Sit down with creative communications professional, Angeline Abrera

Today we're speaking to a peer of mine — Angeline Abrera. Although we've only known each other for a short amount of time, I've always been very impressed and inspired by her happy spirit, strong passion and creativity. The first conversation we ever had was filled with us excitedly talking about our passions and careers, plus giving each other tips on upcoming opportunities. There's never a dull moment with her, and I'm excited to share her journey with you.

What is it about the communications that attracts you to it?

What attracts me to communication is the storytelling, and how there are just so many different areas you can go into. When you first think of communications, you usually think that you have to be this very extroverted person to be a part of the communications field, but I am the total opposite. I feel like I don't present myself that way, but I'm very much introverted.

Everything that I do with my creative work, like photography and graphic design, it's a very independent hobby, but when I found out that communications was actually in that same field of my hobbies, I thought, "Hey, I can actually do this." It's not what I thought it was going to be.

But again, what attracts me to it is the storytelling, and that can be in literally any form, whether that's a news package, photography, film, even graphic design or digital art. Everything you create inevitably has a story, and I love how you can use different mediums in order to portray it.

What have been some of your favorite projects throughout your career?

In high school I was in a film class and, at first, I did not want to do film — I had signed up for a photography class, but on the first day of school they told me they had to put me in a film class. I was so set on photography, but it ended up working out. We kept doing different projects and I just thought, "Wait, I actually really like this." I had loved cameras so much that I was willing to do anything with them.

In the class, we had to do a news package and this was the first time I actually stepped out and took a larger role in a news package. This was the PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs news package that I did in Washington D.C. We basically had to work with other students from across the country along with our mentors from PBS on the Wenatchee Youths Circus package.

This was one of my favorite projects I've ever done because I actually got to step out into the field, in a place I'm not really comfortable with or that I knew anything about while working with people I didn't know. Also taking a role in doing the interviews and being the main editor of the package was really cool.

My other favorite project was for one of our Creative Work minor classes, Poetics & Performance where I did a photography project that highlighted different women of color and showed that they're more than just what society perceives them as. It was about also highlighting their craft; for example, I shot photos of my friend who's a dancer, my friend's mom who owns her own bakery, my mentor who I look up to for everything in my life and then also my boss who has so much energy all the time.

How did you find the opportunity to work with PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs?

That's funny, actually, because that was my first year ever taking a film class. It was in the second half of the year when our teacher (she's also one of my role models) told us about the opportunity, and most of the class were like, "Oh, I'm not going to apply because I probably won't get it."

One night I was just looking at their website and thought that the opportunity was really cool, and even though I didn't have a lot of experience, I loved editing — so I just applied. A few months later I got an email saying I was accepted, and I was one of 20 students that were chosen in the nation. Considering I didn't have any experience, I was really shocked.

I guess my life motto now is "The worst they can say is no." That's the mindset I have going into almost everything I do. After that experience, I just kept applying to more and more things — I ended up being one in three women who got the Gwen Ifill Fellowship with Houston Public Media that year. I also did another news package with them through that mindset.

So you've had quite a few experiences with news media, but are there other experiences you've had with other types of media that have allowed you to explore and find what you want to do?

Yeah, definitely. Around the same time, junior and senior year of high school, I started doing videography and photography work on my own. My English teacher asked my friends and I to help her make a promotional video for Houston Play on Purpose, which is an organization where she writes plays that cater to different social issues within the Houston area. We ended up helping her with almost every single one of her plays.

That's what made me realize that I really do love the entertainment aspect of communications. Even before then, though, I was always inspired by music — fun fact, I actually play guitar and did choir throughout high school, and also some in college. I feel like I should have known from the start that the music industry is something I’ve always wanted to pursue regardless, but because I had focused so much on film, I kind of strayed away from that. Now, though, I know that I want to pursue working for a record label.

In fact, I had an internship with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo working their social media and helping them shoot photos on the grounds. NCT 127, one of my favorite groups, was performing that year and so I told my boss that I had a video idea for them. I'd been learning about how fans are the backbone of the music industry, so I kept thinking, "If I didn't have this internship then what would I, as a fan, want to see?"

So I had the idea of the NCT 127 members trying different rodeo foods because it's just so unique to rodeo and to Houston. I pitched the idea to my boss and she liked it, but it didn't really work with the managers. However, it was still cool for me to see the process of that.

I also shot some pictures of them with my camera during their concert, and one of the pictures ended up being chosen for the rodeo's Twitter account. NCT 127 ended up retweeting my picture, which was just so cool.

The Houston Rodeo definitely inspired me even more to pursue the entertainment industry because I also just love concerts and live shows. So whether it’s me working in film or music, I’ll be happy with either one.

You're also planning on studying abroad this December.

Yeah, at the time of my applying to study abroad, I was starting to get into K-pop, so I thought about going to Seoul, South Korea. I'm going to take a class called Mass Media and Pop Culture in South Korea. I'm really excited to learn more about the pop culture landscape.

Initially, my plan was to go abroad in the summer of 2020, but with COVID, that didn't end up happening. We've been able to push the trip back, so fingers crossed it does happen. I've always wanted to study abroad; it's just something I want to do for myself before I graduate.

As a creative involved in the digital media landscape, what are some of your favorite mediums/techniques/colors to use for your visual work?

I feel like it varies between different mediums. For photography, I like a lot of neutral colors like browns, beige, blacks, whites and a lot of green. I also just love having the Bokeh effect in the back of my photographs, that blurry effect in the background.

As for my digital work, I'm still learning and it's something that I do for fun, but it's the complete opposite approach. I love having a pop of color on literally every project I do. I also love playing around with different color palettes because I'm still learning and finding my own style in that area. I don't use Photoshop, I mainly use Procreate and Canva for my projects.

As for my favorite medium overall, this one is really hard, but maybe videography and photography. In high school, my friends and I did a documentary project and I realized that I love how literally even just the smallest millisecond of cutting a certain clip can change everything. I'm not much of an After Effects graphics person, but I love arranging the different clips and cutting the story up in that way.

As for photography, it started out as a hobby but I'm now sort of running my own photography business, which is crazy. I also didn’t realize how long I’ve been doing freelance work because I think I started in my junior year of high school.

What did you start doing first, photography or videography?

That's a good question, actually. When I was little, I had this one-shot mini camera that I would bring everywhere. My family and I went on a trip to Dallas and I remember taking a picture of a flag or of people and making sure everything was placed just right. I always liked to take pictures of my family.

I also did the same with video. My cousin and I would make random little videos when we were growing up in her house, so I feel like everything I did back then has evolved to what this is right now. I feel like everything's happened gradually, there's not one distinct moment where I thought, "I'm going to pick up the camera and pursue photography/videography.”

What are some things you want to try out in your photography, videography and graphic design?

One thing I really want to try is more creative compositions because right now I do a lot of graduation portraits and a lot of photography work that feels very formal and straightforward. With my friend who's a dancer, I remember having so much fun getting her to pose in different ways and, because she's a dancer, she was able to make a lot of different fluid movements. So I want to do more creative compositions, more creative portraits.

For videography, I remember a few months ago I said that I wanted to make little edits of my life, like small vlogs on videos on Tik Tok. I wanted to push myself to record stuff and actually make something for fun. I feel like I often get bogged down with big video projects through my work, so when it comes to personal videos, it's like I don't want to do it anymore. With video, I often want to make everything big and perfect so I'd like to push myself to make something more casual and laid back, like cute little vlogs.

You also have a very defined presence on your instagram. how would you describe your own personal style?

It took me so, so, so long to get to where my personal style is today. If anything, COVID did it for me because at the beginning of the pandemic, I was just really struggling to find my own personal style, both physically and on social media. I remember scrolling through different accounts and just thinking, "Oh my gosh, theirs is so much better than mine." I tried to mimic their aesthetic/style when I would post on Instagram, but I was never satisfied with it. Now. all of those posts are archived on my account.

As unfortunate as COVID is, it came to a point where I was spending so much time at home and with myself, I stopped comparing myself to others, where I was able to find my own personal style and especially, with my wardrobe, too. Just looking at me from a year ago today, it's like a totally different person. I even look different, too.
Wardrobe wise, I really love street fashion. That's the style I’m going for, the dream wardrobe I'm aiming for honestly. I’ve always been super into neutral colors in my wardrobe but now that I’ve found and created my own personal style, it’s very colorful now, so just the total opposite!

Do you think your personal style influences your creative work? If so, in what ways?

I feel like finding my personal style has influenced what I create, reflecting my own style within my work. A lot of it had to do with the confidence that I had in myself. Again, me scrolling mindlessly on Instagram and every other social media platform meant I was caught up in what people would think of me.

I love what I put out, and I love what my account looks like now. I never had a feed that I really liked or style that I liked, and it's just crazy that now because I don't care what people think of me, or I’m not comparing my work to other people, I've built that confidence for myself.

With each account having their own aesthetic or theme, it took me a long time to make that happen. A year ago, I remember texting my friend, asking her whether I should post a certain photo, or which theme would look better for my personal instagram account. And she straight-up told me, "Angeline, you should post whatever you like. Do whatever YOU like." I needed that push for me to realize that I was so caught-up in comparing myself that it made me less confident in myself.

This is not to say that I care what my accounts look like on Instagram, going against everything that I said about not caring what people think of me haha, but because I am in the industry of media and entertainment, it’s just something fun that I love keeping up with. And of course to put myself out there in a very competitive industry.

What motivates you in your work?

I'm honestly pretty self-motivated. A lot of the things I work on are things that I want to do, so it's not a chore or anything.

When I was working with my mentor, Holly Charles (owner of Houston Play on Purpose), it was really cool to see that she was doing something for her community through art, through storytelling. It was honestly amazing to watch Holly use her own form of self-expression to help the people around her. If anything, that’s one of the main things that has always motivated me in everything I do, to help people in my community.

This goes back to why I'm a double major in Media Production and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. I’m really interested in intersectionality, specifically the representation of different groups of people in the media, and how those portrayals and stereotypes are often harmful in the way we view said groups in real life. My goal for the entertainment industry is to not only make it more diverse and inclusive, but also equitable for everyone that we see on and off the screen. Whether this is at a music award show, a film, tv show, etc.

I even talked about this in a panel about diversity in the media industry with NAMLE and PBS NewsHour. We were asked, "How is diversity changing the world of storytelling, especially in young storytellers?" So I explained how, growing up, I didn't see a lot of Filipino representation, especially for Asian-Americans. And even when we do see someone like us on screen, the roles are very stereotypical, the men being “nerds” or “undesirable” and the women being “shy” and “submissive.”

I feel like the main thing that motivates me is that I want to help either create a film or be part of a campaign to help better represent other people, and even young girls like me. Whenever you're watching a show or movie and these images of certain stereotypes repeat over and over again, it makes you believe that’s how they are in real life. And it's just not the case.

I want to contribute to the equity and inclusion aspect of media because you can have so much diversity within your characters, but if you're not inclusive about it or they're just background characters, then that does nothing for your “progressive agenda.” At that point, you can hit every social issue in your project, creating this very diverse space on screen. But at the end of the day, you're just trying to cancel out the lack of them being the main character, or the lack of a diverse group behind the scenes. It’s all very performative.

Again, there are a lot of films where they include LGBTQ+ individuals, minorities and other marginalized groups, but they're all mostly just in the background. And even when they are the main character, it’s all centered around their struggle or hardship. I just the main thing I’ve been asking myself this whole time is, why can’t we have a happy, feel good movie, or even a coming of age film that doesn’t center around all of that, just like the many upbeat films of white, cis-gender men and women. I want to help move the industry forward in this way.

This summer I had an internship with a mentoring organization called 1520 Vision for young people who want to pursue the music industry. I got to learn a lot from other music professionals, and the talks that I attended would be based around how we want to create a more diverse and inclusive industry. Throughout these calls, I definitely see this as a common goal that everyone wants for our industry in whatever shape or form, whether that's in a film, music or whatever it is.

When you picture yourself in the next five years, what do you hope you’re doing?

That's a good question. I don't know. I hope that whatever work I'm doing is able to help other people. I've never pictured myself doing work just to do it — as cheesy as it sounds, even growing up I always wanted to help people.
When it comes to an actual occupation, I really hope I'm going to be in a record label. There's no one specific label, but I feel like Republic Records would be cool because they have a lot of artists I like there.

However, one thing I really want to do is work on a Marvel movie. I've been really into Marvel lately, especially with the release of Shang-Chi putting out an all Asian cast film and of course, where the lead superhero is Asian.

A majority of the superheroes in Marvel are White, with their best friend or “sidekick” being a person of color. If I was in Marvel, I would want to push for that change in representation, creating a more diverse pool of lead superheroes.
Hollywood/the Western Media Industry in general is just so used to posing the white man as a lead, with a person of color best friend, but why can’t they both be people of color?

This is nothing against the characters we have because I absolutely love all of them, but when you think about it in general across all films, it's as if we have to have a reason in order to make that happen, as if it’s some crazy thing to do to not have a white person be a part of the main characters. So then again, why not create this change?

What are some projects or experiences you’re looking forward to doing in the future?

I actually got accepted into an internship last night, which I’m really excited about! My friend referred me to this College Creator Program at The Digilogue that centers around the music industry. Their purpose is building community within the industry to help aspiring entertainment individuals, like myself, find resources and even discover new music and artists. I’ll basically be a Digilogue representative for Houston and UH! This internship also serves as a mentorship, as I'll be listening in on different professionals speak to us every week.
Can’t wait for this to be another stepping stone into my career.

What are some tips you might have for other young creatives?

One of the main tips I have for other young creatives is to put your work out there. A lot of people are very hesitant to post their stuff on social media, but I made my graphics account just for myself because I wanted to post for fun and also to have a place where I can track my growth, and archival space for all of my projects. It’s a way to not only see my progress but even serves as a portfolio that I can send off to other people.

What or who are some of your inspirations?

My inspirations are people close to me. Holly Charles, who I talked about earlier, is one of them. She's a diversity and inclusion speaker so she speaks to different companies about how diversity and inclusion is important. She also works in public relations, and I've actually worked alongside her for a few projects when she brings me in for something. If anything, I probably got my love for media, entertainment and social work from her. Funny thing is, she was my junior year high school English teacher, so as much as she’s seen me grow up, I've watched her grow up, too. She just truly inspires me.

My other inspiration is my film teacher from high school who helped me get the PBS NewsHour opportunity in Washington D.C., Cindy Stoker. Funny because at the time, I was incredibly shy, mostly because I was new to film, and she was the total opposite. That being said, I was always scared to come up to her and ask questions or for help in general. Fast forward to today, she’s the MAIN person I go to for help from my resume, a mock interview, or even her asking me to help her with something. Our relationship has evolved so much, but if anything, she’s the one who helped me break out of my shell.
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You can follow Angeline on Instagram, as well as check out her graphic design work, photography and videography.