Check Out Diamond Fierro’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diamond Fierro.

Hi Diamond, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
My name is Diamond Fierro but I go my Diamante to Spanish speakers. I grew up all around the Denver/Aurora area. When I was younger my father was involved with drug trafficking/ gang activities and was eventually sent to prison, leaving my mother with three kids to raise on her own. We didn’t have much growing up but my mother did her best to give us a loving space to grow in.

At this time in my life I had no idea what I was going to do; I had passion, no ambition, and no idea to get any of it. Something I always loved and remained consistent in my life was movies. After the blockbuster days we had Redbox, every weekend we’d go get some movies and snacks. I was even in charge of picking the movies for us to watch. My family would usually only watch one, maybe two. I couldn’t resist watching all of them in one night, and then rewatching them when my family watched them the next morning.

In school, I was always told by my teachers that I should consider writing when I grew up. But because of my father, I felt my path was already decided. The only thing that would motivate me in the slightest was financial gains. It wasn’t until the summer leading into my senior year that I really sat myself down and started digging into my own mind to see what– if any treasures I could find. After weeks of contemplating it clicked. It all made sense… My love of writing and my love of movies led to being a film writer/director. Overnight I decided that’s what I was going to do. I had no idea how to make movies or write them. I had never even held a video camera at that point. But the amount of clarity I felt in that moment and still do is what I allow to guide my decisions. I enrolled in Colorado Film School in January 2018 and I haven’t looked back since then.

For the past 5 years, I have dedicated myself to my craft as a writer, filmmaker, and artist who has expanded into other mediums. I recently graduated and received the “Best Directing” and, “Best Third Year Production” awards from Colorado Film School at their bi-annual showcase that takes place at Harkins Theater for my short film titled, “Cholo”. It’s a short film depicting events from my childhood watching my father struggle with addiction as a drug dealer and seeing my mother trying to get her life together.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Overall my life hasn’t been very smooth; having my father imprisoned and losing a step-father who up until that point had raised me half my life in a tragic drunk driving accident, watching my mother fight depression and win all while trying to see where I fit into all this. Even after realizing how I fit into this world, it wasn’t easy. Because I went into a film school filled with students who had loved movies all their lives, and have known they wanted to be filmmakers since they were young, it showed me early on that I had a lot of catching up to do. I gave up my social life and enveloped myself in the world of cinema, but that didn’t mean I was safe from the real world and its responsibilities. Whenever I could make some extra money to fund some of my school projects I would work in construction with my stepfather.

Every break I had, every summer I spent tearing down old houses from the inside. But I never let it distract me from my goals or aspirations. Even while working I would have my headphones in and would be listening to some video essay about some film or some sort of educational video that inspired thought and/or creativity. Over time I found myself understanding film more, everything from why certain camera angles were used to why certain themes fit well with certain stories… Something that I’ve learned is that life is not a “smooth road”. If we want to reach for something much such as purpose, meaning, or greatness it is especially not a smooth road. You will suffer, and you will feel overwhelmed, but it is that very suffering that allows us to remain on the road to greatness, in whatever it is we do.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an artist who wants to venture into many art mediums but as of now, I am primarily a Film Writer/Director/Producer who also works in nature photography and Fine Art Instant Photography. I am most proud of my recent short film “Cholo”. The story in this piece has defined my whole life up until this point and is the main reason I even wanted to be a storyteller, to begin with. It took two years and thirty drafts of the screenplay for it to be ready to film, it took six months of pre-production, eleven days of filming, and months of editing. While the final film is still undergoing song licensing finalization the film will be submitted to film festivals soon. Something that sets me apart in the white world of Hollywood is that stories such as my life, and my family’s lives have been told in Hollywood to entertain, mainly by white creatives.

Who better to share the perspective of the brown man from the bottom than a brown man from the bottom?

Something my father taught me from within prison walls is to be proud of who I am and where I come from as an artist. That is exactly what I’m doing. I plan on making a three-season anthology series one day also titled “Cholo”.

The first season will be following my father and his story as a child in Mexico and coming over to the land of the free only to be in a cell of imprisonment.

So maybe we end by discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters to me in this current moment might change as it does with everyone but at this moment what matters to me is succeeding.

I know that can be very vague but I want to feel as if I succeeded not because someone tells me I have but because the years I dedicated to my crafts as an artist is where I built character and I hope to keep building and growing.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diamondfierro/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diamond.fierro

Image Credits
Aaron Archuleta & Carter Cole