Monique Yvonne (00:00):
I’m basically known as a one person film production.
Ross Borden (00:02):
You’re making films by yourself, and you’re doing the lighting, the acting, the writing, the directing, and the
Monique Yvonne (00:09):
Editing. Yes, everything.
Ross Borden (00:10):
People need to see these to appreciate how cinematic they are and how you shoot, and how creative the different shots are.
Monique Yvonne (00:16):
You can start with just your phone or with a small camcorder. You can do anything you put your mind to with just the right amount of creativity and showing up for yourself every day. That’s all you really need.
Ross Borden (00:28):
This is Creator, the podcast for Matador Network. I’m your host, Ross Borden, and I believe creators are the future of all global advertising. So join me as I sit down with top creators to hear about how they got started, the challenges they’ve overcome, and the tips you need to become a full-time creator. All right, we’re back with another episode of Creator the podcast today, very special guest, Monique, Yvonne. Monique, thanks for joining.
Monique Yvonne (00:57):
Thank you for having me. This is great.
Ross Borden (00:59):
So tell us about you as a creator. You make these incredible short films, or maybe you’re making some longer form stuff right now. I discovered you on TikTok and you do something called Self Films.
Monique Yvonne (01:13):
Yes. Yeah. I am basically known as a one person film production where I’m in front and also behind the camera with also doing all the technical stuff.
Ross Borden (01:23):
So basically you’re making films by yourself and you’re doing the lighting, the acting, the writing, the directing and the editing.
Monique Yvonne (01:31):
Yes. Yeah, everything.
Ross Borden (01:32):
And how do you get into that? How did you start doing that?
Monique Yvonne (01:35):
It started with self-portrait photography, and I started that when I was 12 years old, and I kept doing that until I was 19 or 20 years old, and that’s kind of when the TikTok stuff started, and I
Ross Borden (01:50):
Was that the first platform when you started dabbling in video, you were doing tiktoks?
Monique Yvonne (01:54):
Yeah. Yeah, it was TikTok.
Ross Borden (01:56):
And the first video I saw of yours, you kind of walk the audience through how you made the film and you’re doing all these crazy different angles. A lot of your cinematography is just amazing. You’ve got the DSLR camera stuck to the ceiling. You’re doing these really creative shots. Is that really difficult? I would imagine, because shooting films, you usually only have to worry about acting or being in the film, but you’re also doing all these other things, and everyone’s been there when they’re trying to get the perfect vacation shot and balance the camera on a rock and then run back. But you’re doing an entire fine art film like that. So what is that? How do you pull that off?
Monique Yvonne (02:45):
I think it’s so fun. It feels like a hobby to me. It doesn’t feel like work. It is still hard work. It takes several hours up to usually eight, probably for filming. I do all my films usually in one day. So it takes about around eight hours, eight to 12, maybe 12 is crazy, but it depends on the project. But yeah, I see it more as fun than work, so it’s kind of easy for me.
Ross Borden (03:13):
It definitely seems like you embrace the challenge and you’re going through the creative process, and then I love it. It’s like the ultimate payoff when the audience gets to see, you’re like, all right. With that said, let’s watch the film. And the end of the TikTok video is the film itself. So am I right that a lot of these are short films? Are you doing longer form stuff as well?
Monique Yvonne (03:32):
Yeah, these are considered short films, but I’m wanting something more than just one minute long. I am aiming for more 15 to 30 minute long films and then hopefully to features as soon as possible, but, but shorts are really cool too. You can do a lot with them.
Ross Borden (03:50):
I think you’re well on your way to the features. I think a lot of the places that you go, they’re really, how do you choose what you’re going to do? How do you get inspired to make a film by yourself?
Monique Yvonne (04:04):
It kind of depends. Usually on a prop or a location, a lot of times, most of my locations are either at my house or I just find it driving. I just find it somehow, and then I usually work around it with no storyline until I find one.
Ross Borden (04:21):
And you live here in Los Angeles?
Monique Yvonne (04:23):
Yes. Yeah, I do.
Ross Borden (04:24):
Awesome. And by the way, we’re recording at Lighthouse, the new curator space in Venice, which is pretty amazing.
Monique Yvonne (04:30):
After high school, I moved to LA and that’s when I started taking my self portraits again because I wanted to get signed by a modeling agency.
Ross Borden (04:40):
So it started as taking self portraits when you got to LA to get signed by the modeling agency, and then you’re like, this is actually a fun challenge. And you just started getting into being the actor in your own films.
Monique Yvonne (04:52):
Yeah, yeah. It kind of worked. I started it to get signed, and then a few months later I did, and I was like, I can do the same thing for film, probably
Ross Borden (05:02):
Amazing.
Monique Yvonne (05:03):
So it’s been like my,
Ross Borden (05:04):
What was the first film you did?
Monique Yvonne (05:07):
It was just be dancing in my living room after a person leaves your home. When you’re finally alone, you can just have fun. And that was really the idea of my first film.
Ross Borden (05:18):
And tell us about a couple of these, because I really think that people need to see these to appreciate how cinematic they are and how you shoot and how creative the different shots are. So what are a couple of your favorite films that you’ve done recently?
Monique Yvonne (05:38):
XO X is my favorite one.
Ross Borden (05:39):
That’s where you’re passing the notes? The
Monique Yvonne (05:43):
The little TicTacToe sheet from under the door,
Ross Borden (05:45):
The tac toe.
Monique Yvonne (05:46):
And that story happened because I actually got locked into the bathroom that way, and my roommate at the time had to let me out, and I was like, that’s actually such a great film idea. And I just love the concept of playing games with the universe and fate and stuff like that. So that’s why I really like that one.
Ross Borden (06:06):
So you actually got locked in a bathroom in real life, and you’re like, hang on. That’s an idea for a film.
Monique Yvonne (06:11):
Yeah.
Ross Borden (06:12):
That’s amazing. Alright. And where was that shot at your house?
Monique Yvonne (06:16):
Yes, it was at the time.
Ross Borden (06:17):
Okay. And what about the Billie Eilish inspired film? Tell us about that a little bit.
Monique Yvonne (06:27):
I was just going through a breakup at that time, and I was also just starting to really understand film and that I can bring out emotions in other people from just showing it. So I just try it out. And
Ross Borden (06:44):
Describe that film for the audience. I mean, it is like heart wrenching, definitely. You are very distressed, your character in the film,
Monique Yvonne (06:55):
It was just to show the reality of heartbreak and how it can affect your day-to-day living, at least for a short amount of time.
Ross Borden (07:04):
And maybe you weren’t completely acting because you were going through a breakup in real life,
Monique Yvonne (07:10):
But I think that is the best way to create art, is kind of expressing how you feel in the moment. Yeah,
Ross Borden (07:15):
And it seems like that one, I think went super viral on your channels and a lot of people related to it and touched a lot of people, I think.
Monique Yvonne (07:26):
Yeah.
Ross Borden (07:27):
Did you ever get a DM that blew you away? Did Billie Eilish ever like your video or reach out?
Monique Yvonne (07:34):
No, she didn’t.
Ross Borden (07:35):
For most people that would be a ridiculous question, but this video went mega massive, and the outpouring of support and the amount of people that were moved by her film that was based on her song was pretty crazy.
Monique Yvonne (07:48):
Yeah, no, she never did anything.
Ross Borden (07:50):
When I was just watching that, I was like, I wonder if Bill Eilish actually reached out to her because this is like, she made a film, a cinematic film that’s super emotional based on her song.
Monique Yvonne (08:01):
Yeah,
Ross Borden (08:02):
I thought there could be a chance.
Monique Yvonne (08:03):
Zendaya posted. I did a shoot based on Zendaya, and she posted on her story and I thought that was so sweet. I thought it was really cool.
Ross Borden (08:11):
That’s awesome. Yeah. So Monique, walk us through your creative process. When you do a self film, are you writing everything down? Are you storyboarding every shot? Are you just experimenting with whatever works at the moment?
Monique Yvonne (08:26):
It totally depends on the project because if it’s one that I’m making up on the spot due to just time restraints or something, I don’t know. I just take my camera everywhere that I think looks cool. Like the church video that the knock that happens at the end. I had no idea where that came from. I didn’t know what that story was about. I was just taking shots in cool places, and then I just,
Ross Borden (08:51):
But you know who knocked or No,
Monique Yvonne (08:53):
I have no idea.
Ross Borden (08:54):
I saw you scared during that one. You were setting up the camera, you’re like, okay, I’m actually scared right now.
Monique Yvonne (09:00):
Yeah, no, I was actually getting freaked out. I was getting freaked out.
Ross Borden (09:04):
So the knock that we hear on the film, was that a ghost? We don’t
Monique Yvonne (09:09):
Know who that was. Know. We don’t know who that was.
Ross Borden (09:11):
Wow. Okay.
Monique Yvonne (09:12):
Creepy stuff, man.
Ross Borden (09:14):
Where was that church?
Monique Yvonne (09:15):
It was in the middle of Joshua Tree somewhere.
Ross Borden (09:18):
Okay.
Monique Yvonne (09:18):
Yeah, it was odd.
Ross Borden (09:21):
Yeah, it was amazing. It looked like a professional set. It was very picturesque, a little spooky, a little scary, but it was in the desert, this church by itself. And then the train came by timing, it looks like a professional movie set.
Monique Yvonne (09:38):
That was one of my favorite ones. I didn’t use any lighting for that besides I think one reflector for one thing.
Ross Borden (09:44):
So for something like that, are you just driving on a road trip and you’re like, you’re like, oh, look at that. It’s hot. That’s my set. I’m going to pull over and start shooting there. Totally. Did anyone even know you were there, or do you just walked in and started making your film?
Monique Yvonne (10:01):
I had a friend that was recording a music video nearby in Luca. I don’t know. And I just kind ventured off and I found some cool stuff.
Ross Borden (10:12):
But you weren’t like, Hey, owner of this church, can I use this for a film?
Monique Yvonne (10:17):
I think she had the rights to anything in that area
Ross Borden (10:20):
For
Monique Yvonne (10:20):
Her filming. So she was kind of like, everything might just be free game if you want to just roll around, see what you find.
Ross Borden (10:26):
And what about the one that was shot with? I think it was the Battle of Good and Dark and Light in yourself. Can you talk about that film a little bit and where that was shot?
Monique Yvonne (10:38):
Yeah. I went to Morocco after Switzerland just because it was just a random thing I wanted to do, and I just thought of it because of the staircase. I was like, how can I make a film here? I can’t film outside. It’s disrespectful to film people just living their life there. So I was like, how do I make something here? And I just saw the staircase spiral and I was like, it’s kind of dark, but it would be kind of sick.
Ross Borden (11:05):
What was that place? Was it a hotel?
Monique Yvonne (11:07):
It was an Airbnb.
Ross Borden (11:08):
It was an Airbnb.
Monique Yvonne (11:09):
Yeah, it was like 300 bucks. I was like, this is cool.
Ross Borden (11:12):
Wow. Where in Morocco was that?
Monique Yvonne (11:14):
Tanger.
Ross Borden (11:15):
Okay.
Monique Yvonne (11:16):
I was there for the week.
Ross Borden (11:18):
And then what about some of your, can you just sort of talk about each of your films? I forget we’ve talked about xoxo or XOX, but can we go one at a time for your five favorite films? And you just
Monique Yvonne (11:34):
Walk
Ross Borden (11:34):
Us through a little bit where they were filmed, the creative process.
Monique Yvonne (11:39):
So the titles are what I struggle with a little bit, but there’s one where I’m digging in a field somewhere. I didn’t know what I was digging for. I knew it was something inside of a box, but I didn’t think that out yet. But a field when I was driving home and I just pulled over, I got a shovel from Home Depot, and I just filmed me digging there. There was a few people driving and walking around where I thought I could get in trouble for that, but it was sick. And there was an airplane it called. There was an airport nearby. And so this small little airplane kept flying over my head and I got it in one of the shots. I just put my camera inside of a ditch, like a hole that I dug.
Ross Borden (12:21):
So for some of these, I mean, did you know what the whole film was going to be when you’re just furiously digging in the field? So you’re just kind of going, coming up with the coolest shots, and then the stories themselves unfolding.
Monique Yvonne (12:35):
And a lot of times the audience makes the film themselves as well. That’s cool.
Ross Borden (12:40):
What do you mean by that?
Monique Yvonne (12:42):
They make their own endings, especially with the church specifically. People had 50 different endings to that and possibilities for what it could be about. They know more about my films than I do sometimes, and I think it’s cool.
Ross Borden (12:56):
That is really cool. It means different things to different people and they even like what the film or how it ended is different compared to based on who the viewer is.
Monique Yvonne (13:05):
Yeah, no, actually. So it’s kind of good to know less in some cases and if it adds any more comfort to people. I don’t know how to use my camera at all. I never don’t know the main three functions of my camera, but I just move everything around until it looks. Okay.
Ross Borden (13:22):
What about editing and post-production? Are you doing these films with Premier, with Cap Cut? How are you editing?
Monique Yvonne (13:32):
I used my phone for every single film up until the Switzerland video. Then I started using DaVinci, but everything was filmed on my mean, edited on my phone.
Ross Borden (13:42):
And are you going to stick with DaVinci now or are you
Monique Yvonne (13:45):
Yeah. Yeah. It’s hard to go back. I think I’m using files now that can’t be on my phone, but I wish I could keep being on my phone with it.
Ross Borden (13:54):
But all the other films that we see on your channel, were all basically phone only.
Monique Yvonne (14:00):
Yeah, every single one.
Ross Borden (14:02):
So what you’re telling us is you don’t need to get fancy with the equipment to start making amazing films.
Monique Yvonne (14:07):
Exactly.
Ross Borden (14:07):
Just go to Home Depot, buy a shovel, a light,
Monique Yvonne (14:12):
And you got
Ross Borden (14:12):
It. Find a field, find a church.
Monique Yvonne (14:14):
Yeah.
Ross Borden (14:15):
What about the Switzerland film that you made with our friend from Creator Camp?
Monique Yvonne (14:21):
Tell
Ross Borden (14:22):
Us about that whole experience.
Monique Yvonne (14:24):
It was beautiful. I got to go on a trip with Creator Camp to meet 80 other creators from around the world, and we all had a camp there for a week and get to know each other and make films and stuff like that. So that film actually was just random footage I took around the country
Ross Borden (14:47):
On the trip.
Monique Yvonne (14:47):
Yeah, we went to a few different regions throughout the week, and then I went to after, so I did my own traveling and a part of theirs too.
Ross Borden (14:58):
And so you started filming that during the Creator Camp session, and then you kind of finished the film
Monique Yvonne (15:04):
Throughout
Ross Borden (15:04):
Your travels afterwards.
Monique Yvonne (15:06):
Yeah. Yeah, it was awesome.
Ross Borden (15:08):
That’s cool. Yeah, I really love that one too. And I know that’s a really amazing community of people for young creators.
Monique Yvonne (15:17):
They really know how to bring people together. It feels like a second family to me.
Ross Borden (15:21):
Tell people about that experience a little bit. So how does it work and how you, can anyone go to creator camp or how does the whole thing work?
Monique Yvonne (15:31):
I believe they have it where you can reach out to them and either pitch yourself or other people that are creatives, but the process kind of looks like they just reached out to me, and so they’re going on a trip and if I’d be open to getting on a phone call that they could make it happen. And I later found out that it was to Switzerland, and I was like, I’m not going to believe it until I get a ticket or something. And then the time just kind of came up really quick and we all got to meet. It was insane.
Ross Borden (16:02):
I mean, what an incredible place to get to go collaborate with each other
Monique Yvonne (16:05):
And go on
Ross Borden (16:06):
An actual trip to Switzerland. We Matador sponsored one of their earlier sessions in Utah, but yeah, I saw that they were working with the Swiss tourism board and I was like, oh, that’s going to be amazing for all the creators to go to Switzerland.
Monique Yvonne (16:21):
And I’m used to spending so much time alone that I don’t really have friends at all in LA especially. I don’t talk to anyone. I’m in my room every day. Really? Yes, every single
Ross Borden (16:32):
Day. Why is that?
Monique Yvonne (16:34):
I didn’t really get along with the certain crowds I got into. I wouldn’t even say get along. It’s just I love people that are passionate about art and the things that I love as well. And it was really hard for me to find that in the community in la. So being in Switzerland was a different story of finding everyone that had the same things in common, and it felt like such a safe place to just be.
Ross Borden (16:58):
I’ve heard that about Los Angeles. Why do you think that is? Why do you think it’s hard to find? Is it the competitiveness of la? Is it everyone’s trying to make it? Is it that people are, I mean, I don’t want to put a label on everyone from such a huge city, but why do you think that is that It’s hard to find that in Los Angeles.
Monique Yvonne (17:20):
I feel like it’s very surface level, and I know that that’s kind of the most common thing to hear here, but it’s very hard to get a human to human connection. It’s very either what’s your social media or the way that you look or what you’re wearing and stuff. It just doesn’t feel like a safe place to just be myself and to find other people that are open to being themselves as well.
Ross Borden (17:48):
And what is that for you? What is being yourself? We’re getting a little philosophical, but we want to get to know you a little bit more. And especially when you’re in the context of art and creating art and filmmaking. What do you think? Is that sort of your authentic self is what’s coming out in these films, these self films?
Monique Yvonne (18:12):
Yes, definitely. Yeah. I try to be as transparent as possible with how I’m feeling when I make something. And a lot of times I connect with the characters that I just make up and sometimes I don’t. I try to make it as much of me as possible.
Ross Borden (18:32):
And then as a creator, a lot of people are inspired. They want to do more fine art filmmaking like yourself. I don’t know. Would you categorize it as fine art filmmaking? Maybe? I’m putting so a label on it. I don’t know. It’s different. People will see it immediately. Your films are different than what you normally see on TikTok, but there’s also the monetization or the business side of being a creator. What has that been like for you? Is modeling kind of your day job and then you’re doing the films
Monique Yvonne (19:08):
On
Ross Borden (19:08):
The side? Yes.
Monique Yvonne (19:09):
It’s honestly so smart because you get a pretty good amount of money for one job that only takes about one day out of your few weeks. So you kind of have a lot of free time to be able to just film and express yourself on the days. You’re not doing castings and stuff.
Ross Borden (19:27):
But I have seen you’ve worked with some brands. Tell me about that. Did they reach out to you? How did those things come? I saw at least one. It was Apple Pay, I think. And you made a really cool, tell us about that project.
Monique Yvonne (19:41):
It was so fun. That was my first time really working with not a crew in regards to in the production team, but people to reach out to about I need this place to film in and this place and have people make it happen. That’s the first time I’ve ever had help, so it was a really cool experience for me.
Ross Borden (20:00):
What was the assignment? Were they just do anything? We love your channel?
Monique Yvonne (20:04):
Yeah, pretty much.
Ross Borden (20:06):
I think it was like, I’m going to make, I make a film with Apple Pay in one day or something like that.
Monique Yvonne (20:12):
Yeah, yeah. They wanted to show how can you make a short film using Apple Pay? And they’re like, you can just make whatever storyline you want for that.
Ross Borden (20:19):
And so what did you do?
Monique Yvonne (20:21):
I had myself just running around doing checklists of what I need and then showing me on the set working.
Ross Borden (20:28):
And you were what? You rented an Airbnb for it and found some, was there an airplane?
Monique Yvonne (20:35):
Oh yeah, it was a peer space that had an abandoned plane and
Ross Borden (20:40):
The abandoned plane and stuff like that
Monique Yvonne (20:42):
I saw. So I had no idea what I was going to do there. I was like, I’m just going to show up and film and hope I can make some type of story out of that.
Ross Borden (20:49):
It looked cool though. It was really?
Monique Yvonne (20:51):
Yeah, it looked cool. It was awesome. Yeah.
Ross Borden (20:53):
And what other brands have you worked with that you’ve been stoked on or were successful in terms of integrating your art to the brand?
Monique Yvonne (21:02):
Valentino has been really, really nice with me. They’ve just sent me their clothes and said, you can make anything. There’s no music restrictions or anything. Just do your thing.
Ross Borden (21:15):
And did that come through the modeling world or did they discover you as a filmmaker on social and were like, this is perfect. We want to work with this person?
Monique Yvonne (21:23):
Actually, I’m not sure which one it started with, but I usually have to have my agency involved when I’m working on big projects like that with Apple Pay. So it’s kind of like a teamwork thing just to, I don’t know. I think I just need to do it for contract purposes. Yeah, yeah.
Ross Borden (21:39):
Cool. And so what’s next? What’s next for you? I mean, you’re making films, you’re modeling, it’s paying the bills, and you have all this free time to create art, but what’s next and what are you driving towards right now?
Monique Yvonne (21:57):
My baby right now is I’m making a film that’s about 15 minutes long for my first film festival in Austin, but it’s also by the creator, camp people and Patreon.
Ross Borden (22:10):
Is the film completed? Are you done?
Monique Yvonne (22:12):
Yeah, I stopped filming two days ago.
Ross Borden (22:14):
Wow.
Monique Yvonne (22:14):
And it was my first time using a crew. Yeah,
Ross Borden (22:18):
Tell us about that. Was that weird? After doing all the self films, you’re like, whoa, I have all these people on set.
Monique Yvonne (22:24):
No, I mean, it was only a group of three. I had a pa, but then I had a DP and a gaffer, and that was it. It was amazing. It looks like it looks insane.
Ross Borden (22:35):
So give us the quick synopsis of the film or high level whatever you can share.
Monique Yvonne (22:40):
Yeah, no, in the most surface level way of saying it, it’s a girl who gets absolutely no attention on her birthday until one night she just gets a mysterious box at her door that has no name attached to it, and that takes her through an adventure. That’s all I’ll say.
Ross Borden (22:57):
All right. Suspense.
Monique Yvonne (22:59):
Yeah,
Ross Borden (22:59):
That’s really special. I’m excited to hear about that. If we can’t make it to Austin, will that be on YouTube or screening on each of your own channels or where can people see all the films?
Monique Yvonne (23:11):
I think that we’re going to be putting it in as much places as possible, so hopefully through social media. And I hope I can have a screening in LA as
Ross Borden (23:19):
Well
Monique Yvonne (23:20):
In other places. Yeah,
Ross Borden (23:21):
You should. That sounds awesome. In a 15 minute film with your quality of filmmaking would be amazing.
Monique Yvonne (23:26):
Yeah, no, it’s stunning. I’m so excited to get working on it.
Ross Borden (23:31):
That’s in the near term. What about big goals?
Monique Yvonne (23:37):
I want to make a feature film a really, really good feature film.
Ross Borden (23:41):
Do you have an idea in your head already for what it would be?
Monique Yvonne (23:43):
I do. I already have it written.
Ross Borden (23:45):
Really?
Monique Yvonne (23:45):
Yeah. I wrote it a few years ago and I’m just waiting. I know it requires money, so I need to just wait and find out, but it’s waiting. It’s going to happen eventually.
Ross Borden (23:56):
That’s awesome. So how long did it take you to write the movie?
Monique Yvonne (24:02):
I think a month, a month and a half.
Ross Borden (24:05):
And it was just in your head and you’re just putting it down on paper as fast as you could, or this is something you’ve been thinking about for a long time?
Monique Yvonne (24:12):
I went to community college for a half a semester and I had a screenwriting class, and that’s where they kind of taught us the structure of it, and I just took the information and made my own film out of it.
Ross Borden (24:26):
So they showed you through the class how a film is written, and then you took that formula and you put all your creativity into
Monique Yvonne (24:33):
It? Yeah. It was more like how do you structure a screenplay?
Ross Borden (24:39):
Yeah. So Monique, you are doing all these self films. You’ve proved that you’re this ultimate Swiss army knife of filmmaking. You write, you direct, you act, you do the lighting. What is your favorite of those and what is the most difficult role that you play in these cell films?
Monique Yvonne (25:02):
I think doing the cinematography is my favorite thing, and I think that’s the one I prefer the most out of each. And I think acting is kind of the hardest one, kind of. It’s really fun. But
Ross Borden (25:17):
It seems like it comes naturally to you though.
Monique Yvonne (25:19):
Yeah, no, it’s really cool. It helps me know exactly where I like to be seen on camera. I guess.
Ross Borden (25:25):
You spoke earlier about the flow state. So do you sometimes when you’re just feeling super creative and you’re in one of your self sets that you’ve figured out, found, stumbled upon, do you ever get where you’re not in the flow state and you take a break and walk away? Or when you start filming and setting up the shots, you just automatically in it?
Monique Yvonne (25:53):
I think I’ve only had to do that one time where I’ve quit on a project. Usually I go all
Ross Borden (26:01):
The way. You just get in
Monique Yvonne (26:02):
It and I just finish it. But if I reach something, like I was trying to do a horror film and the scary part I was trying to film was not, it was not scary,
Ross Borden (26:11):
It wasn’t scary,
Monique Yvonne (26:11):
It was not good. So I kind of just had to give up and just wrap that whole project.
Ross Borden (26:17):
So you didn’t end up publishing or making that film? No. Not scary enough.
Monique Yvonne (26:21):
Yeah.
Ross Borden (26:22):
Didn’t pass a scary
Monique Yvonne (26:22):
Test, didn’t pass a scary test.
Ross Borden (26:24):
Alright. What’s your advice to young creators who are, they want to get started, but they don’t really know where to start with filmmaking? Or maybe they’re a photographer or they’ve done portraits or self portraits, but they want to get into film. Do you have any advice for other young creators who are like, I want to be a filmmaker. I dunno where to start.
Monique Yvonne (26:45):
Yes. There’s just not a place that you need to reach in order to start, I think, if that makes sense. You can start with just your phone or with a small camcorder. I don’t want to sound like biased. I have the Sonia Fix three, but that’s something I got way later on when I decided to fully invest into it. But you can do anything you put your mind to with just the right amount of creativity and showing up for yourself every day until you can fully get the hang of what you’re doing. That’s all you really need. Just keep showing up for yourself.
Ross Borden (27:26):
What about just putting yourself out there on a platform like TikTok? Was that scary to you at first or were you just like, I’m just going to do this no matter who’s watching or what the film is?
Monique Yvonne (27:39):
My brothers had a joke actually that made me want to do it where they were like, yeah, let me know when you hit a hundred k. And it was just a joke that we had a lighthearted joke so that I could get something cool whenever I hit 100 k and then I finally did. And it just became,
Ross Borden (27:56):
What’d you get when you hit a mill? Because you have a couple million now right across platforms.
Monique Yvonne (28:01):
But it was funny to use that as a targeting force to hit just to be like that to my older brothers. I did it.
Ross Borden (28:09):
Yeah.
Monique Yvonne (28:10):
Yeah.
Ross Borden (28:11):
And what was growing the following where some, I mean, some of these films you’ve done have gone mega viral. Would you just sort of wake up to 50,000 new followers and how does that happen? How’d you get from your brother saying, let me know when you hit a hundred K to having millions of followers?
Monique Yvonne (28:29):
Actually, I have no clue at all. I just kind of made whatever felt right. My dad always told me to just keep posting. Even if you don’t really love it, I think you should just put it up anyways. Other people could like it or love it. And so I just followed his advice and was just posting as much as I could of my work until it just kind of caught traction.
Ross Borden (28:55):
Yeah,
Monique Yvonne (28:56):
It’s like a dice roll with that stuff if it’s going to do good or not. But when I started posting my films, each one just kept hitting insane numbers where I’m like, this is what I’m supposed to be doing.
Ross Borden (29:07):
Yeah.
Monique Yvonne (29:08):
Yeah. They confirmed it.
Ross Borden (29:09):
Do you think that some of your biggest hits, in terms of the overall audience they reached, were the ones where you walked people through the creative process and then showed the film? Is that a format that you now follow and I mean, it’s kind of cool because you see your self film process and how you thought about lighting and the things that went wrong and when your camera fell over when you didn’t want it to. Do you think that has added to the virality of how many people are seeing your films?
Monique Yvonne (29:39):
Oh, yeah. I think definitely.
Ross Borden (29:42):
It’s a pretty cool hook when you’re like, and by the way, I did this all myself. The acting, the lighting, the directing, the writing.
Monique Yvonne (29:49):
Yeah. I think it’s important to show people, it’s kind of hard for someone to trust a stranger that they’re just doing it alone when they’re not showing it. And I just think it’s also a great example to be able to really show from start to finish that you’re capable of doing it. Even if it’s not the most professional way of doing it, you’re still showing that you can get it done. And I think that can reach a lot of people.
Ross Borden (30:13):
Yeah, it’s really awesome. I really highly recommend everyone go watch Monique Yvonne’s films. Let’s talk about travel a little bit. A lot of our creators that we work with are travel creators. You talked about Switzerland, you talked about Morocco. What are some of your favorite places that you’ve been in the world for making films or just being a traveler?
Monique Yvonne (30:34):
I loved Cape Town,
Ross Borden (30:36):
One of my favorite cities in the whole world.
Monique Yvonne (30:38):
Yeah. I got to pet cheetahs and feed ostriches. It was a very interesting trip.
Ross Borden (30:44):
What was that trip like? Who’d you go with and how long were you there?
Monique Yvonne (30:48):
It was fun. We went for a brand deal. It was for something to help your nose breathe a little bit better. Open your nose up.
Ross Borden (30:55):
Oh, okay.
Monique Yvonne (30:56):
And so I just went there with a few people and we just shot.
Ross Borden (31:01):
Amazing.
Monique Yvonne (31:01):
Went around. Yeah.
Ross Borden (31:02):
That’s a great assignment to go to.
Monique Yvonne (31:04):
Yeah.
Ross Borden (31:04):
Hey, we’re going to do this breathing strip commercial. You’re going to Cape Town.
Monique Yvonne (31:09):
Yeah. It was I think 32 or 34 hour flight.
Ross Borden (31:12):
Yeah, it, it’s, that
Monique Yvonne (31:13):
Wasn’t fun, but that’s okay. I think I travel pretty easily though. I can adjust quick.
Ross Borden (31:20):
Does travel inspire you to make new films? I mean, were you going to Morocco to make that film, or you got there and you’re just like, this place is perfect?
Monique Yvonne (31:29):
Yeah. I had a friend that was also a film director that just said they were going to make a film there if I wanted to go and make something, and I was just like, sure, I’m down. I was in London at the time, so I was already pretty close, and I was just like, sure. Also, leaving Switzerland left me so inspired. I was like wanting to shoot as much as possible. I just kind of got confirmation that this is where I’m supposed to be.
Ross Borden (31:56):
When you’re shooting or you’re making a film, are you sometimes just grabbing shots here and there and they end up in one of your films in the future? Or when you’re shooting, is it all specifically going towards one of your films?
Monique Yvonne (32:08):
Oh, they’re all in one. I’ve never put any other from other, no, I have ones, the crying ones, I’ve put those into a little montage before that that worked, but usually, typically they’re all filmed for one specific film. An odd one that I did was the Bird one in Switzerland. There was just a crazy abandoned house that I found just walking, and when I was filming it, there was a bird that came into the shot and it kept getting into several of my shots, so I followed it with my camera and made a storyline out of it.
Ross Borden (32:45):
Out of the bird?
Monique Yvonne (32:46):
Yeah.
Ross Borden (32:47):
What is that film called?
Monique Yvonne (32:48):
Where do I Go?
Ross Borden (32:49):
Where do I go?
Monique Yvonne (32:50):
Yeah, because it’s me following a bird around and yeah.
Ross Borden (32:53):
All right. I got to check that
Monique Yvonne (32:54):
Out. I asked it that. Yeah.
Ross Borden (32:56):
Monique, Yvonne, you guys go watch your films. Literally. Unbelievable Art. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Monique Yvonne (33:02):
Thank you for having
Ross Borden (33:03):
Me. This is great. Creator. The podcast is produced by Matador Network. We are leading global travel publisher focused on travel and adventure. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe. Every week I interview a new top creator. New episodes are released every Tuesday on YouTube, apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere podcasts are found. Thanks for listening.