We were lucky to catch up with Gil Rios recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Gil, thanks for joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
So before taking my big risk, I have to first explain why I did it, and what I was going through. Before I took my risk, I was working as an exterminator for 15 years and I had what people might seem as success. I had good health benefits I had a good 401(k), I was adding money to my Social Security and it was a good paying job, but I wasn’t happy, My soul do not feel fulfilled. My passion wasn’t to exterminate bugs. My passion was to film. My passion is to travel while I film interesting stories, helping businesses with the power of film, creating my own stories so the world can see how I see the world. that’s what I really wanted to do. But the fear of not making it was always in the back of my head. What if I can’t pay my bills? What if I don’t become a success? What if, what if what if, it was one of the main reasons why I never left my job for so long, but I started getting noticed for my work my day did not end with my 9 to 5, after work I would hit the streets with my film. I would take on music videos, interviews, and other films, because in my mind, my 9-to-5 was just the first half of my day I still had the second day to me so that’s what I did. I started taking on one project called tattoo series where I would interview people about their tattoos and I put a one video on YouTube and I got about 18,000 views so I knew I had something going on here and it gave me the power to continue. So I entered it into the Hip-Hop film festival, and I won 2 awards in one weekend, and those accolades started changing my life. from then on I Filmed with the very popular Film at Lincoln Center and I became a teaching artist for them, based on my award’s and my skills, I was able to film the mayor of New York City and I got a vendors license for the Board of Education which means I can go to any school and teach Film, but yet I was still scared to leave my job until one day I woke up and something came over me, and I said today’s the day I put in my resignation letter and I was able to finally quit my job. the fear had left my body.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Gil Rios, I am of Puerto Rican descent and I’m from the south Bronx, New York. I am a professional filmmaker. The way I got into my industry was my friends and I were in a comedy group called jerk sauce, TV, and we would film sketches with our phones but we wanted something more professional we wanted to use a real camera so we asked around, we found some people but they were charging too much and we didn’t have the money so I saved up and I bought my own camera , so after I bought the camera, I learned how to use it, and I filmed our sketches. I fell in love with the process so much that I filmed most of our sketches after that, and that’s how I first fell in love with the world of film. And I got to study the world of film very closely to see how angles work why people use certain frames what gives the actor power and what takes away the actors power, the science of the camera, etc. The services I provide are commercials for businesses, professional narrative films, documentaries, music videos, and high class events. The problems I solve for my clients if my client has an idea but does not know how to express it. We have a meeting and I hear what the client is trying to do and I give them my ideas and how it would work best in a film world, and that’s how we solve the problems I give them my perspective on how I would see their business commercial idea work or narrative film or documentary, etc. I think what sets me apart is my unique way of storytelling. It’s very important to know how to tell a story and capture the essence of who the person is, I’m telling the story of and what makes that person so special, I’m able to convey that through Film and I think that’s my best talent. I’ve won awards. I filmed the mayor of New York City. I have filmed famous actors, famous rap artists, but what i’m most proud of is to work for Lincoln Center as a teaching artist, and being able to teach children the world to film and hope to one day, see them in the future as a Filmmaker themselves and say “hey, you taught me Film in class” that would make my day. what I’m most proud of is teaching Film to kids
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
So my biggest challenge as a Filmmaker was to film an actual movie which I have never done before and I was so scared. I did not know what to do. The place had a lot going on, and I was very nervous. In the beginning we were in Puerto, Rico and I was away from home, which made it a little more nerve-racking as time went on I got more confident I learned a lot of new things I got to see how lighting works in a professional setting how the cameras were placed how to properly mark the actors I learned so much and gained a whole new world experience and at the end of the film, I was so confident and so happy I took on the challenge. And now I go on film sets, and I am no longer scared because I know how the process actually works in the biggest stage.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
What helped me build my reputation? I think it was being consistent and putting out good work and being pleasant to work with because I think it’s not just being good at what you do is being a pleasure to work with so when they talk to their friends or business partners they have good stories to tell about their experience working with you and I think that’s what helped me with my reputation.
Contact Info:
- Website: gilrios1.com
- Instagram: @gilrios1
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/me?trk=p_mwlite_feed_updates-secondary_nav