Meet wes brooks | Aspiring writer, director and horror fan

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

Hi wes, why did you pursue a creative career?
In all honestly it’s always been the simple fact that it brings me joy. I’ve studied and looked into other jobs but at the end of the day I always feel pulled back into the film industry. Even from an early age, before I even knew what a director was, I wanted to make movies. I had stories I wanted to share with people, I could talk for hours about the stupid stuff I came up with in my head. It’s just always been this yearning passion for 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.
I’ve always had a deep passion for horror and sci-fi movies. I remember when I was a kid I’d stay up late and watch horror movie marathons on the sci-fi channel. The moment it all kinda clicked with me was the first time I saw the movie gremlins! I was a little kid and was absolutely terrified (as most small children would be) but I couldn’t stop watching it. I would get up in the middle of the night just to rewind the VHS and watch it again. I developed a deep love for scary movies after that and dreamed of the day I’d get to make my own! I never stopped writing, I would come up with ideas in my head and play out little spooky movie scenarios that only wound up giving me nightmares. Later in high school I started experimenting with special effects makeup! I used to destroy our bathroom on a weekly basis because I’d get blood EVERYWHERE. I did a few minor gigs over the years after graduating but ended up stopping as it unfortunately did not pay the bills. Shortly after that a mutual friend hooked me up with a specialty costumes house called Global Effects. Their main focus is space suits! Being absolutely awful at creating hard goods got me transferred to the rental department but I ended up finding my niche there. I’ve been here about five years now and I’m beyond lucky to have the extra time to work on my passions! I feel beyond blessed that I haven’t felt or experienced real hardship in my career. I’m not going to pretend I’m wildly successful or even remotely close to my overall goals but I have the privilege of being comfortable. Which is something that an alarming amount of people do not have the same kind of access to, especially in this country and our industry.

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.
I’m an LA native! So I’ve lived here my entire life and would say the first step is to avoid all of the traditional spots. Forget Hollywood, forget downtown, forget Santa Monica, I just can’t deal with the traffic! One of my favorite spots is over in Burbank on a street called Magnolia! They have a ton of little odds and ends shops and amazing food! The best spot being a little deli called Pinnochio’s/Monte Carlo’s. I pretty much grew up there! If you want a phenomenal deli sandwich that would be one of the first stops I’d make! it’s not perfect, it’s not jaw droppingly amazing but it’s one of those things that just hits the spot. There is also a spot there called the Mystic Museum that I frequently go to! Would also recommend checking out Old Town Pasadena for its bar scene. For a calmer, shorter day out, I always like going out to the Montrose shopping area in La Crescenta. I’m a valley boy at heart so it’s so hard for me to stay away from it.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have been lucky enough to have an absolutely wonderful support system of family and dear friends for most of my life! However a few people I owe a lot to would be my girlfriend, Heaven Russell-Robles and my dear friend Dev Chaise-Magalhaes as they listen to me spout off nonsense and rattle off ideas just about every day. I would also like to thank my current place of employment, Global Effects, as they’ve introduced me to a lot of brilliant and inspiring people within my industry that I will continue to grow with

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