A Modern Bent to Great Storytelling with Versatility: Andres Felipe Acosta Castañeda
The art of storytelling continues to evolve with the attention and breadth of works created for online viewing. While services like Netflix and others seem ubiquitous, the next wave seems already determined with increasing numbers towards social media and web-based services like YouTube and others offering incredible original and unique content. The YouTube series Grandes Historias is funded by the Colombian Ministry of Technologies, Canal Trece, and Smart Films Fest. Original works are available for viewing on the Canal Trece YouTube channel; some of the most popular and praised are those of Andres Felipe Acosta Castañeda. This Colombian born content director/producer of “new media” has been instrumental in a number of the most heralded productions to be featured on https://www.youtube.com/@canaltrececo and has focused international attention on the fresh voice he brings as an artist. Just as live theater productions differ from film and television, online content has established a new iteration in the art of storytelling which utilizes its own pacing and perspective; viewing Andre’s work, it’s obvious that this is a talent he has honed and mastered to become one of the most exciting professionals of his generation. Black Motion Box, the company he founded in Colombia which will soon be expanding into the US, is at the forefront of creating new media for an ever expanding clientele.
While some creative professionals rebel against boundaries and limitations, those like Andres embrace the process of unlocking the potential opportunities in solving such a puzzle. Regarding the digital series he created for Grandes Historias, Mr. Acosta (or AFAC as he is also known) states, “I structured the projects presented with digital storytelling tools. Grandes Historias were looking for stories that were ambitious in narrative but very effective and grounded in resources and production strategies, short and easy to watch in web and social media channels. These were concepts that have always been foundational since my earliest days and which I built my company upon. A small crew and few characters but a solid story; this setting the most effective execution for each project.” The content Andres and his team created for Grandes Historias has resulted in eight awards.
That same indefinable yet remarkable ingredient is present in all of the productions that Andres created for Grandes Historias. From heartwarming inspirational family themes to suspenseful tales which compel your imagination to explore the darkest possibilities, he has used the medium to elicit a spectrum of emotions from viewers.
Fondo is a Sci-Fi tale which offers more questions than answers. A tattooed leather clad man appears to teleport into a laboratory from nowhere and begins a cycle of placing liquid filled canisters into a machine that fuels a VR experience. Reality and the virtual world meld as this man experiences interactions with a beautiful woman only to result in a surprising ending.
Fosa is a story that keeps the audience on the edge of their seat as the motivation and intentions of two men are unclear in moving a body to a field and the unearthing of something surprising from the dirt months later.
2040 is the title and the setting for the production Andres and his team created for a film that highlights political and social repression with sibling drama. The protagonist of this story is a female hacker fighting for equality. Placing the social struggles of today in a futuristic setting may not be unheard of but the manner in which it is presented in 2024 is certainly unique.
Vastly different in tone is Fabricando Alas which depicts the love between a young girl named Roma and her mother Raquel. An ode to the mother/daughter bond and the power of imagination, Roma’s fascination with airplanes (and her discovery that Raquel has never flown) leads her to construct the means of manifesting the experience for them both.
Andres Felipe Acosta Castañeda has created productions for an eclectic group of clients ranging from the biggest gym in Colombia [Bodytech] to Aruba’s Prime minister Mike Eman, as well as for political campaigns, beer brands, music artists, and Caracol television (the 360VR “Hanna Experience” and the horror immersive “Sierra Nevada”). It’s not the path he originally set out on but it has resulted in an immensely satisfying career trajectory. He divulges, “After releasing Venena Bibas, a very big project with excellent results, I thought I was going to go straight to the film industry but all the professional opportunities I got were for digital content, advertising, and marketing. It was very frustrating in the beginning and it seemed like a step back in my career but then I found that this kind of content was also challenging and kept me very active creating ideas. When I finally released the frustration and allowed myself to flow, learn, and grow in digital content, everything changed. I’m still up to direct films, but it was an awakening to see the whole picture of content possibilities.”
