By Elia Esparza
In 2010, Jorge Garcia Castro, arrived in Hollywood equipped with a Harvard Master’s Degree in Finance and Strategy and a burning passion to succeed in carving himself a successful career in film and television.
Eight years later, Garcia Castro is one of the busiest multi-talented professionals in Hollywood. We caught up with the Mexico born-and-raised film producer taking a break from the media campaigns surrounding the premiere of his most recent work, In A Relationship, a 2 Friends Media independent film production.
Somehow, he’s been able to juggle the multi-tasking and still do a great job at each task. Last May, Garcia Castro, 39, told Latin Heat’s Julio Martinez that he developed a huge curiosity about how movies are made after watching 1985’s biggest blockbuster hit as a kid.
“Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies of all time. I remember vividly watching the end credits and that’s when I realized all the people it took to make this film.”
He was hooked—and this is when he decided he would be involved—he wanted to make movie magic.
First, he studied finance and eventually earning his Master’s degree in Finance and Strategy. It wasn’t entertainment, but boy oh boy, has that education in numbers come in handy. His first big break came working with Disney as a consultant, overseeing Spanish language productions. In time, Disney had him working on various projects, including Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Alice in Wonderland, and TRON: Legacy.
“I started at Disney during a time when DVD was going away and everyone was wondering where the new revenue was going to come from.” As a result of all these changes happening in the industry, Garcia Castro recognized the production opportunities that were going to be opening up.
Latin Heat: Congratulations on your Denver Film Fest award for In A Relationship. Was working on this film different from your other producing projects?
Jorge Garcia Castro: It is very different from others because I was able to work with the filmmaker closely from start to finish, and as a result I had more control. Usually you have a studio mandate on what to do, receiving edit notes we can’t ignore, and they have a financier controlling the budget giving us restrictions. In A Relationship, I had more control because we were working with 2 Friends Media, the film’s finance company I co-founded. It was wonderful to be able to have more control from beginning to end.
LH: Was there anything new you learned after the wrapping this film? Any challenges that standout?
JGC: Every project has its challenges because each project is different but I think what I learned here was that while we had a tight budget, we also had more control in making the movie. It was a challenge because we had a lot of locations to film, and staying close with director’s vision within the budget that had its challenges. But, I think what I learned the most is that if you surround yourself with a team that mutually supports and respect each other’s roles, it makes everyone’s job so much easier.
LH: You wear many hats in the entertainment industry: film producer, content creator and entrepreneur. Tell us about the companies you co-founded: Altered.la, 2 Friends Media and Inclusion Management.
JGC: These companies came out of the needs that I had from my own experiences that were not being fulfilled or not completely to my satisfaction.
2 Friends Media is more of a financing/production company that focuses on content especially for features and TV; Altered.la represents directors for commercials and is a production company focused more on doing commercials for the general and U.S. Hispanic markets; and Inclusion Management is a talent management company mostly representing minorities.
We saw an opportunity because of the lack of representation of Latinos and minorities (behind or in front of the camera). Nobody was really doing it or doing it well. So I decided to partner up with Inclusion Management so we could actually represent Latinos and minorities in a way that spotlights the strength of their talents above everything else..
Our mission is that we’re going to protect the director’s vision at all cost. We commit to make the director’s movie and that’s what we strive for.”
LH: You’re into Producing, Management, Distribution – is one more important than the other in the realm of the overall business of making movies or TV shows?
JGC: Basically, it’s all like one company. Each offers a service for specific needs, and one component can’t exist without the other. They are all equally important. However, again, I love the producing side of filmmaking, and thanks to having all of these companies under one umbrella makes my job easier to access talent, financing, etcetera. It also allows me to meet people specializing in all types of professions and that makes it easier to start something with nothing or very little. At the end of the day that’s what drives my passion.
LH: You’re also currently working with Netflix coordinating the visual effects for The Christmas Chronicles and BirdBox — What does it mean to coordinate visual effects?
JGC: Visual effects [VFX] (unlike special effects [SFX, SPFX, FX] is more like explosions of the cars etc.) are more creative like the CGI characters and give them the environment and stuff like that. What I’m doing for Netflix came as a result of the thousands of productions they’re now doing and in upcoming years, along with the volume and complexity of VFX that they’re doing, they brought me on board to guide their strategy for VFX.
They also have series like El Chapo that require certain type of VFX complexity and vendors versus other productions like Lost In Space, which the VFX level of complexity and volume are very different. And, we have many other shows in the middle that differ from the type of VFX shots, assets and complexity needed along with the overall volume that we need to supply. Advising on their FVX strategy allows me to foresee what efficiencies we need to implement, what challenges are we potentially facing in the near term and long term, and how we attack them.
At the end of the day, Netflix is a very filmmaker-friendly studio and the VFX team needs to be prepared to give them the quality and best experience possible to execute their vision and we need to be prepared to provide them with the right vendors, VFX producers and supervisors, and efficiencies necessary for the filmmakers to be able to have a smooth experience and be able to focus on executing their vision.
We’re different than other production companies in that we don’t necessarily focus on tax rebates, which makes it a lot easier to finance a movie but if it doesn’t make sense creatively, we’re not going to do it.”
LH: So you also help identify how to be more efficient in terms of visual effects? JGC: Yes. In terms of more efficiency, I consult on who do we use as the visual effects supervisor, what visual effects vendors should we use, and how can we be more efficient— for example, do we need more people. I’m part of the team creating overall strategies and the great thing about it is that I get to be involved working on so many shows… movies like The Christmas Chronicles that has all sorts of animated Elves; Bird Box, with Sandra Bullock, (premiering this month) has a lot of visual effects, elements that I won’t give away, but if you watch the trailer, you can probably figure it out. As Netflix’s Visual Effects Consultant, I get to work on all these different type of productions—it’s just incredible the talent that’s out there to create these special and visual effects.
LH: That’s one incredible opportunity for you, working in the middle of so many exceptional productions and working for a giant like Netflix.
JGC: My experience with Netflix is a fantastic opportunity. It was my love for films and knowledge of visual effects that led me here.
LH: What type of training or experience did you need to land these type of jobs in visual effects?
JGC: Education wise, my background is in finance strategy and working for Disney was really like my ‘film school.’ At Disney, I got the opportunity to work for various departments and worked on projects like Alice In Wonderland and Beverly Hills Chihuahua, which most of the work was in visual effects and special effects. I learned so much and met so many professionals. I worked closely with visual effects people for several years and I absorbed everything they taught me. I was truly blessed—they took me under their wings, made me a part of the team and showed me the ropes. After my Disney gigs were completed, I also had opportunities to work with other studios like FOX, which I helped a bit with visual effects for new Zorro project that never came to fruition. Still I learned a lot from all the visual effects experts..
By the way, my business background has bided well working as a visual effects consultant.
LH: Are you still working with Disney?
JGC: I still consult with them as they need me and if I’m available. Currently, I’m actually working with them trying to develop a TV show for the Disney Channel, I can’t say much about this project but yes, I do consult with them from time to time.
LH: Is Disney also the place where you got to work on their Hispanic market projects? JGC: I’ve mostly work in visual effects but there have been times when I worked with them for general market productions. I helped them on McFarland USA to identify and get rid of stereotypes, help to create more realistic characters, the town, and the culture.
LH: Of all your work so far, which is closest to your heart and why?
JGC: They all are rewarding but I’d have to say, our indie film, In A Relationship, because I worked on it from beginning to end and had more say in every step of the filmmaking. Also, the family-like closeness working with the filmmakers, actors, the crew, and everyone involved were inspiring. Everyone was just as passionate and driven as I was. They all believed in the movie, and since no one was really making a lot of money, it was all for the art. The energy on set and the attitude and the motivation was just so different than working on a $200MM film where people are participating, probably more for the money they’re making.
Bringing motivation and positive attitude makes a ton of difference. I loved it and will never forget this experience.
LH: What’s next for you in 2019?
JGC: 2019 is looking like it’s going to be a really busy year—we’ve got a variety of projects on the back burner. Currently, we’re putting together a movie now that will start shooting in February but unfortunately, I can’t talk about it just yet. We also have The Haunting of Sharon Tate movie coming out in April.
Thank you, Jorge Garcia Castro!
In A Relationship
2 Friends Media Vertical Entertainment/Distribution Director/Writer: Sam Boyd Stars: Emma Roberts, Michael Angarano, Dree Hemingway, Patrick Gibson
(DVD release Dec. 18, 2018, also on digital platforms such as Amazon, iTunes and Google Play)
Garcia Castro’s other producer credits include: Little Bitches (Jeannette McCurdy, Virginia Garner, Kiersey Clemons), Dear Dictator (Michael Caine, Odeya Rush, Katie Holmes, Amateur Hour (Jason Biggs, Ashley Tisdale) and the upcoming The Haunting of Sharon Tate (Hilary Duff).
Follow Jorge Garcia Castro on Social Media:Instagram: @JorGarciaJor Twitter: @JorGarciaC
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