A text from Taylor Smith to her two friends and fellow alumni Michael Ayala and Angie Louie was the catalyst for what none of them had imagined was possible when they each started at Cal State Fullerton \u2014 their own production company.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you guys think about the name Backhouse Productions?\u201d\u00a0 Smith asked via text last October.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Smith, the founder of Backhouse Productions, in the process of being renamed MCS Productions, started her journey as a psychology major at CSUF. After her first year, she switched to cinema and television arts (CTVA), connecting to her passion of creativity and storytelling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Louie, whom she met in a CTVA class, was a transfer student from Diablo Valley College. Coincidentally, she had started college with a psychology major in mind, yet when she went to community college in the Bay Area, she knew she had to pursue a career in film. That\u2019s when she was urged by a mentor to apply to CSUF, a school she had no idea existed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ayala began his film journey in a similar way. He enrolled at CSUF as a kinesiology major, a route he thought was safe. He was compelled to switch his major after listening to the advice of trusted friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now CSUF alumni, the three of them have co-founded MCS Productions, an independent marketing and production company. Smith acts as an executive producer, writer and director. Louie is the head of marketing, who spearheads social media and casting endeavors and Ayala is the lead director.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo our name change will be MCS Productions. It does stand for Make Cool S—,\u201d Smith said \u201cWe wanna stand out with the name, so we felt like developing our trademark is what felt right.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
So far, MCS Productions has produced a music video, a commercial, some short films along with other projects currently in development. The trio hopes to build their clientele by working with local businesses in Orange County. Recently, they created a commercial for local beauty salon, Sugared Sol and have made an ad for Valentino Beauty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Louie admits that one of their biggest struggles is costs. Smith agrees, stating that the Valentino Beauty ad was done \u201cwith zero money.\u201d They each possess multiple day jobs as a means to fund not just MCS Productions, but their own livelihoods. They don\u2019t have the budget of an Academy Award winning studio, but what they do have is funded with grit and passion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though we might not have all of the most professional gear, the most amazing beautiful locations and crazy crew,\u201d Louie said. \u201cWe make our own success and we learn while we do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Resourcefulness techniques are innate for them, but some things they learned at their alma mater. Smith and Louie credit their former professors Ari Poser, Gary Hart and Martina Baldwin for motivating them to pursue careers in film. CSUF wasn\u2019t just the place where the three of them met, it\u2019s also the place that produced the majority of their team at MCS Productions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The path to MCS productions was not paved for them. Its existence stemmed from constant rejection, and even now, Smith still has doubts about the company and herself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe’re constantly reminding ourselves to stay positive and to push ourselves,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI also want to shine light on the fact that even though we are preaching it, we also have our insecurities and we also have our moments of doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n
They all agree that they wouldn\u2019t change anything about their journey to MCS Productions. Louie emphasizes that comparison is the thief of joy, and that where you are now, although it might be behind others, is exactly where you\u2019re meant to be.<\/p>\n
Ayala encourages taking a leap of faith, insisting that it\u2019s better to know the outcome of your risk than to always wonder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust don’t be afraid to try,\u201d Ayala said. \u201cDon’t be afraid to sway away from your comfort zone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith draws advice from her own experience in starting MCS Productions. When she switched majors, she was starting with no prior film knowledge. Yet, she didn\u2019t let that stop her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cUse that fear, use that intimidation,\u201d Smith said. \u201cUse that as your motivation, use that as your inspiration and do not stop.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trio stresses the importance of pushing forward despite failure and rejection. After all, it\u2019s what got them to where they are. It might not be Hollywood, but it\u2019s a start. MCS Productions is a collaborative effort that would not exist without the perseverance of these three CSUF graduates and their collective commitment to their craft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A text from Taylor Smith to her two friends and fellow alumni Michael Ayala and Angie Louie was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463751,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,182636,81762,130237,81761,52311],"class_list":["post-463750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-backhouse-productions","tag-college-of-communications","tag-csuf-alumni","tag-ctva","tag-production-company"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}