Adrian Eng-Gastelum is enthusiastic and always smiling, even when he is talking about serious topics, but his experience in communication can help his interlocutor understand a complex social problem and somehow influence a change or initiate the beginning of that transformation.
This young communicator reached strategic positions in politics in Washington, DC, in the campaign of former President Barack Obama, in the administration of President Joe Biden, leading electoral campaigns or advising politicians, but he had a tickle: the intention to change the world –with the idealistic background—and he thought he could do it by bringing together two of his passions, cinema and politics.
To do this, he founded Phenomena, a production company to which he added a team of “the best,” as he himself defines his colleagues, such as Marcela Miranda Caballero, an undocumented daughter of a single mother, who was executive director for California of the Ranked Choice Voting Institute (CalRCV); Sebastián Shulman, an expert in investments and finances, as well as Mike Tankel, a renowned publicist in Hollywood for franchises such as James Bond and 007.
Her goal, says Eng-Gastelum, is for Phenomena to function as a production company, but it can also have other levels of involvement in films with a more social edge, although some of them with actors from the system. blockbuster.
Adrian grants this interview via Zoom from San Diego, California, where he has lived practically his entire life.
Adrian, thank you very much for this interview. I know you for doing political projects, leading political strategies, but now you are involved in a topic that puts you in a different direction, Phenomena Global, related to cinematography, but also to politics, public policies and social awareness.. Why did you change direction?
In politics, we are taught that drastic actions are sometimes the ones that have the greatest impact and reform in our society. So I had been working for five years in many different positions, on many campaigns, advising many of the most famous politicians in the United States, many of the most powerful people in the United States…
I launched 988 (against suicides), which is considered the first time that we have a line that you can dial anywhere in the country… they can answer you in Spanish, which had never happened in history either… Instead of the police coming to you when you are in crisis or when a family member or a loved one is in crisis or even a neighbor… paramedics come to you and that is a very big change, because the police are here to protect us and they are not here to help our health.
So I tell you all these stories so you understand why I started to get frustrated… I am from the border, I was born and raised in San Diego, in Chulavista specifically… I can see Tijuana from my backyard, but I can really see it. My dad works in Tijuana, my friends are from those who live in Tijuana and San Diego. I lived my whole life between two countries. We know the reality of the migration crisis.
Adrián points out that information on social media dominates, filtered by the algorithms of digital platforms, but it is not always important. That led him to plan a strategy to influence from another perspective.
The articles that go viral are not the ones that inform you about 988, they are not the articles that tell you about all the changes that have occurred in migration… That is not counted because, clearly, it is not what is viral.
I said, what are the few ways you can reach the public? Celebrities break that wall, that wall created by modern technology, they just because of their fame… they automatically go viral. They can communicate a story that can really change this country. So, I went to Hollywood, I quit my job, it was something my parents said to me, what are you doing?… I socialized with a lot of people, I went to all the events, [haciendo] networking…I told them my idea, we took the strategies and the mind of a presidential campaign operator and we put it together with art and creativity. And most importantly, with the voice of Hollywood. They loved the idea.
That’s where you connect with Mike Tankel, who is the one with whom you have this important partnership to generate this momentum. And well, a character who has worked in marketing on important projects in Hollywood.
Jesus, Mike Tankel was the one who made Team Edward and Team Jacob, I mean, he’s the person who created one of the most impactful media movements towards popular culture; he helped the concept Cirque du Soleilto create the language that is now the fake language that they speak in the circus around the world… He has been part of marketing campaigns for James Bond, one of the biggest franchises on the planet, he is a person who believes and knows stories. Also along with him I bring a team of people who have worked in the industry for many years and are involved in many projects right now.
Selling an idea…
I wanted to talk to these people automatically, because I said: ‘If they are already making films about the issues that matter to us in Washington DC, why don’t we take political campaigns and put them into the film in a way that is organic and authentic to the story, without changing the creative vision, just informing? … What I want is action. And the way you are in action. I already know how we do it, I’ve done it my whole career. It’s in little campaigns or big campaigns. In campaigns you can change the world if you have the best publicity vehicle in the world, which is Hollywood.
Beyond the politicians…
I don’t want a movie about people talking like politicians or talking about these issues that we are passionate about and pointing the finger at them that this is the way to go… I want romance stories, I want mystery stories; I want comedy stories, I want a refugee who falls in love with another refugee.
There are two levels you are counting here, the first [que involucra a] Civil organizations, which are already very important field work and have expertise in different areas, mental health, climate change, domestic violence, etc., with which they could be working and, in some way, influence the production and creative process of a film. Is that part of that process or not necessarily?
Absolutely. If we don’t change something concrete, then for me that campaign was a failure. I want to see certain states at the same time moving towards change. I want to see politicians from both sides coming together to make a change that can change the lives of millions of people.
That is the first part, let’s say that first level. Once the film, of course, is finished and distribution begins, you implement a campaign, not a campaign aimed at getting the film seen, but at bringing about changes in public policies.
We are starting from the beginning, that is where, without giving ourselves too much credit, there are many things that we are innovating, just like when you take two different industries and put them together, a lot of innovation happens. In this case, we are innovating in how a film is produced from the moment we receive the script and have the opportunity to invest, we are already starting one. That campaign can start, obviously not necessarily with the public, but it can start to make moves towards aligning the green movement with a film, right?, or the human rights movement with a film…
Not only in how a film impacts legislation and social reform, but also in how a film is financed. We found in the process of bringing these two worlds together that no one had done the model of investing in one film or several films, or rather, in several films with high-profile actors with money from philanthropic organizations. That is revolutionary. In reality, the film industry is dying. Forty percent of production has dropped… foreign investment in the film industry has gone. You don’t see Chinese firms or Saudi Arabian firms investing like crazy in films with very famous actors anymore.
I would like you to tell us basically when we are going to start seeing concrete things, with what kind of projects?
We are advising 14 films that are going to come out in the next year. These films obviously our involvement varies, but the one we are most involved in and are already producers is a beautiful film that deals with autism and the importance of preserving our nature, but in reality what it tells you is a detective, he arrives and there is a case of suicides that could be homicides in this hospital for adolescents with autism and he is trying to find out why these 200 patients died and while he is involved in this mystery he falls in love with the main character, who is also a woman with autism.
This is the first example of a film that we are making… including people from mega franchises and also that have been nominated for Oscars, we are even still in negotiations, but someone who has won an Oscar… so we are talking about a film that is going to have a lot of cultural impact and we are going to help it have a social impact.
You’re going to be doing those projects in Hollywood, of course, in English. And would you at any point be thinking of supporting projects in Spanish?
Honestly, the Latino community will always be a priority for me. I feel like our stories haven’t been told in the cinema… It’s time to see all the talent that there is in Mexico and throughout Latin America and, well, speaking of Spanish speakers throughout the United States. We have a lot of diversity in ideas, a lot of diversity.
Where can people follow you?
You can go to phenomenaglobal.com.
Adrián, thank you very much for this dialogue and we will wait for the projects, which sound very interesting.
Jesus, thank you so much and it’s always a pleasure to talk to you. The truth is that it’s an honor to do so as the one being interviewed and not the one helping to prepare for the interview. [a alguien más].