Alexandre Alonso is a Brazilian actor and movie maker. He is best known for his role as Alex in the indie movie Palmos (2015) and the short Loop (2014). He also wrote two books and got some poetry published on major newspapers at the age of 14. Since early ages, he has produced some low budget videos and sketches posted on Youtube. Today, we’re very pleased to interview the creative artist and discover his universe.
Alexandre Alonso Interview :
“Don´t bother about what you need, bother about what you own and what you can do.”
Please Alexandre Alonso tell us a bit about yourself and your universe?
I’m 21 years old, Brazilian. Since an early age I have always dreamed of making movies. The horror genre is definitely where I find most of my inspiration. Since 2007, I have made more than 50 short movies, most of them comedy and gore. Always on a limited budget, I had to improvise all kind of techniques.
Were you always interested in art growing up?
Yes, definitely I like Art. I remember that I was obsessed with David La Chapelle books. I also did a lot of sighting on art galleries and was amazed by Tim Burton’s world of wonders. When I was 12, I used to do some homemade magazines and collages about horror and television.
How did you get into indie movie?
On 2007, I got my first video camera and started experimenting. Time went by and in 2010 I entered the cast of a web channel called ´´Wet dog TV´´. I did some cameos on Matheus Marchetti films, also an indie director. Some of my childhood friends went to study cinema and really encouraged me to act on their chops. At that time, I was focused on becoming an actor.
Could you explain how Indie movie industry works?
For many years, when you created a homemade or low budget production, only your family and some friends would be able to watch it. Now with Youtube and Video on demand platforms like Indie Reign, you can even capitalize on your work. It is a tough industry because finding your audience may never happen.
Also, we can now fund our movies by crowdfunding, which is great and has brought to life a bunch of projects that were too “risky” for a mainstream play out.
Do you have or have had a mentor or other special person to guide you?
My mother has always supported my love for art, she has even acted in some of my early work. Also, my friends, especially Lucas Acher, guided me as an actor and director on many of the Wet Dog TV sketches. Directors like Quentin Tarantino, Fernando Meirelles and Carpenter are a huge inspiration for me and my movies.
Could you talk about your latest low budget movie “Palmos – The Demon inside”
Palmos is not my first big project, but it’s my first full length project. I did the movie on a very limited budget and had all sorts of complications during the whole process. I got to meet very talented people like Regina Gaia and Wesley Sousa. My friends also participated in the movie which made all of the process more organized and friendly. For a movie filled with death and blood we sure had some fun!
Where do you derive your influence? Do you have a favorite place or technique that helps you find inspiration?
I’m essentially influenced by gore movies, other indie productions and horror classics. When I want to find some inspiration, I have an improvisation routine where I play some instrumental suspenseful songs and improvise a text based on that mood. If it is worth it, I translate that into a piece of video.
Is artistic life lonely? What do you do to counteract it?
It can be sometimes, especially if you do low budget movies, these days there is a need of producing palatable information, and when you get far from this curve some people may call you crazy. I always try to offer roles on my films to my friends, so it becomes a fun interaction and we do other things besides drinking beer.
What is your dream project?
It definitely would be producing a movie with more than 5.000USD, bringing some of my friends and the talented actors I got to meet on the shooting of Palmos. We would probably shoot a horror project again, but this time much more prepared for the adversities of a low budget shoot.
What’s the best piece of advice you would give to someone who dreams to be a filmmaker?
Record stuff, your cat, a vine, anything. Sometimes we are scared that that won´t be a good video, and for that reason we stand still. Don´t bother about what you need, bother about what you own and what you can do. There is space for creating a brilliant work inside your bedroom, you only have to try.
and then