ASOB Media: Luxury, Beauty & Wellness Have a Story to Tell

We sat down with ASOB Media founders, Gabbi Pascua, a 2 time Emmy winning beauty expert and filmmaker Alan Dennis, to talk about all things beauty, wellness and luxury. Their story- telling approach combined with years of experience in the film and beauty industry inspired them to help other brands to tell their stories through high-elevated video and photo content. 

ASOB Media

Gabbi Pascua is an expert makeup artist with over 12 years of experience in the beauty industry and serves an impressive high-profile entertainment cliente in Los Angeles, New York and abroad. Her work has contributed to publications in Vogue, Teen Vogue, Elle, Variety and graced carpets for The Grammys, Oscars, Golden Globes and VMAS. Gabbi has also been involved in the process of developing products and content for beauty brands. making her one of the ultimate beauty insiders!

Alan Dennis is a filmmaker, director, editor and producer. He is passionate about uncovering and unearthing what is vital and substantial to humanity. Alan pursues projects that are purposeful with a humane perspective. As of recently he filmed Morningside 5 (2017), a documentary for director Mike Tollin and has partnered with Kelly Miyahara to create solution-focused documentaries on major social and environmental issues. 

Gabbi’s vast experience in the beauty industry and Alan’s ability to capture the human experience made them the perfect partners in their journey to helping brands tell their stories in an honest way. 

After speaking to Gabbi and Alan about their work and personal experiences, I understood what  ASOB Media is all about; personal honest connections. 

They’ve teamed up to bring together the beauty, wellness and luxury markets through story-focused, cinematic content. They both agreed that this concept was about finding the heart behind every story. With each individual, they are able to connect deeper meaning behind beauty practices: “There’s a soulful, spiritual side to wellness that comes from healing yourself from the inside and that I feel captures a broader audience,” Alan explained.

ASOB’s content differs from other types of media because it isn’t rooted in propaganda or typical advertisements. They want to be challenged by the subjects in their stories and want to create content that will challenge their audiences.

Alan adds, “The audience is a lot more intelligent than they are credited for.” That audience is continuously changing especially as digital and social media have become more prominent over the last decade. When Gabbi first began her career, social media was new and there was no such thing as digital strategies or planning out the best posts for algorithms. Gabbi goes on to say, “I was fearful to lose my whole career at a certain point because I was told to just work, and that’s what I did. I was told ‘As a good makeup artist, don’t be seen on set.’” She was reprimanded for posting behind-the-scenes content to her Twitter in front of her whole crew. This experience made her feel like she shouldn’t take pride in her work or celebrate it. (When she was first nominated for an Emmy, she didn’t even tell anyone

ASOB Media

With ASOB Media Gabbi and Alan both have complete creative freedom so they are focused on keeping it authentic. They want brands and individuals to have the ability to tell their stories freely and not hold back.

Beauty, for them, has a lot to do with the battles within and how one perceives themselves. They want audiences to walk away, glad that they were able to watch and gain new insight into these amazing human stories.

The pair has twenty-five years of combined experience and they each bring something different to the table. “Cinema is a language that I’m fluent in. Why do I use this lens, this lighting, this camera? It’s all a language. It’s all in service of whichever story I’m telling” Alan tells us.

While Alan brings the cinematic approach, Gabbi introduced him deeper into wellness and self-care.

ASOB Media

“Wellness now is my priority - because it’s touch, it’s connectivity. Healthy choices allowed for me to show up for my jobs and gave me space to explore what keeps me well. It’s the most poignant and grounding lesson I’ve learned. Your work is only as good as you are.” Gabbi says as she explains why wellness is so important to her, after years of being burnt out in the workplace. As a true California girl, farmer’s markets, yoga, meditation and healthy practices were not a foreign idea to her, but things she was always surrounded with throughout her upbringing. 

Taking care of ourselves is fundamental in creating healthier habits, beauty is an essential part that shouldn’t be overlooked. Gabbi shared with us her favorite beauty products she can't function without, the Myriad Hydrating Toner and Lawless beauty overnight lip mask. 

ASOB Media

When asked about how ASOB came to be, Alan recounts,

“It started with a new car and a new camera. I went by Gabbi’s to pick her up for a joyride in my new Tesla and told her about my new camera. I asked if she had any ideas to shoot, thinking it would be like a five minute piece. She pitched beauty content which was never on my radar and as I learned about Gabbi’s journey and the stories behind self-worth and self discovery... I realized that I’ve been there before too. I began looking at ancient cultures and their ideas around beauty, specifically beauty around the soul that connects you with the divine, timeless stories here.”

For Gabbi, the ideas for beauty stories had come to her even earlier than that joyride in Alan’s car. She found herself stuck in LA for COVID and was at the time at a very low point in her life. She had just embarked in creating her own beauty line which faced a lot of setbacks and wasn't turning out the way she had hoped.

Gabbi kept working and found herself planning outlines for beauty content. She would wake up, have coffee and start writing. Alan, who at the time was having a completely different experience than Gabbi, checked in on her.

ASOB Media

That’s when the idea about working together to bring to life stories Gabbi was writing began. Gabbi laughed, quick to point out that Alan didn’t immediately understand her vision right away. Alan interjected “I got it instantly!!” As they both laughed, Gabbi clarified that Alan, true to his personality, gave some push back on the ideas. 

“Alan has helped me develop full concepts and that’s what I love about working with him. He challenges me to find reasons behind my work” Gabbi details. They both stay creative in different ways. “He likes to go on walks…” and Alan quickly responds, “Alan: I don’t like routines. And so much writing happens on those walks! I love to disappear.” Travel and submerging themselves in different cultures is a large part of staying creative for both of them.

ASOB Media

When asked what they love most about working together, Gabbi answers, “How he views things. He taught me to pull inspiration from the mundane. And he can communicate the stories I want to tell so beautifully and eloquently. He truly takes the time to tell a story.” And Alan tells how they compliment each other, “I love how she’s so driven, such a go-getter. Pulling me along sometimes because she’s going so fast. I don’t have to worry about her because we’re on the same page so much.”

Storytelling that speaks to the human experience, its beauty and unique perspective.