Nicholas Rodriguez

My experience with digital creation,marketing, and sticking the landing really started in college as a student at UCLA and a part of my fraternity Beta Theta Pi. I became the Vice President of the Fraternity as my peers elected me President but because I refused to live in the house, it was decided that I could be the Vice President. Working hand in hand with my friend Sam Kelly who was President we were able to change the culture of our house by creating opportunities for the Arts to shine. 

As Vice President I organized concerts with Sony Music U which led to annual concerts every quarter highlighting musicians that attended UCLA. The concerts became a quarterly highlight under the name Beta Bash. I also Organized our annual charitable fundraiser for the greater LA area. This fundraiser while I was an active member consisted of Art shows in the house; which featured pieces from UCLA art students as Jazz and Music majors created the ambiance of a truly artful experience. All pieces were purchased with no less than 2500$ being fundraised for LA’s Inner City Arts foundation each year. I also worked in tandem with several UCLA clubs to host fundraisers to pay for travel, production costs, or even their own club’s annual fundraiser. These were a collaboration between me and the clubs using the house as a venue to host Concerts, Comedy shows, Galas, live theatrical experiences, haunted houses, and even full film productions. 

While a part of Beta I also ran the social media for the chapter for 8 months before assigning the duty to my friend Christopher Aguire. While juggling my duties as VP I was able to humbly amass 800 followers of the accounts 1400. 

At UCLA I was involved in several Club’s that helped me explore my creativity through several mediums. As a part of the now defunct Meta Mag, I worked with Joy Chen (now associate art director at Poppi). She gave me a space to create pages for the magazine and social media as a videographer, photographer, and journalist. I created pieces such as AMERICAN DENIM (a look into the history and impact of Denim), NOSTALGIA (a video essay on the impact of clothing and the link to childhood), as well as HEAVEN, HELL, AND PURGATORY (our covid issue about where does creativity go when we are isolated). 

I also ran my own Radio Show’s appearing as on air host, marketer, and journalist. 

I have created clothing for the brand Midnight 11 as a part of their S/S 2022 capsule. Working with Midnight 11 I created not only clothing but helped shape the brand identity for the time through advertisements that would circulate social media. To do this I had to book models, rent out equipment, and spent countless hours on the computer fine tuning every detail to make sure the drop went smooth and was profitable. We sold out of the original stock of clothing within 3 weeks. 

At UCLA I was also a part of UCLA’s 75 year old tradition Spring Sing for two years. I was a member of Company who were in charge of being the MC’s, sketch writers, fundraisers, and advertisers for the talent show. As a member of Company I met twice a week with 11 other students presenting sketches, developing advertisements for the show, and curating a fundraiser to pay for our production costs. This experience taught me more about working with a team than any youth sport I ever played. Working with 11 other individuals towards a common goal was both challenging and extremely rewarding. The show was presented to 9,000 people live at the LA tennis center in 2022 as well as online to hundreds of thousands in both 2021 and 2022. 

For my Senior Capstone project I wrote, directed, produced, and lead my own original play. Woodward: the skate play as it was called was a completely new work that I had written during my time at school. To fund the show and make sure it was up to what I had dreamed about I collaborated with LA SKATECO in Echo Park to provide skateboards for my actors. To cover production costs I fundraised through curated events such as Concerts at my fraternity, 

Outside of College I have consistently worked with LA Party Stylists, a premiere party planning company in Los Angeles. Through the wonderful people at LAPS I have been able to work Birthday Parties, Fundraisers, as well as Movie Premieres. At these events I work several jobs and am a point person for the women who plan the parties. I put out fires when needed, help out guests, and overall make sure the party is running as smoothly as possible. This job has taught me more about what is needed to run a successful event and what makes it both desirable and fun for the clients. 

On my own I have grown up on the internet. Whether it was creating my own Youtube sketches, posting original memes on instagram, editing videos for several friends tik toks, or even creating original content to advertise projects I was apart of; the internet was a second space for me to explore my creativity and get the word out about things I was passionate about. Across platforms I have amassed millions of views and likes in both content I have helped create, been a featured performer, or edited. I understand what captures the audience's eye, what engages the right people, how to generate views into dollar signs, and most importantly what puts butts in seats. 

Freelance Youth Development Coach : tutor, nanny, role model 

Professional Actor: Apple Tv, Discovery ID, Youtube, Reelshort, Berkeley Playhouse, Shotgun Players, CenterRep, NCTC SF 

Brand Rep - Midnight 11 

Creative Director and Designer - Midnight 11 

Social Media Marketing 5 years 

Photography 5 years 

Videography 5 years 

Script writing - 6 years 

Bachelor of Arts: UCLA 2023