Today we’d like to introduce you to Raphael Cosme.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started loving movies since my dad showed me Raiders of the Lost Ark when I was 5. Then he helped me set up my YouTube account in 2013 “Kaijuzilla621” in which I made little fan-films of Godzilla, Jurassic Park, and Five Nights at Freddy’s. I gained a decent following of 93,000 subscribers. Eventually I took filmmaking more seriously when I got to Jacksonville University. I made for my junior year project a short film called “Gnomes” about killer garden gnomes. I branched out of my comfort zone in doing everything by myself and started working with a crew for the first time. I worked with people like Borneo Sedeu Nishevikj who was upper-class at JU but we collaborated on projects then on. Gnomes did fairly well at film festivals getting as far as being nominated for it’s cinematography at the ASC (The American Society of Cinematographers) in LA. I took Gnomes and used it to jump start my most recent personal project, a short film called “Anemoia”. I went through a rough patch post college, where am I going? Where is opportunity in filmmaking? Why is it hard to find a job? I took those feelings and poured them into the project when the main character Cameron is lost and alone and then after a break down wakes up in another world made up of his childhood memories. I grew up in Orlando going to Disney parks a lot in the early 2000s so a lot of this project is about obsession with nostalgia and how I tend to romanticize my childhood for how bright and vibrant it was. I just finished editing the short film and started the film festival circuit. I want this to be my first feature film.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Getting “Anemoia” off the ground was tough because of getting the financial support. My Dad helped me as project manager and we worked as hard as we could to get funding from local businesses in my hometown of St. Augustine. Locations of the film was another hurdle. I wanted to film in my mom’s hometown of Merida in Mexico, specifically because of a children’s park called “Parque Zoológico del Centenario”. Getting a skeleton crew to fly over and shoot there was difficult but thanks to crew also based in Mexico that helped out production.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I’m a Director/Editor, so you hear a lot of filmmakers as Director/Writer but I’ve always loved editing my work and videos on YouTube. I’ve only started getting interested in writing. I’m most proud of my 2 hour 45 min feature fan-film called “Godzilla Apex” available on YouTube, I spent 4 years on that project. What sets me apart is I feel I’ve spent most of my life doing YouTube, editing, shooting videos instead of being enveloped in the social sides of growing up in High School & College. I’d rather spend time editing my film in my room rather then go to a party.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
The best way I’ve gotten better as a filmmaker is watching other movies, and learning from that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/@Kaijuzilla621
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raphael_cosme_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100015544084676
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphael-cosme-183897236/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Kaijuzilla621
