Like all children, Vasco Phillip de Sousa told stories from a very young age.
The first story anyone can remember is when Vasco wrote about being abducted by alien dinosaurs and helping them fight a war against a mutant dogs, wolves an bats. The teacher wanted him to write a story about what he “really” did for his summer vacation, so Vasco was sent out of class.
He continued to enjoy English despite getting in trouble for “making stuff up.” One teacher inspired him by telling him the story of Thomas Edison. Edison’s teachers thought he asked too many questions, and was dim. Vasco was quiet, and so everyone thought he was bright. So, young Vasco decided to start asking questions.
He studied storytelling just because he loved learning. But when he heard about the tragic lives of the great writers, like Edgar Allen Poe, Vasco resolved to avoid being a writer and do something less creative, like fashion design or heavy metal music. (Not that those are entirely uncreative, just that they involve fewer tragic lives than writing does.)
His first play, written in middle school, was never finished. Vasco started to learn why some stories work and others didn’t. He wrote poems to try out all the new forms he learned about in class. He was becoming a writer, although he never knew it.
Vasco always moved around. One year, he ended up in Brussels. There he met one of the funniest and most talented people he has ever met (who has since left the creative business.)
The boys started making films together on the friend’s dad’s movie camera. When no boy wanted his own characters to die first, Vasco was nominated to write the scripts.
In his first trip to college, Vasco tried journalism. He was elected Editor-In-Chief of Burning Bridges magazine. Despite this, when he heard that “they” were cutting journalism, Vasco left the University of Arizona and just started writing.
In the mid nineties, Vasco helped found Verasumo productions. He had written a feature length screenplay, and was working on a second.
Then, when everything seemed to be going well, Vasco abruptly moved to Aberystwyth. For a time, he tried to quit the film business, to sell out. He got a job as a trainee hairdresser at Snippets (which is now a mobile phone shop). But he found the stories kept creeping up on him, so he founded Udigrudi books and movies.
He ended up studying Film and TV and French Language and Literature. In Film and TV, he learned about politics and made fun films. In French class he learned about French film and theatre. And Vasco studied the “arts of the spectacle” in France as an exchange student.
After graduating, Vasco tried to sell out again by teaching French. That didn’t work out. So, he got a job at a call centre, which closed down.
He kept writing, and kept making short films for cinema. He had a market stall which became an eBay shop, through which he sold books, magazines, and DVDs. He designed websites and become an expert in hard coding HTML and similar things.
Now, Vasco has a masters degree from Trinity St David’s (formerly Lampeter)? Oh well, it was fun.
Meanwhile, he makes short films for friends and writes scripts on spec and aimed at clients.
At the time of this writing, Vasco doesn’t have an IMDb page and has never been to Hollywood. He went to LA airport to catch a connecting flight once, and didn’t particularly like it.
Still, he loves movies. He has studied, observed, and practised his craft. He tells stories that people like hearing.