We recently connected with FELIX IGORI RAMOS and have shared our conversation below.
FELIX IGORI , first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
I had to actually look up what is imposter syndrome to better understand how to answer this question. So I come from a working class Latino family from the Westside of Chicago. I am, with my brothers, First Generation Americans born on the mainland. My Father is from Guatemala and my mother is from Puerto Rico. My parents struggled to make a decent life for my brothers and I. So it was a profound impression at an early age that dreams were for “others” we were the workers, the grinders and there was no time for dreams. But even as a young child I couldn’t help but dream big even before Cinema found me I dreamt of being a Senator one day. Not working in a Senator’s office as a staff member but being the actual Senator of a State. Well it would’ve been Illinois at that time. And many, many other dreams I dreamt that never had me in a subsidiary role but always the lead. Though it didn’t match with my personality as a young boy, I was incredibly shy and fearful of everything. But, there was a quiet confidence that wouldn’t allow me to stay quiet too long. Amongst my peers I never fit in I was always to much of an old soul who was listening to Jazz at the age of 9 and watching old movies on the old AMC Channel when it was nothing but Classic movies. I always wanted more but wasn’t encouraged to chase my dreams instead I was encouraged to be pragmatic and find a career in computers or something that was the future trend. Being an artist was tolerated as a hobby but never taken serious by anyone in my circle. Family, friends and neighbors most scoffed at the idea of a Guatemalan / Puerto Rican from the Westside of Chicago ever becoming much of anything. And so it was this echo that I took with me in whichever challenging predicament I found myself in the pursuit of my dream. The feeling of inadequacy, the feeling that I had no business on a set directing anything. That at some point the crew and actors were going to realize the “fraud” that I am and that would be the day my dream dies and my nightmare begins. But, as I’ve made film after film (13 in total) I realized I do belong and I’m actually pretty damn good at writing, producing and directing films. That this is no accident or mistake. That I was born this way to do this very thing. And that has given me a quiet yet ambitious confidence to continue to make the absolute best film I can make and move the artform of Cinema to a higher plain.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am a Filmmaker. More specifically, I am a Screenwriter, Producer and Director. I have made twelve short films and one feature film. My feature film AMERICA HAS FALLEN: ELECTION DAY was just recently released on July 4th, 2023. You can find it for Rental and Purchase on YouTube TVOD, Spectrum VOD, ITunes, VUDU and will soon be on DISH as well as Amazon Prime. It was the endeavor of my life and it has taken 5 years to be at this moment. I wrote the script back in the Winter of 2018, we were in Pre-production all through Spring and Summer 2018 and in Principal Photography in the Autumn of 2018. We filmed an 85 page script in 12 days. Not advisable, but Praise God we got everything we needed to edit a film. We spent 2019 in Post-production and completed the film on February 20, 2020. Two days after my birthday. I was in heaven then the Pandemic came in mid March. And I was in hell. Everything I had worked for came to a complete halt. There were about 6 months of pure depression. But, then I got a call from the Marina del Rey Film Festival in September and was told my film had been accepted to its first film festival. We spent the Autumn of 2020 winning 9 Film Festival awards including BEST PICTURE. The film was picked up by High Octane Pictures in the Autumn of 2022 and are expecting to have a successful North American rollout this year and a Worldwide rollout in 2024.
I am also working on my next feature film, FOR THE SAKE OF THE KIDS. It is an intense dramatic, thriller that addresses the gun violence issue of our time specifically school mass shootings. I intend on filming a short film version in 2024 to interest financiers and/or production companies. And my plans are to film the feature film in the Winter of 2025 for an Autumn 2025 theatrical release. It is a powerful story that takes the audience on a journey with two devastated parents who venture on a path of vigilante justice to bring some sense of retribution and catharsis for the loss of their 7 year old daughter to a heinous mass murder in her 1st grade classroom.
Some have asked me why I take on such difficult subject matter for my films. I was born this way to do this thing. And that’s about the best way I can describe it.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Perseverance is the quality I would say most impacted my journey. Without it I would have sincerely given up a long, long time ago. I say sincerely given up because along the path I insincerely gave up many, many times. But, it was just the old licking my wounds kind of thing before I got back in the ring. The Rocky movies are of paramount importance to me. Not for the entertainment value but for the fatherly guidance I received from Rocky Balboa ultimately Sylvestor Stallone. And that may sound a little sad or even pathetic. But, not for a latchkey Guatemalan / Puerto Rican kid from the Westside of Chicago who spent almost all of the 80’s without a father to teach him how to be a man. Those lessons I learned from watching Rocky take hit after hit and keep moving forward stayed with me throughout the dark times of my despair and depressing childhood. Adaptation is a skill I acquired throughout this journey that has served me well. Between the ages of 7 and 13 I attended a different school every year. Never being able to establish roots I had to learn how to be chameleon-like in order to survive all that constant moving. This skill I learned and perfected taught me to socialize and understand all kinds of different people whether it be racially, ethnically, religiously different it didn’t matter. I learned how to talk and listen to all kinds of people. And this has definitely served me well as a writer and as a director of film.
Faith is an area of knowledge that has without a doubt been impactful to my journey when I came to the knowledge of my Lord and Savior Jesus. I joined an all Black Pentecostal church back in November of 1998. I was 20 years old. I stayed a very devout church member till about 2012. In those 14 years I learned a tremendous amount about God, our place in this world and who we are to each other. I learned how to love, how to forgive, how to accept forgiveness and how to believe actively through faith and not just through hope. I learned patience or better yet long-suffering. I met my wife in Church and fell in love at first sight but I was to learn long-suffering. I waited for 2 years before we ever even had our first date. A long story but one I may turn into a film one day. God is good!
Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?
I would say that the first book that made a strong impact on me and set me on my path of self discovery would be THE AUTUBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X AS TOLD TO ALEX HALEY. I know it seems like an odd choice for a Guatemalan / Puerto Rican kid from the Westside of Chicago. But, it’s the truth. So I saw Spike Lee’s MALCOLM X in the theatres in the Fall of 1992 and the life of this man blew me away. Say what you will about his extremism but what I found most fascinating was his evolution as a man through his life. I was 14 years old and obviously very impressionable. After the awe of the film I went to a book store and bought a copy of The Autobiography of Malcolm X. And probably read it at least 5 times between the ages of 14 and 16. I was on a Spiritual journey at that time and reading of this man’s spiritual journey inspired me to do dig deeper. I even bought the English Translation of the Qu’ran and read it. And once even attended a Muslim Mosque one Friday evening. Unfortunately, I wasn’t treated very friendly. That left me a little discouraged. So I studied Buddhism for a little while but that didn’t speak to me. I meandered for some time but The Autobiography always gave me that compass pointing North that I needed to keep going on as Malcolm did even when his world was crashing down on him. Finally in 1998 I found a home and my Faith in Jesus. I attended a Pentecostal Church, found brothers, my wife and teachers to guide me and mold me into the man I am and am aspiring to be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.imdb.me/felixigoriramos
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/felixigoriramos/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/felix.ramos.5036
- Youtube: @felixigoriramos2512
