About Director Aristotle Torres
Aristotle Torres is a writer/director out of NYC who developed STORY AVE first as a short film and then through the prestigious Sundance Labs. An accomplished music video director in the past, Aristotle has worked with artists such as J Cole, Nas, 2Chainz, and Ludacris. He has directed commercials and campaigns for brands such as Pepsi, Red Bull, Under Armour, and Starbucks. He also has written and directed short films that have played at various festivals across the world.
GVN: Hello Aristotle! Thank you for speaking with Geek Vibes Nation about your film, Story Ave. So, the film premiered at South By Southwest this year, and I wanted to start by asking how it has been for you to have this massive piece of creative work out into the world.
Surreal. It has been a surreal process and a blessing. Movies are miracles, and they’re really hard to make. This movie has an all Blatino cast, so you already know how that is. So it has been a journey, to say the least. I’m just proud that it’s in the world. You know, whenever I show it to people who understand the nuance of this world and the characters, they appreciate the little things that others may easily overlook. All of those things make it worth it.
GVN: Could you tell us about your background and what led you to become a filmmaker?
I’ve always been an artist. I started out [making] music videos, and I worked with J. Cole very closely and shot all of his first videos like Young Simba and Young Ones. I really just started there, you know, just shooting music videos for my friend. He became one of the biggest musical artists in the world and I knew other artists like Fab and Busta, just from interning at Def Jam, and I would just see them around. [Eventually] people started asking about this ‘new kid’ and [they’d say] oh yeah, we know him. Hire him. That’s kind of how it started.
[From there] I got into doing short commercials and then I was really able to start making some decent money to invest into making my own short [films] and Story Ave was my third short.
GVN: How did you come up with the idea for Story Ave?
You know, I say it’s inspired by my life, but I’m not Kadir. I’ve never been in a gang, I’ve never robbed anyone, and I’m not even a graffiti artist. But I understand what’s like to be artistic. I understand what it’s like to come from a community that maybe doesn’t appreciate art as much as it appreciates other things. Through that internal conflict, it’s easy to feel lonely, and I understood that too.
The initial inception was being able to create and tell a story that was authentic to my world and the people that inhabit it. I wanted something that was positive and fighting against the negative stereotypes of the community and of the people.
GVN: Could you talk about expanding the film from a short to a feature? How long did that process take?
So we made the short film in 2018, and then Sundance discovered it at the end of that year. We premiered that short in June, and in January [2019], I was at Sundance turning it into a feature. I had a great co-writer named Bonsu Thompson. Even though it has been four years, it has been a quick process. If you take Covid out of that, it was like a year of writing and then a year of shooting and editing. So it has all been really quick, but serendipitous, and I’m learning a lot every day, meeting amazing people, and having conversations [about the process], so it has been very cool.
GVN: So you have such a fantastic cast for this film. Asante Blackk, Luis Guzman, Cassandra Freeman, and so many others. What was it like working with them?
They’re all so great! I feel like ninety percent of my job as a director is just casting and locations. So, for this to be my first film and to have this caliber of a cast is insane and a blessing. I was really creatively protected. [The cast] took the script that I’d written and [elevated] it to a level that I never could have imagined.
GVN: So the movie touches on many important topics like grief, black boyhood, and being creative. In your own words, what would you say are some of the core messages you want viewers to walk away with?
I would say the first and foremost message is family. The movie is about family and the one you choose versus the one you’re born into. Loyalty [is another one. Are you loyal to yourself? Are you loyal to the people around you? Then I would also say [another theme] is what’s the right way to be an artist? This is a debate me and my friends have been having for over twenty years. I have friends who only shoot one type of photo. They’re masters at that, and they get paid for that. I also have friends who wake up one morning and decide that they’re going to design a jigsaw puzzle, and then they do it.
I don’t think either way is right or wrong I think it’s just about being vulnerable with your work and challenging yourself and staying out of your comfort zone. If you’re doing that you’re probably on your path.
GVN: Do you have any favorite moments from the filming process that you can share with us?
There are so many of them. I think a lot of the diner [scenes] were great because the performances were really honest and vulnerable. That was a hard night because we shot thirteen pages in one night. That was a tricky night because it was the hardest, but it was the most gratifying and fulfilling. To see that be some of the best work on the editing floor was something I was really proud of.
GVN: Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on next?
Yeah, you know the Writer’s Strike just ended, so things are starting to pick up again. I’m working on my next film, but also reading a lot of stuff. I’m just doing everything in my power to in this moment to stay present. [Making my directorial debut] is a lifelong dream [being fulfilled]. I’m not really thinking too far ahead now. I’m working on some things, but really just [enjoying] the present and staying grounded.
Story Ave is currently playing in select theaters in New York. The film will make its debut in Los Angeles theaters Friday, October 13th. Be sure to check out Geek Vibes Nation’s review of the film here.
Writer. Video Essayist. Film/TV Critic. Pop Culture Enthusiast.
When he isn’t writing for Geek Vibes Nation or The Cinema Spot, Tristian can be found typing away at one of the novels or screenplays he’s been working on forever.