistic in a way where representation can sometimes be frowned upon. RGB & CO. basically stands for “Raymond Gerard Braza and Company,” of course which “RGB” is my full artist name and “& CO.” represents all the people I collaborate with. My “company,” or “collective” I should say, has a mission statement, courtesy of Angela Couey, which is “RGB & CO. is dedicated to breaking cultural, ethnic and racial stereotypes in the digital landscape to lift the voices of the underserved. We aim to carve a path for members of BIPOC communities and influence their journeys within the entertainment, tech and social industries.” Everyone and anyone who collaborates with me and my company has a sole purpose of not only making it in Hollywood, but rather, spreading change through diversity and representation in these industries.

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.
Today, I am a full time business owner of my video production company, RGB & CO., but also a freelance video editor for TasteMade and IMDb. Aside from being an aspiring director in hopes to work on feature films full time in the future, I do have a strong passion for editing. When I studied at California State University, Northridge, in Cinema and TV, I maintained an internship at NKA Vids, an infamous YouTube skateboarding company channel. The owner and now my good friend, Nigel K. Alexander, enabled me to work in his company and a video editor and since then, he was the reason why I love editing so much, but I stuck with editing ever since. After graduating college and interning with Nigel, I had a difficult decision to either work with Nigel as an editor or the Oprah Winfrey Show. Sure, I was going to make more money at the Oprah Winfrey Show, but I knew I wasn’t ready. Working with Nigel helped me learn more about editing, learning stylistic choices and learning the technicalities of editing software. In a way, it was easier for me to choose my niche in the entertainment industry, which was editing, but it was of course a difficult road.

Growing up in a culture and society where film wasn’t common, especially in Asian culture, was very daunting because of how much I stood out and how much competition there is in my career. Although I was different than all my friends and family, I’m glad I stand out and broke the racial stereotype. I want to be able to represent my Filipino culture in the entertainment industry because it’s so uncommon. Although it’s very competitive till this day, that’s what makes me work even harder. I like being able to have a mindset of how I’m going to be stable. I don’t like settling because you’ll never grow if you’re too comfortable. I love learning what it’s like to be in a place where all Hollywood dreamers are. What I’ve learned being in this crazy industry is that I am not alone. So many people I’ve met through my career are in the same path as me, and I am stand with them forever. Because of how much I standout from my friends and family, I overcame my fear or rejection. I thought many of friends and family would distance themselves from me because of how different I was from their career choices, but that didn’t happen because I have such great supporters now.

At first, my family and friends worried my first year out of college because I was one of the few to not get a full time job right away. I was also scared for myself because I thought I was just some kid from Oxnard who was just going to stay there… but I didn’t. From the time I worked part time with Nigel for a whole year, to the time I left to work full time at a brain-training facility called SMARTfit, to the time I got laid off from them because of COVID, I can confidently say I made my dreams of working in this industry a come true. It took longer than I expected, but I learned so much during the times I hardly worked. I took the time doing a lot of free projects to build my resume and because of that, I was able to show my skillset to companies like TasteMade and IMDb, who I currently do videos for. The power of using the risk and reward mindset really helped me in the long run. I risked doing a lot of work for free and even for cheap, to get to where I am today, and I want people like me to join me in making even bigger in this so-called industry.

Today, I live in Woodland Hills, CA by myself, and I couldn’t be anymore happier. I have my own company that I want to utilize to represent people like me who want to make it big in the industry. My company team, who I love so much, is Ryan Yere, Louis Schwartz, Marissa Garcia, Trevor Cobb, Selina Gallegos, and Connor Berriochoa, and I can’t wait to see what they do in the future. It took a lot of hard work and patience to get to where I am today, and I want people to know that anyone can do it as long as they have the right mindset and dedication. Nothing was ever handed to me to get to where I am today, but if I can help a lot of kids make it with me and make it easier for them, I will! I want to change the entertainment industry with more diversity, representation and more people who deserve it the most. I want to inspire other aspiring artists from Ventura County that they can do it to!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Los Angeles is literally a city of dreams. There are so many good places to go to when being in the city, but the place I absolutely love to go to is simply Universal Studios Hollywood! Universal Studios is home to the infamous Studio Tour which I love going on all the time because it presents the Universal Sound Stages and infamous film sets. I get so much thrill being on that hour-long tram, and learning about the history of movies every single time. Many people do not have the patience for that, but I do. I love being on famous movie sets and having discussions with people on the tram. I love conversations about movies and the monumental spots that were conceived there. Another place I love going to is Hollywood itself. I love walking down the Walk of Fame and seeing the stars on the ground in hopes that one day my name will be there. I love going to Hollywood bookstores and buying books about filmmaking and movies. It will never get old with me.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to shoutout RGB & CO.’s first official film, “Novelty,” and everyone who is part of it. This film is basically the epitome of what my company and I stand for, but first let me jump into its backstory. At first, “Novelty” was just a proof of concept for GoPro in 2016. It was originally going to be pitched as an episodic dance-epic, and how GoPro’s cameras can be best utilized with it. There was really no story with it. It was just showing how dance can be best shown through GoPro cameras. The series did have thematic elements of bullying and depression, but it was the least focus. At the time, I had this whole pitch laid out to them and was ready for production. I had no idea how it was going to turn out, and at the end of it, it ended up being one of the hardest things I had to endure because of how little I knew about making a film and how much I worked with the wrong people. During this, I was not surrounded with the people I am surrounded with today, and I learned the hard way. I was basically a one-man camera crew and casting dancers from all over Southern California. Long story short, six months into the project, and a month before the project was due, my project ended up failing miserably. I had a lot of scheduling conflicts, and a lot of the dancers I casted were not the right ones due to the lack of commitment of which was fine. Ultimately, I was the only one to blame because I was doing everything myself, and it ultimately took a toll on me negatively. In the end, I thought to myself I never wanted to make a film ever again, yet alone a dance film which didn’t feel good because I loved and still love dance so much.

Fast forward to two years later. I educated myself better on how to make a film and had a better sense of who to work with. I made my first film, called “Wayward Nature,” in 2018 and every year after that, I got a better feel of the process and found myself a great film family that I can trust and work with for a long time. Sure, many people come and go, especially with the film crew I made films with the last few years, but I learned that not everyone is compatible with each other and that working with new people for every new film I made wasn’t a bad thing. During this, I still had “Novelty” in my mind but wanted to focus on horror films. Fast forward to 2020, two award winning horror shorts later, I decided to write another horror short called Enshrinement which was a horror story about tiger parenting. I was ready to fund and shoot it, until COVID happened.

Around March 2020, when the world shut down, I was not only in a stressful situation because everyone, including myself, was becoming laid off from their jobs, but I was not able to shoot Enshrinement for a while. Enshrinement was my main focus, but I didn’t want to waste my time being depressed on something that I knew I could make later. It was all just patience. Then I thought to myself about “Novelty,” and how I can think of a way to bring it back and write a story about it. While Enshrinement was on a pause, I decided to push Enshrinement as a feature film later and focus on “Novelty.” Through the first few months of lock down, I wrote “Novelty” as a scripted short film that didn’t involve GoPro, but rather more story-driven than the technicalities of the camera. At first, it was very difficult because I didn’t know what to write about. All I knew was that I wanted dance involved in the film somehow, but then I used several films as inspiration. The Breakfast Club film, by John Hughes, is one of my favorite films ever, so I used that as my main compass. July or August of 2020, the script is finished with a synopsis of: A group of troubled high school students recall their dreams and ambitions through an assignment given in detention. Dance is obviously involved in the story, but I don’t want to spoil it too much.

After writing the film, I was thinking of who I wanted to cast, which ended up being a two year process due to COVID delays of the film; however, I got it done with the help of one of my biggest inspirations in the dance community: Byron Bucao. Byron Bucao is the founder and owner of Alias Dance Family, which comprises of dance teams aging from as young as five to as old as 30s. To get really personal, dance has always been something I loved doing, but I wasn’t able to join Byron’s dance teams as a kid. So to have Byron Bucao be a part of this film came in full circle because I have always wanted to be a part of a dance family. With the help of Byron Bucao and my good friends Kris Mangaccat and Vincent Solis, I was able to cast all legit dancers in the film again, but this time the right dancers and some of Ventura County’s best.

Fast forward to 2023, we have shot Part I of “Novelty” with the help of my amazing friends. Though it took seven years to find the right dancers and crew and overall right people, my dream of making this dance film is coming into fruition. The film is composed of diverse dancers, actors, crew members all over California and the East Coast, of which I stand for. We are all a part of BIPOC communities and all share the same goal of not only “making it” but also of seeking representation. I cannot wait for everyone to see this film because of how different it is. It not only represents diversity and emotional and relatable stories, but it also represents the dance community. I believe this film has never been done before, and I cannot wait for people to see it in festivals this winter of 2023. It took seven years to make this film and is still going, but it doesn’t matter how long it takes, what matters is where it will end up and how much impact it will give, and I’m sure it will end up being something great for everyone to stand with.

“Novelty” is written and directed by Raymond Gerard Braza. It is produced by Raymond Gerard Braza, Marissa Garcia, and Kris Mangaccat, and executive produced by Byron Bucao, Andrew Tsai, Michael Nusbaum, Jennifer Zhang, Mychael Earvin Magat, Trevor Cobb, and Raymond Gerard Braza. The film will be shot by Sam Ahshrafuzzaman and will have production design by Selina Gallegos. Costume design will be by Ryan Yere (Retour) and Vanessa Serratos. Music will be by Andrew Tsai with additional soundtracks by Connor Berriochoa, Los Vigilantes, CJ Encarnacion, and John Dannenbaum. We also have original dance choreography from Matthew Sabino of GRV, who was also originally in the 2016 predecessor, Ivan Parades and Aaron Aung, also of GRV, and Zachary Trotter and Zauriel Luna who star in the film. Our wonderful vocal coaches who helped the dancers become great actors are Nicole Del Castillo and Stacey Ramirez.

With the help of our casting director, Vincent Solis, the cast is led by six individuals. First is Zachary Trotter with credits: Go2Talent, Filmharmonic, Karencitta, Alyson Stoner, Jessica Louise, Snowglobe Perspective, Hip Hop Mindset, and Alias Dance Film. Zachary plays Joseph, a bullied kid who has trouble finding meaning in his life. Zauriel Luna (Co-Director of Oxchord) plays the second led character, Derek, a popular yet caring jock who comforts Joseph in detention. Dalia Santana plays Jessenia, an unhinged student who becomes problematic when she starts interrupting the students in detention. Benjamin Comrie plays Shawn, a “goofy” student who uses jokes as a scapegoat for everything. Jasmine Basilan plays Rachelle, a popular cheerleader who has different dreams than what everyone expects her to be. Fernando Ayala plays Lionel, president of the high school and Jessenia’s best friend. Finally, Byron Bucao is the last to lead, who plays Mr. B, a caring teacher who wants all the detention students to succeed. The rest of the cast, of which their roles are kept under wrap, are Branden Dale, Marlene Erwing, Emma Navarro, Ruben Cervantes, Isaac Flores, Wayne Delos Santos, Dailan White, Aaliyah Flores, Malachi Lawton, Ismael Monter, Johnny Partida, Rigo Navarro and Benjie Flores.

The film is slated to release in select film festivals this winter of 2023.

Website: www.raymondgerardbraza.com

Instagram: @g_rad92 AND @rgbandcompany.com

Image Credits
Courtesy of Evette Gombota and RGB & CO.

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.