ABOUT THE ARTIST
Brandon Wallace Sr., aka The Chocolate Octopus, is a Director, Photographer, Producer, Screenwriter, VOG, Published Author, Artist, Woodsman, and Teacher. ✍️
Born into a Marine Corps family with an extensive military heritage, Brandon Sr. was taught at a very young age the virtue of hard work while growing up in Louisiana. “My parents are the inspiration for my many talents,” Wallace Sr. explains. “My dad would work three jobs and my mom two (one of them was raising us!), just to keep a roof over our heads, food on the table, and our butts out of the streets.”
Brandon developed a knack for learning complex things quickly by watching his father. But none of what he learned really kept his attention – except for movies. “My dad is a movie aficionado – especially action movies”, He said. “The way he gets into them is a sight to see. I loved to watch them with him; all while pretending not to be impressed by the spectacle that is Hollywood. My mother, however, was not fooled.” One day, while acting out a scene from a film, Brandon’s mother said to him “why don’t you grow up and learn to make movies? You certainly have the imagination for it.” It was then, at the age of 16, Brandon realized that his dream was to be a feature film director. Little did he know that the road would just get harder from there. But, he was more than ready for the challenge.
In the 23 years since realizing his calling, Brandon has moved to Texas and developed his talents to become an Editor, Director, Photographer, and Producer. He started directing, editing and producing his own short films because he could not afford the big film schools. “The public library became my friend,” Brandon recounts. I learned a lot of what I know by reading it and then applying it. The rest was taught to me by Ron Wojnar. He is the best instructor in the Digital Video and Cinema Production program at Northwest Vista College.”
Brandon got his big break as an editor on a project for MALDEF in 2006. From there, he moved on to commercial clients like Pillsbury, Fiber One, Nestle and Yoplait; then into network television as a lead editor on “The Lost Book of Nostradamus” for the History channel. He then got his break as a director for 4 episodes of the hit series “Jurassic Fight Club” for the same network. “That was fun”, Brandon recounts. “That show was the most challenging project I was ever a part of. The team I worked with was excellent. Initially, one of the creators of the show was supposed to direct the entire series. But, because the network moved the delivery date up a few months, the editors got a chance to direct 2½ acts of their respective shows. And we delivered on time.”
Brandon began learning still photography as a hobby in 2003. But as all hobbies go, when you invest time and resources, it becomes so much more. “Today, I can shoot anything because when I started to learn, I shot everything,” he says. “It’s all part of my arsenal of visual communication skills that I took pride in developing. When I went home from work, I was moonlighting as a studio photographer. Kind of crazy to do when you are sometimes working close to 80 hours a week, I know.”
Today, Brandon is still on his journey; and the dream is very much alive. He has become a unique talent in that he can produce excellent content for broadcast, print and digital markets. Reflecting on how the journey has changed him, Brandon said “I didn’t realize that it would take this long to get where I want to go. But I learned from my parents that people truly do not appreciate something unless they’ve had to earn it.”
And earn it he has.