From Sleeping On The Floor To Making A Feature Film

In this episode, I sit down with Ulysses to talk about what it really takes to chase filmmaking.

From growing up with a single mother who immigrated from Mexico to building his own path in film, his story is about sacrifice, pressure, and purpose. We get into the realities of the industry, why most people quit, and what it takes to keep going when it gets hard.

If you’re chasing something big, this one will hit.

Subscribe, share, and let me know what stood out.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

I'm Anthony Eamon, owner of Redefine Fitness. We get another great episode for all of you today. So without further ado, we've listened to us on today's show. A little background for him. He works with my co host who comes in and out, Yao, who's behind the cameras right now, but he's excited to be here. So tell me a little bit about what got you interested in working with Yao. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

First off, I want to say it's pronounced Ulysses. Ulysses. There we go. Here we go. First few first few years of my life. I was just, I was, I always let that slide. Ulysses or Yuli. I'm like, no, not anymore. It's a great name. Ulysses. Ulysses. But um yeah, so I started working with Yao uh less than a year ago, uh, back in October. Uh we met up through the film connection website called Backstage. And uh he was looking for people to work his uh red carpet event for his feature film. And he hit me up and he's like, hey, do you want to work as a production coordinator? I'm like, definitely. And uh he asked me to come out on Long Island. I'm from Westchester, New York, so it was it's a it's a it's a hectic way to get here. It's a hectic ride to get here, but uh oh man, it it's one of the best gigs I ever worked. Yao is professional, he he's very um very encouraging. He he lets you know that you're doing a good job, and he lets you, and when you do mess up, he doesn't do it in a way that's um discouraging. He's like, okay, yeah, I can do better. I can do better. So and it's uh he asked me to come on board to help with the podcast and and help with the content of redefined fitness, and it's been it's been fun.

Jurassic Park Sparked A Calling

SPEAKER_00 1:46

She's coming all the way up from Westchester, White Plains, New York. There you go, man. That's awesome. It's exciting. So what why be on backstage and why get into film?

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Uh we gotta go way back. We gotta go way back. So um I'm 27 now, uh, but 21 years ago probably, I watched a movie called Jurassic Park 3. And I think I was like five years old.

SPEAKER_00 2:12

And your parents like you watched Jurassic Park 3 or five years old?

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Well, my parents were very my parents were very absent when I was a kid. Okay. Yeah. And um up to that point, I was like any other five-year-old, just playing with my toys, you know, walking around, playing whatever. But when I watched that movie, not only was it exciting, it was it blew my mind in a way that I never thought was possible. I thought, how did they make the dinosaurs? How does any of this real? Because you know dinosaurs aren't alive anymore, so you're just like and so I've just curiosity just kept creeping up, and I've never had that before where I just kept thinking about something. Because I was a little dumb little kid, you know, just playing with my toys, think watch a movie, thinking not much, thinking nothing much of it. And so my uncle, who's like my dad to me, he bought me the DVD and I watched the bonus features of how they made the movies, and seeing how the dinosaurs got built and the action set pieces and the director yelling, action. I said to myself right then and there, like, I want to be a movie director when I grew up. And uh 20 what 20, 21 years later, I made a feature film and still making movies to this day. Writing, producing, acting, editing.

Growing Up With An Absent Parent

SPEAKER_00 3:31

So you knew all the way back that long ago? Yeah, and you said something you kind of threw into the mat a little bit, but we're gonna talk about it. Sure, sure. You said your parents were absent. Yeah, what do you mean by that?

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Uh well, my mother was a single mother. Um, she just immigrated from Mexico in 1998. I was born in '99. So she was a single parent, and she could she could only get jobs cleaning houses. So for she'd be gone from like 12, 8 hours a day, and she had to leave me with babysitters and people who who just were barely qualified to look after children. So she wasn't around a lot when I was a kid.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

So she was working seven days a week. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

She was a yeah. Uh Auntie, uh, Yao commends me on my work ethic, but I gotta give it to my mom and and uncle. They they were hustlers, they were working out here. Um they they worked so hard that even as a kid, I every you know, every kid wants to grow up and be an adult. They made me not want to be that.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

You say they, who's day? Uh the um what do you mean? So like you said your mom was a single mom, but you keep saying they. Oh, like uh so who was else involved in your life helping raise you?

SPEAKER_01 4:48

So um my uncle. My uncle. Your uncle. Which uh which was my mother's uncle. So he was like my uncle grandpa. Okay, and um he didn't have any kids, but he worked a lot and he had a lot of money, so I was like his pride and joy.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

So did you all live into one household?

SPEAKER_01 5:06

Yeah. And then he left for a while, and so it was just me and my mom for a little bit, a couple of years. And um it was it was it was it was a little tough.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Explain that. What do you mean by tough?

SPEAKER_01 5:23

Um, well, money was low. I would barely get to see my mother. Um we money would yeah, money was really low back then. Um we didn't have a bed for a couple of years because we just couldn't afford it. Gotta get a TV though. That was the most important thing. Get a TV, but uh yeah, just laying on the bed, uh laying on the floor, put up a couple of sheets on the floor and just rock it out. Um were you an only child? So um my mom had kids back in Mexico, four daughters, and I was the only son, and I was born here.

SPEAKER_00 6:03

So you have four sisters that are they still in Mexico?

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

So she'd left her daughters to come here?

SPEAKER_01 6:12

Yeah, um, what happened was that um because she had so many kids in Mexico doesn't have as many opportunities as he as it over here. So my grandma forced her to come here to make some money, and my mother to this day regrets agreeing to that, but she got up and and left for the United States without anyone knowing that she was pregnant with yours truly. So um we we made the journey here and here I am.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

That's wild. Yeah, does that bother her that she like it it eats at her to this day?

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Eats at her to this day.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

Does she ever like go back and forth or just didn't couldn't afford it?

SPEAKER_01 6:55

And um, no, she's been here since 98.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

She has not gone back to see her daughters.

Family Sacrifice And Immigrant Reality

SPEAKER_01 7:02

That's why um I work I work so hard so that one day I'm sorry if my voice gets a little cracked because it's so emotional, but yeah, um that's why I work so hard so one day I can give her all the things that she could she could she could ever want, a house and seeing her kids again. Her kids are her pride and joy. I always ask her, well, actually, no, one time it was like a new segment. I was like, I was like eight years old, and um a mother had just given birth to her kid, but in order for the kid to survive, the mother had to give her life. And I asked my mom, would you do that? And she's like, absolutely. Like, really? Like, yeah, I would give up my life for all my kids. And um yeah, we're her pride and joy. So it's it's to me, it feels like a lot of weight on me to make sure I succeed and break through the uh the mold of uh just working every day.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Is your mom still struggling in that same kind of scenario?

SPEAKER_01 8:07

But uh we're always we're always on the up and up. So um yeah, it's uh you know, I I don't want to make it sound like I've I've lived like the most awful life in the world. I've been very I've been very privileged, very fortunate. Um very blessed, very lucky.

SPEAKER_00 8:26

Did it affect you in school or as as you got older?

SPEAKER_01 8:29

In what aspect?

SPEAKER_00 8:32

Kids tend to pick on kids that don't have much.

SPEAKER_01 8:35

Yeah, um, I've always liked being different. Always like being different, yeah. Um and my mother always told me if a kid picks on you, I back. So I'm a I'm a short guy, I'm a little guy, but you talk crap. I'm gonna I'm gonna kick the crap out of you, or at least take a take a get a few good licks in before I get knocked out.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

No, that's fair. Yeah. So you lived with your great uncle and your mom under one roof. You still currently doing that? Yeah, we still do. You still do.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

Well, my uncle passed away last year. So um thanks. And um, yeah, so just me and my mom.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

And what kind of inspiration was he to you?

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Oh, um, he was an old school, um, he was an old school uh traditional Mexican. So think of the hairy mustache, dirty clothes, dirt on your single fingernails. Um he was a drinker, he smoked. Um he was as tough as nails. Um and me as a kid, I was very I was very I was a very sensitive kid, so um he wanted me to toughen up, and uh I think he prepared me to be just the world is not gonna be kind to you. You gotta be gotta be tough. You can be nice, you can be friendly, but you gotta watch out. And uh it's true.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

So do you give credit to your mom and to him for your will to want to keep pushing when the odds are stacked against you?

SPEAKER_01 10:16

Yeah, they they made it seem like I was the American dream to them. They always said that um Mexico was so a limited opportunity had so many limited opportunities that it was tough. They would beat you in school if you messed up. Um they would have to like walk miles just to get a gallon of water. I mean it, yeah, they they didn't go to school much, so um they'd always let me know that here you got opportunities. So do you feel that way? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I'm a proud patriot. You know, I was born, I was born here and uh I'm very happy to be an American.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Because there's a bunch of people in the US that would say it's the worst country or there's no opportunities in here and that immigrants have the worst scenario coming to a country. You you don't succumb to any of that.

SPEAKER_01 11:05

There's a lot of reality to it, yeah. Um America is has its problems. Um but I choose to believe that I choose to believe at the end of the day that America is a great country and you can do whatever you heart desire. Whatever your heart desires, you can do it here. And uh people who say the American dream is dead, well maybe they're not looking in the right direction.

SPEAKER_00 11:34

I think people are afraid.

SPEAKER_01 11:36

Very, yeah.

Pressure To Win In A Hard Field

SPEAKER_00 11:37

And I think they take what they have for granted. They say life's hard and they're scrolling on their iPhone and drinking Starbucks. You said you slept on a floor with a sheet.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

So why is it the people that live in million-dollar homes complaining are the ones saying how bad of a country this is, but those that literally struggle and starve know there's opportunity out there.

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Well, you know, I uh I don't want to sound like I'm holier than that.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

I'm not saying holier, just in the sense it's it's a realistic aspect of what's going on now.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Yeah, I you know, I I used to be a little snotlows, little little um greedy kid, and I remember wanting more and more and more. And I think that's what's going on now, is that people just want more and more and more, and they they forget they forget just uh take a take a look in someone else's shoes.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

So just to kind of move forward from it, because I couldn't agree more, it's just you're looking at how to get there, and it's a lot of pressure for you because I I know like being a director is one in a million, like it's very hard to get there. And you're in your current situation with you like being the child that's here and living how to live with your uncle, great uncle, and your mom, like it's a lot of weight you're getting from both ends. So you're getting the pressure of trying to prove them that you can do it and you can get there, but fighting to get into a field that 99% of people fail.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

So how does that feel for you in a day-to-day? Like, is that something to think about?

The Grind Of Making A First Film

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Yeah, yeah. I think for the I think I think for the first 24 years of my life, um I say 24 because that's when I made my first feature. And I think to me, I just always assume that my dream will just come to me. You don't have to work for it, you it'll just come to you. Like you have to work for it, but it it'll it'll come eventually. I realized that that's not the case. You have to work for it. Like, you you think, like, yeah, I knew it was gonna be hard. It got depressingly hard making the movie. Like, I wanted to just I just wanted to just jump off a cliff. It was that depressing. Um But the thing that got me through it was just remembering why I wanted to do it. Um, not because I wanted to get rich or famous, but just because it looked fun to me once. And once I got once that got built back into me, I was like, this is what I want to do. And you you gotta go for it. You gotta you really gotta you gotta put your hours in, you really gotta your you gotta get your shit together, you really gotta lock in and oh, gonna curse. Yeah, yeah. You really gotta lock in. No one's gonna give it to you. You really gotta and sometimes you won't make it. I don't know if I'll make it, but I What would it mean not to make it? Probably die homeless. Probably probably. I don't know. I haven't thought I haven't thought I haven't really thought much of of losing. I've just always just thought, I'm gonna win. Somehow I'm gonna win. Even right now, I'm winning.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

You know, and you mentioned work. What I think people misjudge work. Yeah, they think I just stay up all day. That's work. Yeah, but uh it's doing the right type of work and doing a lot of that. So, how would you when you were doing your first film, how does what how did that look like for you? When did you realize that this is the shit I have to get through and it is the right path? And how did you motivate yourself to get through it? Like I know you said it kind of just came to you, but so many people just give up. They get halfway through and they stop and they never complete it. So what what else was going on in your head to push through and really drive you forward?

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Um, well, I don't like to quit. I don't care how tough it is, I don't like to quit. You have to put me, you have to pull me away to to to quit for me to quit. Because um I don't know, it just seemed very seemed very un-American to quit. It just seems very just like nah. Just I I say American because like it's I I like to I like to rally around the flag and and and uh think about it a lot. Uh I take very I take much pride in it. And um yeah, I just don't like to quit. You know? I'm an American, we don't quit. Get your shit together. Come on, it's a land of opportunity. Get up, get your bootstraps on and get the hell to work. Even if it's tough, you gotta get through it. So just just the bluntness of of accepting the bluntness of reality and and um really locking in and thinking, okay, what do I need? Who do I need to talk to? Where do I need to go? What do I need? Everything. You just gotta think and ponder and remember why you're doing it.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

What advice would you give your siblings if you had a chance to sit with them 20 years ago?

SPEAKER_01 17:22

20 years ago.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

What would you have liked to get out of that relationship?

SPEAKER_01 17:35

I don't know about advice.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

What do you have like to get out of it? Like what how would a life been different?

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Had I been raised with them? I think about that a lot. Well, right now we're we have we have a great relationship with my sisters, so we all love each other. It's very very odd. We we don't tease each other, we don't very friendly, very, very loving. Um I would just tell them I love them. Advice They're all older than me, I'm the baby, so and I and I come from a very uh lucky background, so I feel like I'd be talking down on them, talking down to him like, oh of course he can say that, he's over there. But um I would just say I love them and and and listen listen to him and tell them that oh that's that's a good one. Tell him you have a voice and make yourself heard. And it's tough, but you gotta get through it.

SPEAKER_00 18:41

Yeah, I mean they were in even a tougher situation, right? Yeah, so it's something just to think about the more reason to push further. Yeah, to take more of it, to move beyond it.

AI Disruption And Hollywood Connections

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Yeah, a lot of people live uh live safe lives and just why do that?

SPEAKER_00 18:58

Yeah. So what's what's your plan moving forward?

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Well, uh, I want to work with Yao more and learn more about the the well, he's there, he's somewhere, and uh I want to learn more about the technical aspects of film because um it's it's a lot, it's a lot. I'm more of the um visionary, like this would look cool, but not much in the how do we make it? How do we actually make it? Um and navigating through the mindfield of AI, which is jeopardizing everything, so it's that. And uh unfortunately, I've re I've realized that Hollywood doesn't reward talent, it rewards connections. So meeting the right people and and uh doing the right things, but also you know the the trap the crap that's come out of Hollywood, the the evil stuff, the ugly side, I want to be away from that. So I want to get to Hollywood but with a soul intact. So navigating that and so here's a tough question for you.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

Yeah, because you're you're right, it's about connections. It doesn't matter if you're the world's best doesn't matter what your dream is. It's going to change though, and I think AI is gonna help that. Oh, really? Yeah, so more solo filming and look at podcasting. Everyone's doing it, everyone's doing it. People now have the technology in their hands in everyday life to get almost as good as quality as they have in the movies, so and they have the opportunity to put those on platforms like YouTube, like Rumble, to really help show their voice. Whereas before, the only person that produced videos was in a movie theater in Hollywood, right? Right? So I think that's going to get better, especially the progressions of AI for an individual who got that book. If you if specifically that's the dream to go that route, so many people are gonna look at I need to develop this relationship to these people. Where do I begin? So, how do you get in front of those people to develop those relationships?

SPEAKER_01 21:13

Um I don't know who said it, but uh there was a director, I think his name was Robert Rodriguez. He directed um I think Machete and the Spy Kids movies. He said, um, just just make movies, even if you're crap, just make them, just make them, and they will be seen. And uh yeah, just gotta keep making movies, and eventually they'll be seen by the right people, and you get your way, you get your way up there. Um but uh you know, Hollywood, you know, Hollywood's no longer yeah, I know I bring up Hollywood as like being the dream, right? But I would do this even if I wasn't getting paid. I love movies. I love I love giving people a good time. So And I think AI will help with that. Yeah. Everyone can do it. So now the selling point isn't that only a few people can do it, but the selling point is now you yourself. Do you want to see that particular person's point of view?

SPEAKER_00 22:16

And uh where do you see the future of the film industry?

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Probably more personal. Since everyone can do it, it's more personal. But entertainment as a whole, who the hell knows? Scary. People well, you have people um wanting more, but you also have people like me who like to take a walk outside. Uh we want to go back to the old ways. Um I I see a little bit of old and new. So I'm I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful. It's gonna be alright. It's gonna be scary, but it's gonna be alright.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

And then what the last question I usually have for you is what happens when you accomplish a dream? What does that look like for your family?

SPEAKER_01 23:03

I get to sleep like a baby. That's it. That's that's the real dream. Just laying in in my bed and just just sleeping like a baby. It's like everything's everything's in my control, it's taken care of. All right. And then and uh then dealing with the next challenge, because even if I make it, there's gonna be more problems. But it'll be good problems to have.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

More money, more problems, more money, more problems. Thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate you doing this episode and sharing all that because I I really truly believe you can get there. And for those watching, guys, he's here. So comment, leave him below. We're happy to answer the questions you have. We'll see you next time on the Anthony Amor show. I'll do a handshake.

unknown 23:52

I like doing handshakes.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Appreciate it, man. That's great.

SPEAKER_02 23:56

It's perfect. Uh you know why I left, right? Obviously. Yeah, yeah. I don't want to hear your story.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Who's boxing outside?

unknown 24:02

Nobody.

SPEAKER_00 24:03

I heard like boxing and jumping and so on like that.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Oh mommy and Georgia, yeah. Georgia, you're up to it! I'm on the Anthony Amid show for the first time. Oh. Um, ask about mommy, nobody's mommy. So just try to say family and my intervals up, just so we can pull out that emotional.

unknown 24:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Alright, Georgia, you ready, buddy? Yeah. You sure?

SPEAKER_00 24:30

Man, I'm ruthless, so.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

Yeah. Is there anything um off this that you don't want to discuss or what? Not really. Okay, thank you. Am I gonna need this for anything or I'll just silent? It's not each other silently. Yeah, it's not. Oh, I'm pretty sure I should. Oh, yeah, kind of in, yeah. Just hold it to