Today we’d like to introduce you to Salomé Castro.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Being Colombian-born and raised in the United States, I’ve always had a passion for the art of film.
I’ve been editing videos ever since I was in middle school, and after graduating high school, I decided to go abroad to get my BA in Cinematography and Media Arts at Escola Superior de Cinematografia I Audiovisuals de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain, with a specialization in film editing.
After coming back to the United States, I started freelancing as a video editor and got to work on various projects for clients such as NBCU, Microsoft, and Warner Bros. Discovery.
I want to give a shout-out to RE:IMAGINE, a local non-profit that employs youth in film. Without them, I wouldn’t have gotten such a good base in the industry.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Being both an immigrant and a woman, it’s not easy stepping into such an industry. I’ve experienced this both in the US growing up and in Spain, where I went to film school. I wasn’t in touch with many localisms, and people weren’t able to relate with me as much as with others. Thankfully, I was able to find a strong group of friends that welcomed me with arms wide open and welcomed me as one of their own.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a local film editor with a specialization in narrative work. I’ve done multiple short films and mini docs that were featured in various film festivals across the world in countries like the US, Spain, and Mexico.
One of my proudest moments was before my graduation, my school rented out a local movie theater and projected all of our thesis films. I was lucky enough to not only work on one short film but two. Being able to watch our short films in such a big theater and seeing the reactions from everyone felt so validating and it felt like everything we worked up to leading up to that moment was paid off. We were able to bring our families, and my parents flew into Spain from the US to watch, so having them be here for such a special moment meant so much to me. And to add the cherry on top, one of the short films I worked on, Fifteen Love (Directed by Joan Margets), was selected by my school as one of the best overall films and did its own festival run across Europe.
I feel like what sets me apart from others is that I have such a wide perspective on life. I’ve met people from all walks of life, and I love learning from them. I put that all in my work. I also have a raw passion for film. As a film editor, what I essentially do is put everything together in a way that conveys emotion to the audience. So not only do I have to convey the project in the way that the director wants, but also in a way that from an audience perspective, they are still intrigued. Every time I get on a new project, I tap into that inner audience member and ask myself, “What do I want to see? What will make me feel the way the director wants me to?” and go from there. I feel like without that talent, I’m just another button pusher.
To see some of my work, I do have a website at salomecastro.com
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Don’t be afraid. Don’t hold back. To be a filmmaker, all you need is a camera. I was able to do some personal projects using just my iPhone camera and the voice recording app, and at its core, it’s just as effective as the “high-end” ones.
Even from an editing perspective, you don’t need to be a master at Adobe Premiere or Davinci Resolve. Growing up, I learned from moviemakers on Windows, and I still look back on those videos fondly.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, either. Even if the project doesn’t see the eyes of anyone else, what matters is that you tried it out and you got a result you wanted or one that you didn’t (but at least you learned from that).
One last piece of advice is to keep everything. I personally love going back to older videos I’ve done and watching my growth. Even if I cringe and critique everything I do and comment on how I would change everything, it’s still a learning exercise for me. One of my biggest regrets was deleting a bunch of my old videos from middle school with no backup elsewhere.
Contact Info:
- Website: salomecastro.com
