17 JUN 2020 My name is Andre Bato. I’m from Italy and have been living in the US for the past 12 years. I’ve been based in NY for the past six years. I’m a filmmaker and creative director, as well as the founder of ANDRE BATO CORP, which I’ve been running since 2017. AB CORP is an umbrella production company that specializes in film (AB FILMS) and product development (AB STUDIO). The idea here is to never put a boundary or a label on what we do, but instead create across all disciplines and mediums.

In many ways, making art for me has always been about creating a space with its own rules—a place separate from the real world—as the two are, and have always been, very much mutually exclusive. It has never been about having a dialogue with the news cycle; it’s always been about action rather than re-action; so, if anything, I’ve been taking the time in quarantine to be more self-referential and look at all my work so far and see how I can improve it or create something completely new that’s derivative of it. Creatively, I’ve used this time to become more fluent in my own art, but not to have a conversation, if that makes sense.

With that said, we’ve also used our platform as a company to do our part in helping with Covid-19 and BLM, utilizing all our “non-creative” avenues to do our best to support. We did a fundraiser at the beginning of June where we matched all donations to BLM organizations for that day—and that has shaped how I look at my company as an institution and financial entity. Of course we are running a business here and we want to maximize our profits, but with all that’s happened in the past few months now, I’m sure more than ever that it’s also equally important that we set an example in using our resources to help the ones around us. Whether it is nurses that are on the front lines at hospitals, or communities that are afflicted by police brutality and systemic racism—if we can help, we should. It’s our duty.

I’ve been at home here in NY since March 17th. The hardest part was probably getting adjusted to the pace of things - everything just came to a halt for me over the span of a red eye flight from Los Angeles, where we were shooting a music video at the time. I landed and everything I was used to just started working at half speed, from emails, to conversations, new client pitches et. al. - that was quite hard at first because it meant that I had no choice but to re-adjust myself.

But after a couple of weeks and a switch in focus towards things like rest, research, and just spending time with loved ones, everything was fine - really it’s about coming to the realization that there’s only so much you can control, and that ultimately it’s always about making the best of a situation, no matter what it is.

I actually realized that I work at my best when the floor is empty. I’ve always had my biggest, and probably best, ideas in times of quiet, times where everything is “supposed” to stop - things like Christmas Holidays, or vacations. So this forced STOP, this lack of feedback, created a lot of space for me to play with new ideas - and the bigger that space, the bigger those ideas can be.

Honestly, I’m looking forward to actualizing some of the new concepts that I’ve been coming up with in the past months. Film, or my practice in general, requires a lot of players and moving parts, and I’m excited to be at that point where all parts can deliver at their best and fastest again.

My instagram @andrebato and website. We have a few announcements / projects releasing in the next couple of months so keep an eye out.