Check Out TJ Martinez’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to TJ Martinez.

TJ, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin? 
Well, as a kid, I first had an interest in visual effects because of movies like Jurassic Park and The Matrix. In middle school and high school, video class was something that seemed more fun than your usual curriculum. After school I was usually playing guitar with hopes of being in a touring band one day. I ended up enrolling in a film college and set my sights on becoming a writer and director. While enrolled in the college, my roommates and I would jam cover songs from rock, ska, and metal genres. For reasons I still don’t understand, I was given the nickname Skunk by these fellow roommates and jam-band buddies of mine. I didn’t think much about it since my hygiene was, honestly, a little better than theirs haha. But it could have been because of the “incense” I was burning… Very frequently… And often accompanied by Bob Marley’s Greatest Hits. Hahaha. Nonetheless, after college, I carried the nickname with me into the touring band that I aspired to one day be in. The singer from our band gave me the nickname “M40”, an abbreviation of my AOL Instant Messenger screen name, hahaha. This was around 2008. So, many years later, I moved to Los Angeles with the intention of becoming an actor while also fulfilling my career as a writer/director and music artist. My solo music career has been under the artist name Skunk M40 (both nicknames from bandmates -just slapped together). 

With acting, “TJ” is a family/friend nickname that I use for my SAG-AFTRA alias. I’m a “Junior” since I have the same first name as my father, so “Little Tony,” “Tony Junior,” or “TJ” would be some nicknames I’d be called. 

I was born and raised in San Diego, Mexican, on both sides of my family, so I’m also referred to as “Guero” (which means “white boy”). I went to school in a different part of San Diego, north of where I first lived, with both sides of the family in City Heights and Paradise Hills. Poway is a small town in North County, San Diego, where bands like Blink 182 or Unwritten Law come from. As you could imagine (if you are familiar with Blink 182 or Unwritten Law), the “white neighborhoods” of Poway were much different from where my family lived, closer to the border of Mexico. But still, I was often visiting family in the southern part of San Diego, especially when I first received my driver’s license. Anytime I would bring a friend from Poway to the south county area (City Heights or Paradise Hills), they would feel like a “fish out of water” while I felt more at home. And it is interesting how I feel a deep connection with hip-hop and metal, while also being from South County San Diego and growing up in North County San Diego. It actually makes sense if you look at my casting in Hollywood or listen to the music I produce. 

But back to the present time… I have been growing as a film producer, which was something I never wanted to do. A film producer is in charge of everything (and mainly responsible for the outcome of the final product), while a director is in charge of directing, an actor does acting, a writer is in charge of writing, etc. Being “busy af” is something I try to avoid as a person who is constantly busy and often lacking sleep. But as a producer, I found myself very much “busy af”… and actually learning an incredible amount about myself through the process… like -how the job position on film sets that I feared the most has become a very well-fitting pair of shoes for me. I never wanted to become a Producer in the film industry, but if you have a story to tell… Not everyone will, or can, tell the same story the way that you do. And as the writer of the projects that I produce, I find it difficult for me to give up a vision that I wrote if I become attached to the visual idea I have in my head. Which leads me to taking the first step on many projects that I have to see completed, like a mission. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
In the previous interview that we had, I went over the trials of being an actor, but things have changed a lot in the past 2 years since then. During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike last year, there was a lot of time for me to produce music. Last October I released a single, VILLAINOUS MAFUCKAS, and began the process of pre-production for the music video (music video productions were not crossing any line during the strike, since the strike was for streaming films/shows). It was my first official SAG-AFTRA production, that I was in charge of producing myself. But the purpose was to hire as many of my actor friends that had been going through the industry strike with me. As the ball started to roll, locations were being locked-in, production team was being put together, actors getting hired and scheduled, but it was not as simple as that. Certain locations were changing their original rates as things got closer to the shooting date, which was frustrating, yet I had to find the location that would work with the budget. A week before the first day of production, the entire crew had bailed (except for my co-director that helped in hiring them), so I had to re-hire most of the positions while locking in official locations. Some of the actors weren’t available for the shoot date, so I had to switch actors that were locked into different roles, hire actors to fill in the missing spots while finalizing locations, and hire a new crew. 

One thing that I learned in my first official production as a producer was that you have to be fluid like water. If water is running through a channel and the route is interfered with by natural causes or imposed factors, the water keeps flowing without making poor decisions based on emotion, stopping to throw a tantrum, or being a victim. It just keeps going until it reaches its endpoint. To put it simply, “you gotta move with the punches”. Keeping an open mind and your ability to improv, or “pivot”, at a moment’s notice to make things work. 

And if something doesn’t work out the way you originally wanted it to, often you find something even better than what was originally supposed to be, but it wouldn’t have existed if you kept a narrow mind. It’s a magic in the business that you are gifted with for taking the risk of creating and producing. That’s how I view it. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m extremely lucky to have years of Production Assistant experience on big budget films or TV shows, where I’d watch the demeanor and actions of “high-level” positions on set, while I was technically at the bottom of the “totem pole”. While watching the producers at work, I’d mostly see them as cool, calm, collected, and the crew would be typically happy, grateful and would treat each other like a big family. On some sets, when the producer was constantly stressed and angry, the crew would usually act stressed and angry as well. 

As I went through the process of being a producer on my first official set, I realized that it does no good for the production (nor the outcome of the project) if you can’t keep calm and focused. So, I was very grateful to everyone that showed up, and I even hired an assistant to keep myself from being overwhelmed. It proved to help a lot to keep myself “in check” and not lose my head when things went wrong or feel like I needed to throw someone off of set to show my “authority” on the production (I know a producer that used this method to compensate for their own insecurities, it’s embarrassing). And in the end, if you treat the people that you hired well, they can’t wait to work with you again. 

And another thing that really helped me, and I plan to duplicate in every hiring process, is having some basic knowledge of the task you are hiring for. Or at least spend a little bit of your time to research an unfamiliar task to know when someone is “b.s.-ing” you. During the preproduction portion of the process, the Assistant Director (a.k.a. 1st AD) went location scouting with the co-director and I. The co-director was the one that knew this 1st AD personally and asked him to join the production. At one point, we discussed how certain shots needed to be done at a green screen studio. This Assistant Director had some experience, yet he would keep telling me “Can’t”… “we can’t do it that way”, “it can’t be done the way you think”, “can’t”, “can’t”, “can’t”… Even when I knew for a fact, from my own experience of working on set, that it CAN be done. This AD quit production a week before the first shoot date, which was a relief. So, don’t ever hire someone that says “can’t” a lot. 

Also, pick your battles wisely… Time is of the essence in productions, so it is beneficial to not waste time arguing for the sake of “being right”. It’s okay to be wrong. “Leaving the ego out of it” is something I’m actually trying to implement into my life altogether. 

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc.?
If I’m handling things at home, I typically have a podcast playing as I go about my business. The Bill Burr “Monday Morning, Thursday Afternoon Podcast”, Tim Dillon’s Podcast or The Joe Rogan Experience are my usual news sources because of the hilarious, non-biased perspectives. Comedian podcasts are great for laughing and reminding you to not take life too seriously. 

YouTube is my main source of information on anything and everything that I want to learn. In the age of information, it is crucial to utilize YouTube as an educational source, yet I typically will watch several different videos from different channels on the same subject to form the education that I’m in need of. Whether it’s motorcycle repair videos, interviews with actors, interviews with investment gurus, “Do-It-Yourself” home repairs, it is all on YouTube. 

I need to make more time to read, but something I would recommend to ALL artist, creatives, or anyone in general, are the Steven Pressfield “The War of Art” series. The War of Art books help you to understand what it is that keeps you from achieving your goals, or having the life that you want -spoiler alert- it’s YOU (or the “resistance” that we all have inside of us). And I also find that Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” is a great read for all-around wisdom in life, business, and relationships. But for all the introverts, like myself, that work in a network-driven industry -“Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi will help you mentally reverse the myths that networking is full of selfish intent and awkward, fictitious relationships. Ferrazzi explains networking as genuinely wanting to help others, which was a “paradigm shift” for me. 

Contact Info:

• Website: imdb.me/tjmartinez
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_real_tj_martinez/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SkunkM40
• Twitter: https://x.com/SkunkM40
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SkunkMusicChannel
• SoundCloud: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2saTWzGlMeh6d65PwJPNk6?nd=1&fbclid=IwAR2LKitnabdAlvgqdMLjasafZ-TB59mIobLJ-Z4lSf0oosXo3QMCVHRbNBY
• Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/skunk-m40/1343574872

Image Credits
Zachary Iziah Smith