Why This Music Video Director Quit Hollywood to Craft Custom Furniture

About 25 minutes into our conversation, Aser Santos Jr. casually mentions that as he was transitioning away from camera operating, he sold his Steadicam to DaBaby.

DaBaby, the Billboard-charting “ROCKSTAR” and “BOP” rapper from North Carolina? Yes, that DaBaby. In Santos’ previous life as a cinematographer-slash-producer of music videos, doing the equivalent of a casual Facebook Marketplace transaction with a rapper would have been par for the course. Over the course of roughly a decade, Santos rose through the production ranks, from grip intern to camera operator to executive producer of music videos for the likes of Mike Posner and Shaboozey. He got up close and personal with rock legend Carlos Santana and operated cameras on the videos for Post Malone’s “Saint-Tropez” and DaBaby’s “BOP,” the latter of which garnered nearly 600 million YouTube views.

Now, he’s the custom furniture maker behind Juniperwood, crafting elegant coffee tables and midcentury-modern-inspired nightstands out of materials like cherry, ash and walnut. And in many ways, he sees it as an extension of his earlier work. “The creative process is the same,” he says. “It’s like, what do I want the viewer’s eye to look at first? And that’s where I’ll put a lot of the focus and attention and then build from there.”

The story of how Santos, now 30, left his entertainment career for woodworking begins with the return of his panic attacks. He’d first experienced them in college at Cal State Fullerton, where he was pursuing a business degree and attempting to live up to the high academic expectations he believed his Filipino immigrant parents had for him. Meanwhile, he wasn’t working on his real passion, a small photography and videography business he had built. But something wasn’t clicking, and a school psychologist diagnosed him with a panic disorder, anxiety and depression. He confided in the psychologist that he wanted to enter the film industry, and she offered another insight: He probably didn’t need a college degree for that. With his parents’ blessing, he dropped out and broke into the industry the old-fashioned way: by getting on set and networking.

Once on set, Santos climbed the career ladder. After interning in production then working at a rental house, he became a freelance camera assistant. Then came the transition to camera operator, leading him to steady work in music videos and commercials. Amid the COVID pandemic, as crews got smaller, Santos fulfilled his dream of becoming a DP. Since he already had a small company and insurance for his gear, he slipped into producing, too.

By 2025, his company, Juniper Visuals, was a trusted production partner for artists, working closely with Posner and Shaboozey and co-producing videos for LL Cool J, Sum 41 and Fat Joe. But for all the progress on paper, as the producing, noncreative side of Santos’ job began taking over his life, the panic attacks returned. When he ended up in an ambulance headed to the hospital after one acute episode, he knew what it meant. “I understood the parallels that were happening between 10 years ago, when I was in college, to now,” he says. “And it made me realize, ‘I think I’m in the wrong place.’ “

He started woodworking in 2023. In fact, the entertainment industry led him to it. That year, he and a few collaborators invested in a warehouse with the intention of starting a film studio, and Santos bought his first miter saw to build flats (film set walls) and jacks (supports for those walls). Furniture-making, which he largely taught himself to do, was a natural extension of that work and became a favorite hobby. In just a few months, he was getting commissions — a credenza and a coffee table for an office, a wine box. By the time he decided to fully leave the film business earlier this year, woodworking had already proved to be a lucrative side hustle. He decided to focus on it exclusively.

While he’s not yet able to make a sustainable living — his workshop is a room in his parents’ house — Santos says that in a couple of months he has made about as much as he made in entertainment. He dreams of living off a custom business, but in case that doesn’t work out, he’s taking a furniture-making course that he says counts toward the license required in California to install cabinetry.

So far, his production skill set is paying off. As with entertainment, relationships are key. He’s using his filmmaking expertise to create social media content around his creations and nab a few brand deals. And he’s bringing his cinematographer’s eye for lighting to the design process. “My approach for lighting when I was DPing was work with the shadows, basically,” he says. “A lot of my pieces have a certain angle they like to get hit at with light.”

The transition doesn’t always feel comfortable. On June 28, Santos posted on Instagram about his career pivot: “I’m sad. I’m depressed. I’m anxious. And I don’t know if I just made the worst or best decision of my life.” The post went viral, with people in similar positions posting personal stories in the comments.

As we sit in his workshop a month later, he sounds more relaxed about his new direction, saying he’s grateful he gets to continue to be creative and transfer his skills: “Nothing is ever a waste of time. There’s some type of evolution to be had from every experience, good or bad.”

PROUDEST HOLLYWOOD MOMENT

Playing my part in allowing everyone to utilize their skills and passions for their own professional livelihood gave me an unmatchable feeling of fulfillment. Helping people live their dreams and make their ideas a reality was my favorite part of production.

PROUDEST POST- HOLLYWOOD MOMENT

I am proud that I took the time to step back and identify my values so I would be able to make an informed decision on putting myself first before I lost myself fully in the hustle of what it takes to thrive in such a volatile environment.

BIGGEST HOLLYWOOD LETDOWN

The biggest Hollywood letdown, which I learned the hard way, was definitely the stereotype that it is difficult to get paid for your work. Whether it be small clients, big agencies or multibillion-dollar corporations, rarely does the financial side of things go smoothly.

ANY REGRETS?

Every moment and mistake I had in the film industry has been a lesson that I’ve taken to heart. The industry has brought me some lifelong relationships, and it’s hard to regret anything that brought those connections into my life.

This story appeared in the Aug. 5 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.