Today we’d like to introduce you to Grant Weinraub
Hi Grant, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I found a love for movies at a young age, but the obsession for filming really began when I was about 10 years old, and got my first Mini DV camcorder so I could recreate the scene from Office Space where they destroy a copy machine to the song “Still” by Geto Boys. I spent the next few years making skits and YouTube videos at home with my friends, honing in on my camera and editing skills. When I was a Sophomore at Santa Monica High School and began taking photos for the school yearbook, my cousin Heather was working at a young startup incubator a few blocks away called Science Inc. I was brought in to photograph products and make small marketing videos for the company. Amongst the many startups under the Science roof, was a small 3 person team known as “Dollar Shave Club”. I would spend my days after school rolling up Dollar Shave Club’s shipping labels for something like $10 an hour, trying to utilize my camera wherever I could. I became the resident video/photo kid at Science, creating content for companies such as This is Ground, MeUndies, Prize Candle, and of course Dollar Shave Club before they became much too big for the incubator. I would also create a number of short narrative films in my high school film class, not losing track of my main goal.
After graduating high school in 2015, I got into San Francisco Art Institute for film. I knew I wanted to write and direct movies, but I wasn’t sure college was right for me, as I was already film obsessed as it was, and had built a decent repertoire of clientele that kept me working. I decided to stay in Los Angeles, landing a full time position at Science as an in-house Videographer/Photographer while working at the Aero Theatre, an arthouse in Santa Monica, on the side. In this time I needed to carve a clear path to becoming a filmmaker while I worked to make a living. I decided to take my passion for storytelling and my love for Hip-Hop, and combine them, with music videos. I initially reached out to musicians I knew personally, self-funding music videos with the money I was making at Science, to create products that could show record labels and clients my capabilities as a filmmaker.
I started my production company Bold Move, and spent the next 5 years Producing, Directing, and Editing music videos for a plethora of artists across Los Angeles, while trying to get my name out there and define my visual style. I gained invaluable skills such as producing and managing large crews and productions, creating detailed treatments and pitch decks, pulling strings and utilizing connections to get locations, people, and more on limited budgets. As my work progressed and found itself in front of larger audiences, I was able to get commissions directing small commercials and videos for businesses.
In 2019, I left my full time job as a Producer for a Ai startup specializing in Amazon Alexa experiences, to take Bold Move full time. My first main job was working with the artist Teyana Taylor, who at the time was starting to Direct herself under her production company The Aunties. I was brought in to revise an edit of the music video for her song “WTP”, working closely with Teyana to get the edit to the right place. After this, I edited a few more music videos directed by Teyana, including “Commitment” by Monica. I would go on to Produce and Direct a documentary for Monica in 2020 called “The Story of Miss Thang”. I’ve served as Monica’s primary video expert since 2019, having filmed and edited numerous music videos and other pieces for her, and toured internationally with her in 2022, supervising all stage background visuals.
Feeling I was slipping more into the commercial world and away from narrative film, my main goal, I decided to slow down on music videos in 2022 and shift into writing screenplays and creating narrative works, starting with a short film. I left my hometown of Los Angeles in August of 2022 looking for a place I could really stretch my creativity and lock in on writing, landing on Austin. I wrote my first short film “The Almond” in 2023, and after about a year and a half of revising the story, building an amazing community of fellow filmmakers and friends at the Austin Film Society, raising money, and bringing the cast and crew together, I was able to film “The Almond” in August of 2024. The film is now at the end of post production, and will be ready to submit to film festivals for a 2025 run.
I am currently writing a number of other films, mainly features, that I plan to produce over the next few years.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There’s a lot of challenges in running a production company, for example understanding that music videos are not a product, but rather marketing for the song, therefore you’ll seldom find a budget for a music video that can really pay you for your work, on top creating something you are truly passionate about. I’ve never made a dollar from a music video, I just love creating.
I think my biggest struggle however, is that I’ve chosen a path that is inherently, a struggle. Trying to keep a roof over your head via a freelance video business while supporting your dreams of making feature films is something that as you approach your 30’s, requires a great amount of patience, and faith in the process and yourself. It may take me a very long time to get there, but I can’t ever stop.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am obsessed with emotion, and the power film has to make you feel something, and the control the filmmaker has over that feeling. I love horror movies, and I love comedy, and I love drama. I think they all serve important purposes in storytelling, and I want to make all 3. I want to be the kind of Filmmaker that can flow between genres, with my proprietary style being how I focus on the smaller details and characters in life. Finding the surreal in real life is what fascinates me the most. Telling the story of those we wouldn’t normally think of. Life is cinematic if you look at it closely. I want to hone in on that. I am most proud of my latest short film “The Almond”. It was a huge triumph getting to make my first short film after years of defining my style and learning how to operate a movie set.
Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My favorite childhood memory is definitely taking the Big Blue Bus in Santa Monica with my friends to go downtown. We’d get off at the 3rd street promenade, stop into Brookstone to try out the massage chairs and other cheap items that would inevitably break the moment you take them home, go to the arcade on the pier, sneak into a PG13 movie at the AMC 7, and of course walk up to Bay Cities Deli on Lincoln Blvd for a Godmother Sandwich. That first taste of freedom.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.boldmoveent.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grantweinraub/
