We were lucky to catch up with Richard Garcia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Richard , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

The mission: Getting into the film industry and joining my Local Union to make a decent wage. After making a decent living for a bachelor I never really cared to spread my wings, I was fine where I was or rather more stagnant, perhaps even complacent. What drove me to my journey which I am currently on is the opportunity to make an honest living while providing for the ones I love around me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hey readers!
My name is Richard Garcia, Born and raised In beautiful Los Angeles California. I grew up skateboarding all over the place from city to city. Currently I am a Freelancing Grip, working on productions to help pay the bills.
What got me into my area of work is my uncle who told me about the wonders of working in film production! He got me in touch with one of the Professor’s for a Film Program at my local community college. I spoke to the Professor and he recommended that I should take an intro class.
Of course after this intro class I feel as I owed myself a fresh start and diving into something completely new, scary and quite alien to me. I quit my job at the time and went back to school full time.
Originally, as silly as it sounds my interest in the film industry was being a part of Craft Service. Having Well over a decade of food handling experience under my belt. It’s what comes to me like second hand nature, serving people and making their day.
Unfortunately the classes have nothing to do with what I originally planned so I adapted and began to Grip which shares the union of craft service. Having experience in plumbing and demo work I was not afraid of getting my hands dirty and doing some fun heavy lifting. So I studied, worked hard, practiced my knots before going to bed every day and made this my life. If I wasn’t at home I was on set gripping!
I would say as a grip I’m still green, but being on set with great people and learning how to use new tools/methods of work is incredibly fun. My life for so long was like a neglected dog at home never being walked, but when I get to be on set, solve problems, drive to places I have never even seen in my own back yard of L.A., I feel like the dog on his walk smelling everything new and different on that fresh patch of grass. Physically being a grip is demanding but I love the challenge and the great sleep I get after a day of work. Thanks to my schooling and constant practice I am prepared to grip, that being said my goal in the end is still to end up in the Craft Service area. My life’s purpose is to make people’s day even if it’s simply just by a cup of coffee.
What sets me a part is simple, I don’t stop working and trying to get better. I acknowledge my flaws but don’t let them stop me. On top of that I am pretty easy to get a long with and I’m told that may be hard to find sometimes on set.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

The most useful resource I wish I had about 10 years ago is simple, just getting onto a set. Paid/Unpaid just dive in.
That’s the hardest hurdle to get over but once you pass that one, nothing can stop you.
It may be a bit intimidating but nip it in the bud.

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

My funding to keep myself afloat is over 10 years of hard work and savings. Giving myself the liberty to pursue this life living off my savings wont last forever but that’s why I am on set when I can be on set. To get as much experience and money to keep me afloat until my time really comes!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: richode1991