Meet Howard L. GATO” Mitchell | Film director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Howard L. “GATO” Mitchell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Howard L. “GATO”, what’s one piece of conventional advice that you disagree with?
In the United States, there’s some advice that is often given but I think is wrong. that advice is to “focus on improving your weaknesses.” It may seem counter-intutive, but the better advice is to “find out what you can not do, and don’t do it!”

Delegate responsibilities to individuals who possess particular skills and expertise that you may not have and concentrate on the areas in which you excel in. This might save you a whole lot of time and heartache in the long run.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I used to draw a lot when I was a child and started painting the human form later in my adolescents. I think my themes have always been universal and my subject has always been the human being and what could be more universal than that? My sister, who is far older than me, gave me a lot of books to read when she was through with them. I remember how those books were so filled with teenage, girl-angst, and confused me. Those books were far too advanced for my young seven and eight year old mind, but I didn’t care. I gobbled those books up. In retrospect, I think that I gained something valuable from those books, some sort of intuitive understanding.
Around the time of elementary school I entertained my classmates and teachers with my own stories. I found that writing stories was a way to get noticed and so it continued and never stopped. Then making music came into the picture, and then painting came easy for me. But I always wanted to be a part of movies. I just didn’t know how to get started.
After some time, with a formal education in philosophy and art history under my belt, I started making short films. For some reason, I found myself gravitating toward World Cinema and a certain European, cinematic aesthetic. My short films were the film school for me, and I wasn’t interested in film festivals as much as simply just getting better at what I was doing. My work embraced the worlds of modernism and what I personally call “Baroque Romanticism” and even Neo-Realism. Soon, through the camera lens, I discovered that I had grown is keen interest in uncovering the “unseen.” Unseen things that might be right in front of us.
It’s difficult to wrestle with subjects like this. Subjects like “God” or “Why are we here?” and the inner mechanisms that compel each of us to do the things that we do feel so intangible and hard to put into words. But I’ve always believed that Absolute Truth is real and is something that cannot be spoken only felt.
As difficult as it is to reveal the intangible, I’m compelled to wrestle with it anyway. And I’m almost as determined to sprinkle dashes of black humor with my work because black humor also embodies the human comedy.
Overall, it’s been an upward climb. Filmmaking is not easy. It is the most expensive art form in the world. But as I continue to strive and gain momentum, my climb has given me reselience or “artistic calf muscles.”
My best advice to anyone making their own “climb” toward their own passions to find meaning, or to the artist engaging in the battle of making art is to keep climbing and “fight for your life.” And that you must never forget that “providence favors the prepared.” As I fight the good fight as an artist, I’ve adopted the pseudonym, GATO, and I continue to search for the intangible, and for the fire beneath the ice.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
First, I’d treat my best friend that’s visiting the area to a home-cooked, Panamanian meal just the way my mother taught me how to prepare it: Arroz con Pollo style – Chicken and vegetables cooked to tender perfection in my family’s secret sauce. Served over Coconut rice and pigeon peas. with a side of homemade potato salad (with sweet relish) and a nice cold glass of Jamaican/Panamanian ginger Sorrel. After we’ve rested from our meal, to get our visual senses flowing, I’d walk my friend down the street to The Portland Art Museum and PAMCUT where there is a cornucopia of new media and cinematic storytelling to behold.
If it happens to be the Summertime season, we’d grab the best Piña Colada in town, served up at one of the best cocktail joints in the city: The Tear Drop Lounge. After a few glasses, we’d attempt to order one more cocktail to-go and head over to one of the best and biggest independent bookstores in the world, Powells Books.
For the rest of the week, I’d get my buddy to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) in order that
he or she wouldn’t divulge my other super secret, favorite hangout spots for fear of a slew of costly court penalties!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m a late bloomer. I feel like I’m just getting started. With age comes treachery that outfoxes youth and skill. I think all my influences have come from real life. As a film director, I’m not interested in cinema for cinema’s sake. I’m interested in human beings and how one etches out one’s existence. In my opinion, artists need to carve their own path to distinguish themselves from the influences of their predecessors. Each artist must boldly go his or her own way if they want to separate themselves from their aesthetic mentors. There are a lot of people that I admire and would love to give a shout-out to. They aren’t necessarily artists or in the public eye but have demonstrated tremendous bravery to me, fighting the good fight for what is right, with quiet courage and audacity in daily living. I give a shout-out to my Dad and my two brothers Guy and James and my Sister Carla and I give a special, sweet, sweet shout-out to the love of my life, Masha.
A shout-out to all of my friends who keep it real for me. A shoutout to my junior league football coach, Darrel Terry, who passed on years ago but ever since I was 12, he showed me how to never quit!

Website: www.gatofilm.com

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

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elgato.negro.334/