Today we’d like to introduce you to Rafael Gutierrez.
Rafael was born on July 30, 1988, to a Mexican father and an African American mother in Atlanta, Georgia. He was introduced to filmmaking with a start in acting at a young age where he starred in all the school plays in elementary school. By the 5th grade, he realized his true passion was directing. His dad bought him a video camera in 6th grade and he has been making short films ever since.
It wasn’t until his last year in high school when he was pushed into screenwriting by his video production teacher who told him that no one was going to let him direct their script in which they are passionate about. She told him he had to write his own. So then on, he created dynamic stories to place his character in. On February 22, 2013, he released his feature film on Youtube and got over 2.4 million views and thousands of likes and comments.
He has worked in television since the age of eighteen where he crossed paths with awesome people who worked for We Channel, Bravo, VH1, Speedtv, FOX, SYFY,
Today, Rafael is working as a cinematographer for music videos; honing his craft. This gives him the freedom to work on his passion which is directing movies. He has just finished post-production on his latest film entitled “A Day in the Life of a Serial Killer”. He is awaiting official selection into film festivals.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been smooth but nothing has been as hard as making a feature film. The experience of making “Foul Mouths: A Teenage Rage” was the hardest thing I have ever done. It was a struggle every step of the way but as long as I stayed present and took it a day at a time I was able to accomplish the impossible.
My latest struggle was getting over myself. I didn’t put projects out because I thought it had to be a certain way and if it wasn’t good enough. I had to realize first that no one is even worried about me. Second, I am really dope and I since I have that opinion of myself I had to trust it was true for me. Living in that focus allowed me the freedom to fail and experiment.
Please tell us about @afilmdirector.
I’m in the process of rebranding my company but as of right now my company name is FGM Story. The last day payroll check I got was working for Best Buy in 2011. I quit my job in digital imaging sales and started my own business. At that point, I shot everything I could. I also charged dimes and got taken advantage of. It was all a learning experience and I appreciate the knowledge I gained.
Today, my company is merging with my personal brand as a filmmaker and so I’m a bit more selective about what I shoot. I now charge at least 25% of what I’m worth. One day I’ll charge 100% what I’m worth but until I convince people to pay that I have to go along with the market. lol, I pride myself on telling a story. No matter what we shoot we believe depth in the content creates real memories and bring clients back.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I don’t remember much of my childhood but one memory that has always stood out waste when I first got my camera. I was a big fan of Spiderman and decided to make my own Spiderman film. I did some basic camera tricks to create some visual effects. I had turned the camera on its side and had the street in the shot. I was crawling on the street but on camera, it looked like I was crawling on the side of a building.
The other effect I did was have a shoestring balled up in the palm of my hand with one end tied to my middle finger. So when I swung my arm out and opened my hand the string stretched out and touched the arm rail on our porch.
My sister stopped the camera and I tied it to the rail. She pressed record again and I jumped over the rail. We put the tape in the VCR and as we played it back it looked like one smooth movement. If I was to look back at the kid I was I would be very impressed at what he did, how he thought, and his natural leadership amongst his peers.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fgmstory.com
- Phone: 678-915-8058
- Email: rafael@fgmstory.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afilmdirector
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fgmstory
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