Today we’d like to introduce you to Hugo Diego Garcia.
Hi Hugo Diego, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born in France in a small village in the middle of nowhere, not far from Switzerland. I spent my childhood going between the mountains and the city, where I trained in martial arts, particularly boxing, which I took seriously.
Back then, the only things that were consistent in my life were sports, fighting, reading, and binge-watching films. By chance, the few VHS tapes we had at home directly exposed me to the top American Cinema of the 1970s: Coppola, Scorsese, Cimino, some Spielberg, even Rocky and Rambo.
I watched anything I could get my hands on. My brother (French electronic artist and composer MALO) and I could go from Kung Fu films to Romantic comedies to indie French drama. We tried it all. There were no rules. But I myself didn’t know any professional artists, and the idea of moving to Hollywood let alone going into filmmaking at all was inconceivable.
Fast forward to a few years later; my boxing trainer wants me to turn pro. My family is thinking I will become a corporate lawyer. Or, I can leave all of that behind and go to Paris and study theatre. I chose the latter.
Paris taught me a lot and I made all the mistakes one can make. At 21, I moved to L.A. I had no friends, no connections, very little experience, but I had a strong drive. They say knowledge is power, so I read everything I could find about the industry. At that time, my first manager told me a career took five years to take off. For me in my circumstances, he said up to eight years. I smiled and thought, “not happening to me, man.” Seven years later, I got my first opportunity. Close enough. Turns out I had a lot to learn.
Today, I write and direct my own movies, in which I also act. Doing so allows me to explore the stories and characters that interest me the most and work with my team – my best friends with whom I grew up. I made my first short film at age 24, even though I had no experience (I never went to film school). The relative success of that project, and the support I received from established directors, gave me confidence and I haven’t stopped since. Three years and several projects later, I wrote and co-directed my first feature film, “Vache Folle,” with my close friend Lorenzo Bentivoglio. I also act in films and TV in both the US and Europe, which was always the goal.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There’s a saying that ‘Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting’. From this definition, I wasn’t patient.
Also, many people have the subconscious idea that because booking a job as an actor can be so much about looks, personality, charisma, or who you know, things could happen at any time. This lottery fantasy slows down a lot of people who wait around instead of putting in the work. I was like this. Plus, moving to LA was difficult. I had a hard time adapting to the culture and being away from my family and friends. I had to deal with immigration, attorneys, limited time, limited money, and ultimately, speaking English with a slight accent. Only after dealing with all of that did I get to compete as an actor. I never thought of quitting, but frustration was my companion for many years.
But as they say, “the obstacle is the way”. Barring a few exceptions, no success happens overnight. It takes time. Training. Development. Filmmaking is a craft, not a race. You also need to mature into the person people will want to work with. You need to bring something to the table, and life gives you this something if you’re willing to be patient enough. With a strong enough why you have no other options than to keep moving forward.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Whether as an actor, a writer or a director, I try to bring classicist qualities to the projects I’m doing while mixing it up with a more modern formalistic approach. But I do feel like classic cinema is the way.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Television programs have risen dramatically in quality since the early 2000s, and I’m glad that there are significantly more opportunities now in TV, both in terms of diversity and sheer volume. I love that the medium allows for complex character studies and superb plots. I also like that genre movies are getting more popular and successful at the highest level.
Cinema though, in its purest form, has taken a hit over the past 20 years. “What is Cinema?” is a whole other conversation, but I believe that size matters and that movies should be watched on a big screen. The experience is incomparable. It engages all senses. You don’t get the same impact, feelings, and emotions watching TV in your living room where you are bombarded with constant solicitations as you do beholding a giant screen in a dark room you went to, paid for, and get to share live with an audience.
I also believe in author films, regardless of their size. The more control the director, the artist, has, the better. If you think about the list of the greatest films, they rarely come from a group of people or a franchise but rather are the product of a vision.
Things move fast, so I can’t truly predict where our industry will go, but many people, and many companies, now prioritize short content, diversity, direct VOD, smartphone consumption, and the predominance of franchise films. I for one hope that quality will prevail above all and that pure, raw, and substantial cinema will regain some of its magic.
I will always be grateful for the great artists and visionaries whose work we can still experience and for those masters who manage to remain classic while adapting to the new demands of this ultra-volatile new world.
Contact Info:
- Other: imdb.me/hugodiegogarcia
