Meet Robin Calvo | Performance Artist - Screen Acting & Martial Arts

We had the good fortune of connecting with Robin Calvo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Robin, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
While growing up, I always had a passion for arts whether it was in theater and acting or the artistic side of martial arts and movement. I would often watch things on TV like Teen Titans and Avatar: The Last Airbender while jumping around like the characters would and shouting out the lines that they spoke. All of those things would make me so happy and excited to get up at 7:00am on a Saturday to watch TV just to be inspired by these arts.

But as I grew older my life started to gear towards pursuing things I wasn’t so inspired to do like preparing for a corporate job, majoring in something I wasn’t even passionate about, and overall chasing after a lifestyle that seemed dull. Since I took myself out of my element, I eventually grew more depressed to the point where I needed help to re-evaluate my life and get myself back on track. Through that journey, I remembered what inspired me while growing up – acting and martial arts.

After that realization, I began to pursue acting and martial arts more vigorously. I signed up for martial arts classes, began to participate in acting and voice-over classes, and even joined a filmmaking collective along the way while also collaborating with other creatives. Being a performance artist was something that made the most sense to me so naturally I began to pursue it professionally.

Please tell us more about your art. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
Throughout my career, I’ve always had trouble pinpointing what exactly I am on paper. Since I have professional experience in acting, martial arts, and dance, I decided that it would be best to call myself a performing artist who has a wide range of disciplines. Not only that, but since I come from an independent filmmaking collective, I’ve also learned how to work behind the camera and in the editing room. With all of that under my belt, I’m able to write scripts for stories, produce my own content, and action design for projects that need martial arts elements. This experience gives me the ability to see the perspectives of both in-front of and behind the camera to make the most objective decisions when it comes to creating.

What I’m most proud of in my career is to take what I learned from my film collective, Team Red Productions, and create my own form of content from my personal experiences. I’m now able to write my own stories and see them come to fruition, and I’m also able to collaborate effectively with my colleagues.

Getting to where I am today was a very difficult journey. Pursuing the arts never has a clear path to success since the industry is so volatile and unspoken about, but it took a lot of my power to be resilient, keep myself accountable, and keep pushing forward until I get where I want to go. What really helps me overcome my challenges is to ask for advice from other creatives who are in the same industries as me so that I can get a better perspective of what needs to be done and make concise decisions toward my overall goals.

Throughout my journey in the film industry, the biggest lesson I take with me is to never sacrifice my morals and ethics for the sake of “power” or influence. I’ve seen a lot of people let the film industry get to their heads and egos to the point where it changes them for the worse, and that’s something I would never do to myself or to the people I truly care for. From that, what I really want the world to take from this is to pursue your dreams while also keeping what you cherish the most close to you. There’s always a way to make your goals happen while keeping your ethics in check. It might make your journey longer, but it’ll be worth it nonetheless.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My ideal itinerary would be “A week in the life of Robin Calvo” + splashes of Georgia shenanigans. So we would do what I would normally do throughout the day like enjoying breakfast at various brunch restaurants in Midtown, trips to cute cafes that I frequent everyday, visiting and eating with friends in the evening, and seeing the sights. Every day we’d do something different and go to a different place like the aquarium, visit the zoo, go hiking, watch open-mics, and go to karaoke places.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are many mentors that I’ve trusted to help me along the way of my journey in film.

First, I have Joseph Le and Samuel Joon Lee of Team Red Productions who have helped guide me through this abstract and complicated path. They also taught me almost everything I know about film and encouraged me to keep learning more.

I also have my teachers in Gymnastics and Martial Arts, Brandon Cephas and Justin Benedik, who continue to inspire me to train my craft and who have helped me build a strong foundation in these movement styles.

There are also many others who I’ve trusted that taught me disciplines in acting and dance – the biggest one being Tom Nacy Warner of Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop who taught me to bring my natural, genuine self behind all the characters I play.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/definitelynotrobin

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Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@defnotrob

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