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Exclusive InterviewQ: With your extensive experience and various roles in filmmaking, could you share a particularly memorable challenge you faced on set and how you navigated through it?I was working on an independent film in Puerto Rico and we were scheduled to shoot a scene in a mortuary. It was a Saturday and it was supposed to be closed. Turns out, it wasn%u2019t. There was actually a funeral service in progress and we had to maneuver through it when we arrived. Later, the DP comes up to me looking like he%u2019s seen a ghost. He takes me down these corridors and, as we round a corner, I see a number of open caskets with people in them. I just remember feeling like my brain shut down. I really had to struggle to remain calm. We had no choice but to continue with the shoot and this was the only place for it. As if that weren%u2019t bad enough, one of our actors was on an embalming table and we get a message that they are bringing in a body to be embalmed. All of this on top of blistering heat and humidity. This was a situation that definitely proved to be a challenge. Q: Transitioning between big-budget productions and independent films requires adaptability. Could you share some insight into your approach when working within different budgetary constraints and how you maintain your creative vision regardless of the project%u2019s scale?The formula is the formula. How you make a sandwich is how you make a sandwich. The differing factors are what kind of bread, meat, or cheese you use. The important thing is to tell the story and to communicate as best you can on what%u2019s doable and what%u2019s not. It%u2019s about being aware of the budget and approaching it with that in mind while also retaining the film%u2019s message. All budgets have their challenges. But if you stick to the basics of what you know and what it takes to achieve the result you%u2019re looking for, and you know the right people to work with, you%u2019ll be alright. Q: As someone who has embodied both the roles of actor and director, do you find one role influencing the other in unexpected ways?As a director, I need to keep the entire project and its message in mind. While guiding the actors, their contributions help solidify certain elements that may have still been %u2018floating in the air%u2019%u2014things that I might not articulate aloud but am mentally concerned about. The actors%u2019 performances provide stability to the world we%u2019re creating. There%u2019s an ebb and flow to the process. The characters exist within the world I%u2019m crafting, and it becomes a very collaborative effort.Q: How do you establish trust and communication to bring out the best performances from your fellow actors while wearing that hat of a director?As a director or producer, or anybody in that world, you just have to open the lines of communication. You%u2019re expected to have all the answers, but you have to realize that it%u2019s okay to not have all of them. That%u2019s where the communication comes into play. As long as you know what you%u2019re looking for, then you can give the actors the anchors to hold onto and, collectively, you can shape things. Sometimes they%u2019re aligned and sometimes they%u2019re not. Sometimes you just have to let them do what they%u2019re feeling for a take or two to express it. Afterall, you never know what you%u2019ll need in the editing room. They may give you something unexpected and great. It%u2019s all about teamwork. It%u2019s a cohesive collectiveness.From your involvement in television projects to your work in cinema, you%u2019ve demonstrated a wide range of versatility. How do you balance the unique demands of these mediums, and do you find one more creatively rewarding than the other?One tends to have a longer runway than the other and each requires a different approach. In TV, with numerous episodes, there%u2019s more flexibility to adjust the story along the way. Films, on the other hand, require getting the beats right from the start since there%u2019s less room for adjustments. TV shows move faster with tighter deadlines while films offer a bit more breathing room. Also, TV can foster a sense of family and teamwork over multiple seasons, though I%u2019ve personally experienced the sense of a family unit on film as well.82 MOST MAGAZINE - ISSUE 45