Name: Gabriel Gomez
Age: 31
Hometown: Brooklyn
Currently LivesWith his girlfriend, he was on the top floor in a brownstone in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood.
Claim to Fame Mr. Gomez is a commercial video director for fashion brands including Nike, North Face, Dr. Martens and H&M, known for his encyclopedic knowledge of New York subcultures. Crooked Letter is his production company. It connects international brands to local talent, such as undiscovered dancers from the Bronx and electronic musicians in Brooklyn. “For H&M, I used Zach Crumrine, a local musician who I love,” he said. “He was a classically-trained violin player who specializes in digital music production, merging the two aesthetics in dynamic ways.”
Big Break: After graduating fromManhattan’s LaGuardia High School in 2009 (along with classmates Azealia Banks and Zazie Beetz), he spent a year at SUNY Purchase before he saw a job listing on Craigslist at DD172, a short-lived media collective started by the entrepreneur and record producer Damon Dash in TriBeCa. “I got straight A’s and I left,” he said. “This was the rise of the Canon 5D and Digital SLR cameras. I learned all the new elements of modern video and filmmaking.” By age 20, he was directing digital ads for Best Buy.
Latest Project: In February, he premiered his first full-length documentary, “Rosehardt: Live at National Sawdust,” which examines the work of Caleb Eberhardt, an emerging R&B musician and actor in Brooklyn who performs under the name Rosehardt. Like so many artists, Rosehardt’s burgeoning music career was derailed by the pandemic. “It’s Covid through the lens of an artist, which I haven’t seen,” said Mr. Gomez, who directed the film with Alice Plati. “I’ve seen medical films and societal films, but we wanted to tell the story of the emotional struggles of our community.” He is currently shopping the film to festivals.
Next Thing Mr. Gomez established his own production studio. He took over the 1,600-square foot loft located next to his Williamsburg office. Now he has eight employees. He is also working on a book of photos by Ms. Plati, which captures youth culture in New York City after the attacks. “A lot of these kids went on to be photographers, designers and hip-hop artists,” he said. “It’s this brief window, pre-iPhone, when kids weren’t glued to their phones. It’s smoking blunts in the park. It’s running through subway tunnels. It’s all the things we did as N.Y.C. kids that I don’t think are done anymore.”
Call me:Mr. Gomez serves as an advisor for Anyone, an app that allows users to connect with experts for a five-minute one-on-one consultation. “Aspiring entrepreneurs and artists can call in to me and ask for advice,” Mr. Gomez said. “There is a need for mentorship and camaraderie to support the ever-growing freelance community.”
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