Meet Rubén Guevara III

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rubén Guevara III a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Rubén , so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

I feel like many of us creative types develop imposter syndrome simply because we believe that we must be perfect in everything we do. And this irrational fear of perfection often prevents us from pursuing goals or activities where failure is a possible outcome. But failure is not only inevitable—it’s a crucial building block for growth. If everything we wanted in life came easily, it would probably lose its value…

I began making short, experimental, and feature-length films in high school and college, yet I always viewed them as stepping stones to working as an assistant or low-level PA on big Hollywood productions. After spending nearly 10 years trudging away in the studio system trying to climb the corporate ladder, I realized that my time would’ve been better spent working on my own projects, building up my craft, and honing the skills necessary to become a writer, director, and producer.

I wrote several screenplays during this decade which advanced in multiple competitions, but were either too risky or expensive to produce. This led to a realization that I needed to start over, and focus on shorter projects which I could then submit to local film festivals. My lucky break came in 2018, when my dad was approached to adapt his autobiography and stage play into a limited television series. Television had always been an escape for me after a long day at work or school, but I never considered it to be a viable career path…

This was also during the end of the “Golden Age” of cable television, with networks like HBO, AMC, and FX producing prestige dramas that catapulted actors and showrunners into the celebrity stratosphere. TV started to seem like a stable, albeit untested path forward, and I retooled my father’s limited series into a 1-hour documentary for public television. The film won numerous awards, and eventually opened the door for me to produce and direct a television miniseries, which is currently in development thanks to a life-changing grant from the N.E.H. (National Endowment for the Humanities).

Suffice to say, the best way to overcome imposter syndrome is to accept that we’ll be imposters to ourselves if we never take big risks and even bigger swings, even if that means reevaluating our paths along the way.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

At the moment, I’m gearing up to shoot an episodic docuseries about two neighborhoods that have always been near and dear to my heart: Little Tokyo and Boyle Heights. Like I mentioned before, I’ve been attempting to make films most of my adult life, but thanks to bills and student loans, I’ve also spent most of my career bringing other people’s dreams to life while putting my own on the backburner. With this latest project, I finally get to be in the driver’s seat, and even though it’s been stressful and turbulent at times, it’s also been incredibly rewarding to see how far things have shifted over the years.

I’ve had to learn a lot quickly (in a short amount of time), although working on large-scale movie sets at Warner Bros. and Sony has certainly prepared me for just how much effort it takes to make something halfway decent on schedule and under-budget. It requires long hours, difficult conversations, and a healthy dose of self-reflection and criticism. I think I’d rather still be the captain of a sinking ship than a first mate who’s logged 1,001 voyages. At this stage of my life, it’s all about navigating the stormy seas, however unpleasant they may seem to our friends, family, and loved ones.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

One of the most valuable lessons we can learn, both as artists and as humans, is how to communicate effectively with others. I’ve been very fortunate to work with a large swath of creatives who are not only easy to work with, but are also open to feedback that helps them thrive in every other aspect of their lives. Even when I think their decisions might be wrong, or less suited to a particular situation, it’s essential to turn it into a dialogue so that everyone feels heard. After all, there’s a reason they chose you, and a reason you reciprocally chose them, so lean into that trust instead of insisting your way is the only solution to a creative or administrative challenge.

Trusting your key collaborators is essential to any business relationship, and that trust is built on mutual respect. You’ll likely spend more time with these folks than with some of your closest friends or romantic partners, depending on the scope of work of the project, and that level of intimacy can become contentious if not handled with care. Listening to differing opinions and dissenting viewpoints is also critical because it not only broadens your perspective, it reminds you that the world is much larger than our own singular, individual views. We’re not nearly as important as we might think, even if self-aggrandizement is in our DNA.

Most work-related stresses will be likely resolved by the end of the day, and cultivating patience is one of the greatest virtues we can practice. In this 24/7 social media and news-driven world, it’s difficult not to be overwhelmed by our anxieties. But taking time out for recreational activities like walking or reading can also offer new perspectives and improve our interactions with others… It’s like supercharged soup for the soul.

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 recently revisited P.D. James’ “The Children of Men” after being bombarded with articles about population decline in the West. The first time I read it, I learned a valuable lesson about how Hollywood can completely twist an author’s message. In the novel, men’s sperm becomes defective, leading to no children being born and the eventual collapse of civilized society. But in the movie, its women who are infertile, and the blame shifts to them. This got me thinking—P.D. James, like J.K. Rowling, likely worried that men and boys wouldn’t buy her work if they knew it was written from a female perspective. So, the multi-million dollar Alfonso Cuarón movie was rewritten and re-packaged to be more palatable to a male audience. But just imagine how much more insightful the film could’ve been if it had stuck to the original cause of the crisis being men’s deficiencies instead of women’s?

Published in 1992 at the end of the Cold War, “Men” is set in the year 2021. When I first read the book in 2017, it felt relevant, and resonates even more today. Our conversations around birth have fundamentally changed in the East and the West. Women in South Korea for example complain that they do all the work—childbirth, childcare, maintaining a home, holding down a job while men don’t help, making it plainly not worth the trouble. In the U.S., many women can’t find compatible partners on dating apps, and are opting out of marriage and having kids altogether…

As we continue to grapple with large-scale issues like climate change, housing shortages, dwindling resources, pandemics, and micro-plastics, we need to take a hard look at ourselves, our neighbors, and our failing leaders. We’re operating on borrowed time, and maybe it’s high time we let women take the reins for a change, not just for the nation, but the entire planet. We’ve had our chance, and, well, we’ve blown it fellas.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rguevara.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rubengguevara/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rubenguevaraIII
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rubenguevaraiii/
• Twitter: https://x.com/rubengguevara

Image Credits

Erika Ito (Pachuke Films LLC), Michelle Hanabusa & Ryan Feng (We Are Uprisers)