Life & Work with Pedro Gamez of Los Angeles / OC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Pedro Gamez.

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?
My journey started my junior year of high school when I tried transferring out of my TV production class on the very first day of school. I always felt intimidated and overwhelmed by cameras, editing, and everything that came with production. Luckily, my TV production teacher encouraged me to give it a chance. He told me that if I really didn’t like it, he would personally ask administration to transfer me out of the class. Honestly, that sounded like a solid plan to me. I didn’t want to deal with school administration anyway.

But the longer I stayed in that class, the more I fell in love with the art form. I learned about video editing, television production, directing, acting, and so much more. What started as just another elective slowly became the class I looked forward to the most. I started winning awards for my creative videos and getting recognized for my work, but even then, I never really thought I could turn it into a career.

As high school came to an end, I decided to completely change my career path. I went from planning to study civil engineering to pursuing media communications. Explaining that huge change to my parents wasn’t easy, and understandably, they were skeptical at first. But they ultimately supported me and encouraged me not to give up. And that’s exactly what I did!

Throughout my four years of college, including one year during the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked and networked as much as I possibly could. I went from filming videos at school events for my on campus job to working as a production assistant for a film production company in Los Angeles. I wanted to experience as much of the industry as I could. That’s when I finally started realizing, “Wait… I can actually make a career out of this.”

After college, I landed a steady job as a Social Media and Communications Coordinator at a community health clinic in Los Angeles. Working there showed me that I could use my creative skills for something bigger than just making cool videos. I was able to help connect an underserved patient population with reliable and important information. I wasn’t necessarily saving lives or treating patients, but I was helping people access information they needed and I could do it in a creative way in an industry that can sometimes feel pretty dull. That became one of my favorite parts of the job.

At the same time, working in what I’ll call the “corporate world” taught me things I didn’t necessarily learn in film or media: business, communication, negotiation, and how to build relationships. Those skills ended up becoming incredibly valuable as I continued trying to break further into film and media production.

I started gaining more clients, working with recognizable brands, and building relationships with executive producers. More recently, I’ve also had the opportunity to produce interviews with prominent Mexican regional musicians through my good friend Traxlate. Little by little, I was finding my way back to the industry I always wanted to be part of.

That’s why I believe sometimes you have to close a door to open a window. Ideally, you’d probably rather walk out through the door but if the door closes, you can always find another way out. My career in media and film production definitely wasn’t linear. I took some unexpected turns, worked in industries I never imagined I would, and learned things along the way that ultimately brought me closer to where I wanted to be.

So, if your path doesn’t make sense right now, that’s okay. Sometimes you have to take a different route before you realize it was leading you exactly where you needed to go :).

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely wasn’t a smooth road by any means. There was a lot of imposter syndrome, overthinking, and self-doubt. Pretty much the typical things people in every industry go through.

I had to constantly push myself out of my comfort zone, whether that meant networking with people I had never met before, putting myself out there, or simply believing that I belonged in the room. And honestly, the more you do it, the easier it becomes!

The one thing that has actually helped me overcome those obstacles is learning to be confident in myself even when I didn’t necessarily feel confident. Sometimes you just have to act like you believe in yourself until you actually start believing it. That’s the secret sauce.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m known for being a corporate “weapon” while also being a creative “weapon.” Right now, I work in Marketing and Communications at a community clinic in North Hollywood while also working as an interviewing producer with Traxlate.

Outside of that, I like to dabble in different types of media such as sports photography and videography, daily vlogs, travel videos, and pretty much anything that gives me an opportunity to create.

What I’m most proud of is being willing to try different things, learn from them, and genuinely enjoy the process. I know there’s a lot of talk about the importance of niching down, and I completely understand why. But for me, I think there’s something valuable about being able to explore different forms of media and still excel at them.

I don’t want to limit myself to just one type of creative work. I want to keep experimenting, keep learning, and see where my creativity takes me. I think that curiosity and versatility are what really set me apart from other creatives.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
Being confident in myself while also staying humble. I’m always open to learning from everyone, no matter where they are in their career. You can learn something from someone who has been in the industry for 30 years just as easily as you can learn from someone who is just starting out.

And lastly, I always try to keep a positive attitude. You never know where a conversation, opportunity, or connection might lead, so I think it’s important to stay positive, be open-minded, and enjoy the journey.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pzdrx.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pzdrx/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedrogamez10