We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful MJ Caballero. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with MJ below.

Hi MJ, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

Great rewards come with great risks. I have always thought that I have nothing to lose. For example, when you apply for a job, if you end up not getting it, you are not really losing anything because you didn’t have the job in the first place. Having that mindset of taking risks with nothing to lose it’s one of the reasons that has brought me to where I am here today. Right after graduating college I secured an interview for the next day for a Production Assistant gig in Madrid (I’m from Spain), which was 300 miles away from the city where I was living in at the time. That same day I packed a carry on, drove to Madrid and stayed at a friend’s apartment for the night. The next day during the interview, I got offered the job on the spot and I started 3 days later. When you have opportunities in front of you, you have to take them regardless of the potential outcome. Great things happen when you bet on yourself, everything falls into place and you will never have to wonder “what if”.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a Production Executive working in television and feature films at production companies, studios and/or networks. That means that I oversee several scripted series or features at the same time while they go through the process of pre-production, production and post-production and make sure that they are finished on time, on budget and that the standards, policies and processes of the company are followed. Since I was a kid, I always loved film and tv but when I was 14 and I was watching one of my favorite shows, there was a steadicam shot of the main two characters and that’s when it hit me, I wanted to work in entertainment and be making those series and features that I was watching. Knowing what you want to do is 50% of the process, now you just have to go and get it. So I got a BA in Audiovisual Communication, worked in the production and editing of many (many, many) shorts while I was in college, moved to Madrid, briefly worked as an editor until I started working as a Production Assistant in series. From that moment on, I also started line producing shorts and web-series, made the jump from Madrid (Spain) to Los Angeles in 2013 and kept working as a line producer, freelancing in features until I went in house in 2019.
Someone said to me a few years ago that what sets me apart is that if a someone else asks me for something, I will pull unicorns out of thin air. What sets me apart is that I love what I do and I care about the job and the projects, production is the machine that keeps all the pieces together while the wheel spins, it’s a team effort.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

The biggest pivotal moment for me in career and in life was when I decided to move to Los Angeles and leave Madrid. I had been wanting to move to Los Angeles since even before moving to Madrid, but I decided to play the long game and always kept that goal in my mind. After working for a few years in tv series and producing short-films and web-series; my goal had not changed, I had a bigger desire to come to LA and to leave Madrid, a city that even though I loved and was in my heart, I didn’t feel I belonged to. So I gave notice at work and quit my job even and from that moment on everything else started falling into place.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Networking is the best resource, and coming from Spain I wasn’t aware what it was or that it was a thing! It took me a while to figure out what networking really is. It’s not about meeting people to see what they can do for you. It’s about getting to know other amazing human beings, creating lasting relationships and offering your help (and being willing to really help!).

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mjproducer
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/mjcaballero