Today we’d like to introduce you to Rudy Solorzano III.
Hi Rudy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story starts when my father saved up enough money to purchase a Playstation for our family. My father told me that if I saved up enough money, I too could purchase my own game to play. Determined, I grinded away my chores for weeks until I finally saved up enough to go to the local game store. I became immediately enamored by the artwork for Crash Bandicoot and I ran to the clerk with my hard-earned 16 dollars. I went home and I played for hours until my father stopped me to say, “Hey, you look like you are really enjoying this, you know you could make games too, right?”
“Humans can make videogames? I thought robots made video games!” I replied.
From that day onward, I knew I wanted to make games. Fast forward through art school and over 146 application rejections, I finally got my first yes working for Epic Games as a production assistant!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Trigger Warning for anyone who may be sensitive to suicide:
I will be honest in saying that having schizophrenia made growing up/studying extremely difficult, so difficult in fact that it led to suicidal depression in my teens. My neurodivergence made me socially awkward and every failed class affirmed that I shouldn’t be around. After my second attempt at suicide, I realized I needed to find a reliable reason to live or I’d end back where I was. I told myself, “If I can make at least one person smile a day, that would be enough.” Since then, that philosophy has taken me further than I could have ever imagined. I mention this because if there is a single person who relates, know that you are never alone and that life does get better.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Currently, I work as an Associate Producer for Blizzard’s Story and Franchise department. There, I work with our talented crew to deliver rigs, simulations and shot cleanup for our games and marketing cinematics.
My pride extends to works of cultural significance. At Epic Games, I am most proud of the work we did for the March Through Time and Rainbow Royale Fortnite events. We got to work with the Martin Luther King estate and we hosted a free pride event, allowing even more expression in the game. At Blizzard, I am most proud of the work we have done on our Kiriko cinematic because we did extensive cultural research into Japanese culture and Japanese Sign Language.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Humility matters most to me because people excel further when they know there is room for improvement.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rudy.solorzano/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rudy.solorzano.161
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rudy-solorzano-iii-965b44148/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@rudysolorzanoiii7595/videos
Image Credits
Blizzard Pride Parade image provided by Brandy Stiles and the group picture with me in the middle is provided by my student Reza Kaveh. The rest are my own images. 😀
