Check Out Marcos Rodriguez’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcos Rodriguez.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Growing up my family would always be watching movies, either action movies from the 80s dubbed to Spanish or the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema. Then one day my family bought a small camcorder that we would use to record our birthdays, family events, or the rare occasions we would go to amusement parks. This was my chance I thought and started being the one to record. They didn’t really trust me with it, since I was a kid, but bought me the first generation Flip Camcorder. That summer, all my friends and I did was record funny videos and upload them on YouTube. I would direct and edit at home using Window Movie Maker. A couple years later I moved to using an iPod Touch while in high school. Took, a break while in college, but then there was an opportunity for a film competition. Something in me told me this was my chance and I took the opportunity. Both years they would only show the top 15 films and my films made the top 15 for both years. I then started software engineering job after graduation, but took every chance to do media. Currently now I create content to showcase work from my friends who are artists and create marketing material for the Pro Wrestling dojo I train at, Santino Brothers Wrestling Academy.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been an easy road. Looking back I would spend a lot of time waiting for my computer to catch up to what I had in mind, since I didn’t have the best hardware. In high school I wasn’t able to be part of the film production team as they were full. Then, in college I was so focused on completing my degree that filming took a back seat. However, thankfully my classmates supported me in helping me with the classwork, without that I don’t think I could have completed the films for the film competitions. After college, I was focused on building my career, but would try to create as much as I could. Knowing all this is why I keep doing it, because no matter what era I’m in my life, the creativity of creating videos is always there. I always go back to it and when I first saw the camcorder my parents bought I was just drawn to it, and its hard to explain why, but it just felt that was a part of me.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Currently, I’m focusing more on promoting businesses with creative content. I have friends that sell apparel, create music, or are professional wrestlers. All of these industries require constant uploads and quality uploads. My format is short content as I’m trying to get as much repetition to optimize my workflow. The proudest work I have done is the music video I did for my musician friend Dylan Sherry, about his song Stars. I’ve always wanted to work on a music video and I had the opportunity. It was fast pace and the lighting was dark, so I had to use all my creativity to make the video work. In the end it came out better than expected and it is a video I return to watch again, and the song is also peaceful so it helps one relax. What sets me apart from others is that when I work on a project my mentality is why not? A lot of times we think we need the big rigs and cameras to create something and we box ourselves in. I say we don’t really have to do that and cut ourselves short, we can say why not try our hardest as if we already have all the expensive equipment. This helps a lot on set as it makes everyone believe in themselves more.

How do you think about luck?
Aside form the downtime and lack of hardware in the beginning, I can say I have fortunately had a lot of luck. Both with opportunities and meeting people. You never know what can happen if you work hard and put your heart into it. I’ve got a lot of my opportunities from talking to people and seeing what is something they would like to create, then I just use my experience. It’s like that quote from Top Gun that Rooster told Maverick, “Don’t think, just do”.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: _marcos_rdgz

Image Credits
Dylan Sherry
the.real.shangai
Santino Brothers Wrestling Academy