Christian Espinoza stuck with the mantra, “keep it local” when he and Wenatchee rapper Gustavo Gutierrez filmed the music video, “El Rey,” last month. The project ended up garnering the most votes in the GoPro contest on gowedia.com, a local video website launched by The Wenatchee World and North 40 Productions last fall.

The video follows Gutierrez, known as G-U, in a day-in-the-life montage from his Wenatchee home, to a local radio station, a tattoo parlor and finally to a restaurant with his date, Monique Gonzalez.

Of the 16 videographers who submitted work for the contest, Espinoza was named the winner of the grand prize, a GoPro Hero 3, on Monday.

Espinoza, 30, is a self-taught videographer who specializes in freelance music videos. He’s in production on two new projects with Wenatchee band Los Infielez and singer-songwriter Eden Moody. He also films wedding and promotional videos, and he’s hoping to branch out into the documentary genre next year.

“When I’m working on a music video, I try to give that person’s song a life,” Espinoza said. “It’s fun working with other people and getting creative with it.”

Espinoza was also the founder of synicradio.com, an online radio station that featured local and Northwest hip-hop artists.

He got his start at Wenatchee High School, where he was encouraged by teachers to produce videos for projects and the class end-of-the-year video two years in a row.

“I remember watching people’s expressions and reactions from the front row,” Espinoza said. “When something funny happened, they laughed. When they saw something scary, they jumped. I realized I could create something out of pictures and music that would reflect on people’s emotions.”

Rachel Hansen: 664-7139

hansen@wenatcheeworld.com