Ep 264: Filmmaking, Resilience & Ethical Storytelling with Rene Estes

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
You are listening to the IFH podcast Network.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
For more amazing filmmaking and screenwriting podcasts, just go to
ifhpodcastnetwork dot com. Welcome to Filmmaking Conversations, where we explore
today the intersection of culture, innovation, and the human experience.
Today's guest, Rene Estes, is a filmmaker, media strategist, and
founder of The Video Mentor, with a career that spans

(00:29):
stem research, storytelling, and entrepreneurship. Rene brings a bold, emotionally
intelligent lens to the ways media and technology shape our lives.
In this episode, we dive deep into the emotional impact
of digital narratives, the power of ethical storytelling, and what
it means to stay resilient and creative in a world

(00:50):
designed to distract us. Get ready for a raw, vivoting
conversation that challenges norms and inspires changed you today.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
I'm good, I'm glad to be here, and thanks for
inviting me.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
And I'm glad you're here. I really am, I really
really am. And before we get into anything to everythink sorry,
tell us about the Video Mentor.

Speaker 1 (01:17):
The Video Mentor is a SaaS LMS SO software as
a service like Zoom is a software as a service.
The Amazon app is a software. The gains are software
as a service, So we have a lot of software
as a service around us. And it's a learning management
system that teaches production. I built it after I graduated

(01:39):
from a University of Colorado, Boulder, we call it CU Boulder,
and I earned a dual degree in critical studies of
film as an art form and then production. And upon it,
I had come out of the coaching world, and what
I wanted is to give them the ability to make

(02:04):
your own content and make and have a cinematic feel
and look to it. Sorry my nosig, and so for that,
I really wanted to give them the freedom to do
it on an economic met level, because if you hire
a crew, you have to pay a lot of money
for a crew, and you get one video, you can

(02:25):
get a few edits off of it. But if you
have the tools to make your own then you can
have endless amounts of content. And so that was my
goal to give the coaches and the boutique owners the
tools to make their own content that looks cinematic excellent.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
I like the idea of that, and I'm sure many
companies do. Hiring crews, isn't cheap and getting more than
one video for having less expense is a no brainer
as far as I'm concerned. When exactly then the video
meant to start?

Speaker 1 (03:00):
It has each of the each of the courses has
ten modules, and the first one is really very much
a basic introduction. We go over the language of film.
We talk about we start with pre production and then
we go into lighting. There's two on lighting, three point

(03:22):
lighting and and color temperature, and then we do mese
on scene and framing, and then we talk about the movement,
camera angles and camera movement and why you're going to
want to choose those high angle low angle? What does
it mean? How do you see it? We want to
talk about. We talk about the basics of lighting and

(03:44):
how to sculpt lighting, and it's really just the basics.
So it's really just three point lighting, and uh, I
think there's only one lighting no, well, no in color
temperature like three like I said, and then the and
then there's two on framing, and then there's a post.

(04:05):
We don't go over software and post. We go over
the why you're gonna want to We just introduced the
topic of post and how you're going to want to
look at it, where you're going to want to distribute.
You want to make sure you have all this out,
you know, decided. There's templates in it that help you
make those decisions. So I mean, it's not teaching software,

(04:29):
because you could. That's its own big software is a
long big it's its own course in itself. No sorry,
go ahead.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
No, you go ahead, go ahead.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
So there's a lot of things to think about in
post like and and in the in the intermedia we
we discuss more about a Walter Merchs rule of six.
So the inner in the introductory, you're gonna just you'll
be a coach and you just want to know the
quick in and outs. You know, what do I need

(05:04):
to do? How do I need to get this? How
can I enjoy you know, improve my knees on scene?
How can I prove my sound? What to put in
the frame, what not to put in the front, those
kind of things. What does it mean to have a
high angle when you know a high angle camera or
a low angle And that's just a difference in power. Like,
so if you want to make your audience trust you,

(05:26):
you're going to want to have it like you and
I are to eye and then but if you want.
So one of the things historically is like Hitler was
always shot at a low angle, so he always looked
taller and more powerful than he I mean, it ultimately worked.
You know, it did create power for him. I don't

(05:47):
know that he started out with it, but the propaganda
films by Lenny Revenstein really did create that image of
power for him, and it did make him look really tall,
and he wasn't a tall man, so that I could
go in on and on about that.

Speaker 2 (06:05):
So so video mentor in terms of how many companies
has it been a part of has it not been
a part of anything?

Speaker 1 (06:14):
I own it solely. I've you know, I've certainly pitched
for Venture. I had one offer and then I was like,
I wasn't really prepared to take it, so I turned
it down and I stopped pitching. And then I just decided,
you know, I did a lot of like soul searching
and decided that I needed to work on some of

(06:36):
the where I wanted to take it, who I really
wanted to serve. And then I, you know, has some
personal things that I was working with. So yeah, so
for that it's in many ways it still is pre revenue.

(06:58):
I mean, I know, it's been out there for a while,
but the pandemic really did change the trajectory of it.
So we're still at pre revenue and you know, but
I think that I know that, I know that the
industries expanding rapidly the more and more, you know, if

(07:20):
we look at just the influencer market, the new teen
job is to be an influencer, to just do content
and get dressed with me, and so they style like
one piece and then they put all the pieces together.
And so for many of that the gen z's, that's
their team job is to get dressed with me and

(07:43):
build content and build a following, and then they get
picked up by a firm. So yeah, so that's where
the video mentor is. It's been I've been doing it
all myself. I've had some people that I've hired to
help with it from time to time. Mostly it's just me.

Speaker 2 (08:01):
But you've previously spelcome about how film and media shape
cultural beliefs and emotional responses. Can you share a moment
with a media narrative truly change your perspective?

Speaker 1 (08:13):
I think one of the things that's really relevant for
me is like when I get aged biased content, so
like right, earlier today, I got a call and it
was like we're the senior dut da da da da.
I don't know, and I was like, okay, goodbye. Or
in YouTube, when you're like over a certain like probably

(08:36):
over fifty five, then you end up with like these
ads that are just based they're like AARP. I don't
know what they have that in the UK, But in
America it's like for if you're over fifty, it's an
advocate c group and then you can have membership and

(08:57):
get some benefits. But then and it's like, you know, death,
it's all about like decline and the end of life
adds And I'm like, if you really look at some
of the genetic breakthroughs happening, what you're gonna see is
like doctor David Sinclair, they figured out what why aging

(09:18):
is a disease and not just a number and so
and his research has turned it around and said we
could live to one hundred and twenty with health and vitality,
and so there's a lot of search. Yeah right, I mean,
and then when you think about aging, we always think

(09:41):
about the old person and it's all like on PBS,
like the public PBS is I don't know, what it
is in the UK, so yeah, the public broadcasting and
when they talk about aging, it's always older people really
in how women that are in house dresses, in a hospital,

(10:04):
walking on a walker or a chain and very debilitated, sickly,
And that's not what aging is. Aging is just a number,
you know, it's just a number. You've been beaten around
the world. And so doctor Davidson Clair, he's a geneticist
out of Harvard, has understood that what's happening that creates decline.

(10:24):
So our pushback is I don't think it's about the
number so much. It's like, oh, that's what I'm going
to be when I'm ninety, Am I gonna be sick
and sitting around doing enough? No, And that's what I think.
That's really what media is showing us is that decline,
like aging means decline and it's like walking to death's

(10:45):
door instead of the On the other side is when
you see a like a woman, it could be men too,
but I've only the last one I saw was an
older woman at ninety running a marathon, and all the
comments are like, yay go, you know, because it's really
gives us hope that we don't have to age into disease,

(11:07):
but we can age into vitality, you know, and we
can have a third or fourth career, and we can
run marathons at ninety or one hundred. I mean, that's
really what we want. We just don't want to sit
around be sick, you know. So, and I think media
has a really important point in how to frame it.
And so that's some of the work that I'm interested

(11:31):
in is to talk about how how media is really
impacting it. I mean, it's impacting all of us in
certain ways because even the younger generations, like late millennials
and Gen Z's, it's all about this filter. They've grown
up with a camera in their face instead of running
through the woods like I did. And so they end

(11:54):
up like getting hyper critical about their physical physical appearance,
especially their their face. And then they're ending up like
women especially are ended up like putting injectables in their face.
And I don't know that that age is really well.
But the other thing is it's like a really a
repulsion because of this this on social media, this demand

(12:20):
for perfection, you know, instead of just being gentle with ourselves.
And so I think that that's really a critical point
in media is to not be critical with people because
they want to make a sale. Because at today we're

(12:41):
so connected in this artificial way where we don't share
the same room with each other, and but we're having
an incredible impact on each other.

Speaker 2 (12:56):
And what responsibility do you believe creators have when crafting
stories and world saturating with content and misinformation.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
I think I think they need to push back against
the false narrative. I need they need to embrace the
the that lights moves on and that we're you know,
naturally going to change over time. I think it's very
hyper critical. I also think that what I do notice

(13:30):
is that it's just skimming the surface. So it's just
skimming the surface of details and then making a very
deep analysis of it without real data. Now there's data mining,
but it still lacks like the human connection because it's
very dehumanizing in a very you know, substantial way, because

(13:55):
we're not in the same room and we're not bonded.
And because of this lack of human connection and its
human bonding, it creates more divisiveness and severing. And it's
also so it depends on what you search, you know,
so if you're in the cancelation culture, and I don't

(14:18):
know how it's impacting in the UK, but in the
cancelation culture it in the United States, it's all about
bashing parents. But you know, when you're like a generation
of parents where the Internet came about, then this big
giant technology took our kids, you know, so, and then

(14:41):
we're supposed to be able to protect our kids over
you know, hundreds of millions of people that have connection
to them, and you don't know where you can't keep up.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
What the biggest storytelling mistakes you see creators make and
how can they correct them with more motion me and
emotional sorry and narrative clarity.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
I think the main thing is that they're just skimming
the surface and that they're not diving deeper, or they're
not there's a drive for followers and click baits rather
than unpacking what's human condition really is. I mean, some
are doing it and some are not, but there is

(15:27):
this like when you first encounter it, it's really superficial.
And the long form narratives certainly dive deeper into it.
I mean long form podcasts, they're very long. I don't
sit there and listen to a three hour podcast in
one setting, but I will you know, take pieces of

(15:48):
it over, you know, over a few days, and then
I eventually or I'll scrub through the parts that I
want to, so I don't necessarily get a whole part.
But I think that and I think that those podcasts
are trying to dive deeper and get more into the
human connection. But for the most part, the algorithms and

(16:11):
the need the technology is driven by shorter sound bites, really,
and so because of that, we don't we lose the connection,
we lose the empathy, we lose the you know, it's
going so quick that we you know, we have to
process a lot of information too quickly, and so then

(16:34):
we're filtering out things and then you miss you really,
that's the biggest thing, is you miss the parts that
are really beautiful when you're running too fast, too quick,
and you're only skimming the surface. And that's kind of
what's happening with the headlines in these click baits. And
you know, like I said, the long form is really

(16:55):
trying to you know, course correct that.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
But when you were a kid and you were running
through the parks and the wood and places like that,
it was a lot more freedom. What were the type
of stories that influenced you and that you were interested in.

Speaker 1 (17:09):
Well, I was born into innovation. So my maternal father
invented automated systems like the first ice cream filling machine
in the nineteen fifties. And and then my father was
part of the space race, so it was an aerospace engineer,

(17:31):
and he tested for both I know, you like get
emotional because it's so big. He he tested the second
stage for both Jemini and Apollo missions and so, and
that was the stage that got us out of Earth's
atmosphere into beyond into space, So the one that popped

(17:53):
through the atmosphere, and so he tested that. But really,
here's the thing is that I so I'm a late
baby boomer, and I grew up where I didn't have
helicopter parents. They said go out, stay on the street,

(18:14):
and come back before dinner. I mean we were in
and out of the house. You know. I'd go see
my friend and we go to her house and she'd
come back to my house. We'd run through the woods.
But the storytelling was really about innovation and about the
human condition and everything that is like unfolding now in

(18:37):
this like cohesive brand is like really everything that I
grew up with. But none of this would have happened
without my mother, because she was really the glue. She's
the one that brought her father's stories to life and
was really animated about it and excited. She's the one
that would never let us out of school unless we

(18:58):
had a fever or our father was testing. So then
she'd take us out of school and we'd get all
dressed up and our itchy stiff blows and then we'd
go and listen to him, and then we could. But really,
when you would listen to the test, like the some
was a young girl, I was like under like ten
years old, and so then when they start the engines,

(19:22):
like the whole earth and the rumbles underneath your feet,
and so to be eight years old and then standing
in the observatory and feeling the earth, the floor shake,
and your father's and my father's voice, who's like the
solid and even kee old, and to come through the

(19:47):
speakers and then to watch the steam come out over
the clouds was really you know, there's a real magic
to it all. And then to have us actually land
on the moon. All of that was my early childhood,
and it was really my mother was the glue that
brought all of that to life because my brother and

(20:07):
I it would have just been our dad's job, but
she just made it huge in our lives. So it
was really about the story. She just kept the stories
alive about our own father. It was innovation. It was
like what was the you know, there was real magic
to it all.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
How would you teach people, especially women, to harness film
and storytelling as a tool for telling truth and influencing
their businesses or social movements.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
I think the thing that's really critical is to set
aside any impulse to people please, because you know, when
we serve women, as we serve, we end up in
this They were kind of socialized to serve other people,

(20:55):
and so it really takes a pretty big revolution within
our else to change that. And it's really just getting
real clear about what your mission is, what your intention is,
where your value system is being okay with taking up
the space in the world that you're in, walking into
the room and saying it's okay to have a voice

(21:19):
and fill the world with I mean the room with
your whole being, you know, not in a narcissistic way,
it's in a just confidence and I belong.

Speaker 2 (21:30):
Here, excellent confidence and I belong here. You know, the
belonging aspect of filmmaking and creating videos can be quite harsh.
Sometimes you've really got to have a certain type of
resilience in this industry, that's for sure. I mean, you've
navigated major life and career transitions, we know that for

(21:50):
some and dealt with certain things that they all had.
So what's your relationship like with resilience, both emotionally and financially.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
I think the main thing is, I've always had people
tell me that I was things about me that was
not true, like I was dumb, or that I shouldn't
do things, or you know, that I didn't belong there.
But people have done ridiculous things to me all along
and there, so if we look at Brene Brown's work,

(22:19):
she says, there's you know, people can have reactions to
an event in one of two ways. They can feel
shame or they can feel humiliation. And she says, if
you feel humiliation, that's a better outcome than shame, because
when you feel humiliation, you're like, oh, it was them
that did it. I didn't do this, you know, and

(22:40):
so I actually internalize it more like in humiliation. But
now I don't I'm like more annoyed by it than
like injured by it. But it's hot. I mean, I've
been walking around the earth long enough and it's happened
enough that I'm like, oh, yeah, it's that again, you know.
And then I just really know that it's there. It's there.
It's their perceptions, it's them projecting onto me rather than

(23:05):
it being true. And I think part of the real
gifts that I've been able to achieve is that I've
done a lot of therapy and I've done a lot
of coaching through mentorships in order to really put all
that together and really know that what I believe and

(23:27):
when I think and how I want to live in
the world is a good way and I and there's
no reason why I shouldn't have it. And as women
were more likely to be told that we don't belong
in a room like we're because we should always be
in a secondary role, and so it takes like, I mean,

(23:52):
I still was raised like that, so those I still
feel twitchy about it or like a little uncomfortable, but
I have enough tools that I can move through it,
you know, and know that that's not accurate. It's not
how you want to live in the world and I
have things that I need to do that will benefit

(24:12):
It's also about integrity, like being having value in yourself
and in valuing other people and not holding anger or
rage or frustration or jealousy all of those or just
talk to seek emotions And.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
Would you say you're a resilient person.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
Oh yeah, SAMs resilient.

Speaker 2 (24:36):
And that's emotion me. And financially there.

Speaker 1 (24:39):
Yeah, yeah, I've been really I've been really strategic and
what I would you know, what I do with my money?
I mean I yeah, I mean I negotiated a big
divorce settlement. I even while I was married, I you know,
put a lot of investment in my own set. It

(25:01):
was also the way in which I observed the world.
So instead of who I was always interested in design
and innovation and so because of that, I've always like
looked at how something was constructed or how it was
put together. What I've always been interested in the process.
Even when I was studying geology a long time ago,

(25:22):
I was interested. I mean, even when I was like
taking calculus or even the pre calculus classes, it was
like what's the formula, what's the process? But I could
step back and there was a moment before I even
when I was just starting to study geology. I was

(25:43):
working at a grocery store in Past Christian, Mississippi, and
I wanted to work at Stennis Space Center, which that's
where my father worked. It's the name of the facility,
and people we come through my line. I was like,
do you work at Stennis? And they would say yes
or no, and I said I want to work at Stennis.

(26:04):
And I just kept saying that over and over, just
planning seeds, and eventually someone said yes and I can
help you work at Stennis. And then we took the
steps necessary to get so he got me into the
accounting department. I was doing data entry. Well people come
like people always buy groceries and they always check on
their money, and so I was just curious and I said,

(26:27):
I want to work out the labs. Do you work
you know? Can you help me? And so eventually someone
said yeah, I'm you know, Malcolm Files looking for an assistant.
And it was a and he was a geophysicist. So
I ended up being able to watch and he worked
at the Magnetic Observatory for the Naval Research Laboratory, and
I was like, I get to watch them in March

(26:48):
nineteen eighty nine solar storm from inside the lab. So
it was like those seed just planning, little seeds, telling
people in a really neutral way what your goals are
and asked operations without any like attachments to the outcome.
Just tell people, I want to do this, you know,
I want to make you know, want.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
To make this film, making a film, filmmaking the purpose.
So your upcoming films explore aging and the loss of
why are these issues so are particularly urgent now?

Speaker 1 (27:18):
Well, I think one like the medical medical breakthroughs that
are happening, like with doctor David Sinclair's work, and even
uh gabriel doctor Gabrielle Lyon talks about muscle health and
and that's all within the aging and then but also

(27:43):
like I want to I want to explore uh, other
aspects of medicine, what regenerative medicine is doing and can
it restore the kids, the young kids and adult that
got you know, got captured into the transgender movement because

(28:06):
not everyone in there is really transgender, and not everyone
in that population wants to stay transitioned. And so for me,
one of the things I'm interested in is to find
out what paths are open to explore, you know. I mean,
I know that regenerative medicine has been successful in a

(28:29):
lot of elements and it's been around for a while,
but I don't hear any of them talking about the
transgender population. And that's something I'm interested in, is to know,
you know, because for me, what's really important about resilience
is hope. You know, you have to know where there's
a path for you to change course. If you've gotten

(28:53):
on a path that you're not happy with the outcome,
changing course is essential, and what are the options in
our world and who gives you that path? Just like
me checking out groceries in the grocery store and wanting
to work out in the in Stennis, it's the same.
The process is the same. Where's the hope, where's the opportunities?

(29:17):
And who's there that can help and that wants to help,
you know. So those are some of the topics that
I'm really interested in.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
So on a technical level, Andy balance artistic integrity with
social commentary in your films, well.

Speaker 1 (29:33):
I think it's I'm just an integritous person, So I
hate a lot. I can't even if I actually lied
or did anything manipulative. I don't even think I'll sleep
at night because I'll like wrestle with the conflict within myself.
So I've always just been I mean, if I'm working

(29:55):
in a system that's into manipulation, I'm usually the one
that's going to get punished. But I'd rather be Yeah,
I know, like the yeah, they're like, they'll get you
a few. But then it's like, really, how are you
going to use your expertise to change the situation your
end and how are you going to approach it? From

(30:17):
an analytical standpoint?

Speaker 2 (30:20):
If you could change one cultural belief shaped by media today,
what would it be and what story would you tell
to change? Here?

Speaker 1 (30:29):
Media? Real media has its own agenda, and so what
we know is that the agenda is driven by either
those you know, the algorithms, and so there's someone that's
written the software that's you know, feeding us content based

(30:51):
on algorithm based on what we search for or that,
and that is typically a young man that's written the
soft where one of the films that I've started looking
at recently with Social Dilemma, it's on Netflix and it
talks about innovation of social media and the impact and

(31:15):
who actually was made. It was like you know, twenty
five year old men and they were just making this,
you know, this new platform, and they were fairly naive
in it. So I think that that's really a good
film to go and watch because it really does unpack
how we can navigate that. I mean, the other part

(31:37):
that's really important is to really understand that a lot
of the people that work in social media and build
the site and manage them do not let their own
kids on it. So that in itself is a huge statement.
Should the kids be on it now? They shouldn't have. Yeah,
the technology is too hard for parents to navigate and

(32:00):
the blocks aren't enough.

Speaker 2 (32:01):
Rene, thanks so much for coming on the podcast. I
really appreciate you taking the time to speak to me,
and I hope to hear from you soon

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Ep 264: Filmmaking, Resilience & Ethical Storytelling with Rene Estes

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