Macoproject Film Festival Interview
BIOGRAPHY
Ramos C. Smith is an independent filmmaker based out of Burbank, California. Before he went into filmmaking, he served in the United States Marine Corps Reserves in Field Artillery, earning the National Defense Service Medal and the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation.
Mister Smith began his entertainment career at Warner Bros. Studios as a Post-Production Data Manager and has earned professional credits with Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, and A24.
An award-winning director, his short film One-Shot won at the Global Shorts Film Festival, as well as earning an "Honorable Mention" at the New Hollywood Director Awards. His other film Dating is Hard was a four-time semi-finalist at multiple film festivals.
ABOUT ME
When I was young, my love of film was ignited by Star Wars, the originally trilogy sparked my imagination. But one of the first things I noticed was that, there weren't many people who looked like me in a galaxy far, far away. Sure, there was Lando Calrissian and then later, Mace Windu, but that was it. Being a mixed race child, half black and half filipino, I never saw any mixed person of color in the movies and stories I loved either. But this did not stifle my love of all things pop culture. Because of that, I went down a film rabbit hole, learning all about Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, etc. But it wasn't until I saw the movie "Clerks", directed by Kevin Smith, that was the first movie that made me go, "I want to do that! I want to make movies!" So I applied to film school.
One thing I feel is missing in the industry is we need more diverse storytellers. There are tons of young creators with stories just like mine and I hope we all get the chance to tell our stories up on the big screen. I love all things film and television. He cites Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, Frederico Fellini, Gina Prince-Bythewood, David Lean, Wong Kar-wai, Joe Johnston, Brad Bird, and Agnes Varda as his film inspirations.My other interests include reading comic books, boxing/martial arts, surfing, skateboarding and collecting sneakers.