I'm Hugo — the filmmaker and photographer behind No Small Stories. I'm based in East LA, and if you ask me why I started this, it comes down to one thing I believe pretty firmly: no one's story is too small to tell.

Photography started as just a hobby — I didn't have a plan, I just liked freezing moments I didn't want to forget. Then a filmmaking course in high school changed something in me. I remember the first time I watched something I'd shot and edited actually move someone — not because it was technically impressive, but because it felt true. That feeling never left. An idea, a shot list, a camera — and suddenly a story exists that didn't before. I've spent every year since chasing that.

I studied Television, Film & Media Studies at Cal State LA, with a minor in Marketing — but what stuck with me wasn't the technical side. It was learning that every story is for someone. A film only means something once it reaches the person it was actually made for. These days, I also teach video production to high schoolers, and watching a kid discover that same feeling I had — that a camera can turn a small, ordinary moment into something that lasts — reminds me every day why I do this.

That's really what No Small Stories comes down to. I've sat across from people at their wedding, at a graduation, on a quiet afternoon with just them and a camera — and I've watched them realize, mid-shoot, that this moment actually mattered. That's not something I take lightly. Whether it's a short film, a documentary, or someone's quinceañera, I bring the same care to every single one — because to the person living it, it was never small to begin with.