Paquito G. Myers on Creating Opportunities and Building a Film Career

What does it take to build a creative career when no one is waiting to give you permission?

In his conversation with Dapo Ibrahim on The Storytelling CEO, Paquito G. Myers shares lessons from his work as an actor, cinematographer, director, producer, and founder of Human Action Figure Films. The two-part discussion explores creative independence, filmmaking, collaboration, career development, and why artists must learn to create their own opportunities.

Why Creatives Cannot Wait for Permission

A creative career rarely follows a predictable path. Auditions, funding decisions, industry gatekeepers, and changing opportunities can leave talented people waiting for someone else to recognize their potential.

Paquito’s journey offers a different approach: develop your skills, create your own projects, and build relationships with people who share your commitment to the work. Instead of allowing rejection to become a permanent obstacle, independent filmmakers can use it as information and keep moving.

Turning Passion Into a Sustainable Career

Passion may begin the journey, but consistency sustains it. Building a career requires discipline, preparation, and the willingness to contribute in more than one role. Paquito’s experience across acting, cinematography, directing, and producing reflects the versatility often required in independent filmmaking.

Learning how production works on both sides of the camera can also make an artist a stronger collaborator. Actors gain insight into directing and editing. Directors develop more respect for performance. Producers learn how creative decisions affect time, budget, and distribution.

Create the Opportunity You Want

Independent creators have more tools than ever to write, film, edit, publish, and distribute their own work. The challenge is no longer simply access to equipment. It is developing a clear voice and completing projects consistently.

Paquito encourages creatives to stop defining success only through outside approval. A self-produced short film, web series, scene, or documentary can demonstrate ability more effectively than waiting for the perfect opportunity.

The Audience Comes Last

One of the conversation’s most provocative ideas is that the audience comes last during the earliest stage of creation. This does not mean the audience is unimportant. It means artists must first understand what they genuinely want to say.

When a project begins by chasing trends or attempting to please everyone, it can lose the specific point of view that makes it memorable. The artist’s first responsibility is to the truth of the story. The audience enters when that truth is shaped into a clear and compelling experience.

Collaboration Builds Better Films

No filmmaker succeeds alone. Creative independence does not mean isolation. It means taking responsibility for starting the work and then building a team capable of making it stronger.

Strong collaborators communicate clearly, respect deadlines, understand their roles, and remain focused on the shared story. Paquito’s multidisciplinary background demonstrates how learning the responsibilities of other departments can make collaboration more thoughtful and efficient.

Lessons for Emerging Filmmakers

Create before you feel completely ready.

Develop multiple skills, but continue strengthening your primary craft.

Complete projects instead of endlessly planning them.

Build relationships through reliability and contribution.

Tell a specific story instead of trying to satisfy everyone.

Treat rejection as redirection, not a final judgment.

Watch the Two-Part Conversation

Part 1: Why Most Creatives Fail to Create Their Own Opportunities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfNX1-B9WgI

Part 2: Turn Your Passion Into a Career Without Waiting for Permission

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RLP6Aj3yS8

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