About Gabriel Paredes Reyes
Hello there,
I’m Gabriel Paredes Reyes, but most people call me Gabe. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, the political turmoil of my home country pushed me to grow up with two distinct perspectives of the American experience: the deep southern flavor of Louisiana and the quaint Midwestern humility of Nebraska.
It was in Omaha, Nebraska where I first started reporting for my high school newspaper, the MWHS Catalyst. Since then, I loved the thrill of being a journalist: dipping my toes into a story idea to then navigate a deep sea of causes, effects, and entangling points of views.
Once I started studying multimedia journalism at Loyola University Chicago, I developed a deeper interest in telling stories through documentaries. I see cameras and video as unique tools to authentically capture the sounds, colors, and emotions of the world around us.
The video production experience I gained in high school helped me land a job as a Tech Assistant for the School of Communication’s OWL Lab. Here, I was a resource for students on the production equipment we rented-out to them, and I assisted in the general upkeep of the lab.
My interest in documentaries also led me to co-found Small Town Chicago, a student organization that shed a brighter light on the most overshadowed neighborhoods of Chicago. I shot and directed four documentaries showcasing unique stories from the neighborhoods of North Lawndale, Roseland, and Pilsen.
Halfway through my college career, however, I wanted to try something new and expand my creative storytelling skills past just reporting on current events.
This led me to joining Inigo Communications, Chicago’s first and only student-run communications agency. I soon fell in-love with agency life and decided to dedicate the latter part of my college career to creating deliverables for our clients and leading Inigo to success. As Creative Coordinator, Creative Director and Firm Director, I expanded my skills into the world of Ad/PR, marketing and project management. I became a better designer, leader and communicator, but also got a further understanding of what made me passionate about communication and creative production.
Through all the documentaries, deliverables for Inigo and an internship with the McDonald’s Corporation, I learned that it didn’t matter whether it was journalism, film, advertising, or PR, what thrills me about the work I do is using technology to turn mere ideas into a reality. This passion inspires me to employ a mix of new and traditional media to tell stories, create multimedia content, lead my teams to success and make the world a better place with every piece of work that I produce. Above all: I’m a perfectionist who will put my all into whatever I’m working on, no matter the medium.
Outside my creative work, I enjoy exploring my current home of Chicago, the thrilling passion of a fútbol (soccer) game, building Legos, the peaceful nightmare of golf, and the warmth of spending time with the people I love.