Meet Luis Tovar

We recently connected with Luis Tovar and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Luis with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
A strong work ethic comes from the positive outlook of the individual. Everyone has a different form of work ethic. For me, my schedule is the opposite of many people’s routine. Getting up at 6 am and starting the day, then going to bed at 9 pm is far from my world. I get up at 10am and go to bed at 2am and sometimes take a nap in between to recharge. Some may perceive this as a lazy work ethic but for me it fits the demands of my schedule. Every lifestyle relies on a positive attitude for success. This attitude combined with passion is where I get my work ethic. A continuous positive attitude and skilled discipline turns into consistency, and with consistency comes the reward. My desire to see a good result come out of my vision is the basis of my work ethic. I know that the project I’m working on needs consistency and accountability. Having a lot of patience and trusting the process is part of the journey. At the same time I have to remind myself that creative things do take time.

To anyone out there, if you don’t find a way to build a strong work ethic and be disciplined about your passion, it likely won’t take you anywhere. If you don’t get creative on how to be self-motivated you’re not going to meet your goals. The biggest advice I can give is to start with a big heart and small tasks. Your to-do list doesn’t have to be a mile long. Start with two or three things you can accomplish in a day. Little by little everyday adds up and in no time you’ll notice that your work ethic has improved. Surround yourself with others that also have strong desires and use them as mentors. Ask questions. Most people that have great motivation wanna help others to conquer themselves. Stay away from people that don’t have the positive drive to even help themselves. They will only drain your hope for growth.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
Hello everyone! My name is Luis Tovar. I am a Los Angeles-based, Latino filmmaker and the founder of Quagmire Filmz. In partnership with award-winning filmmakers such as Daniel, O’Reilly, David Holt, Elena Nardini, and Chelsea Teel. We focus on cinematic storytelling, ranging from commercials and music videos, to short films and comedy sketches. We love collaborating with other visionaries to create compelling and meaningful stories.

For the past two decades, I’ve been involved in visual storytelling and throughout my life I’ve won numerous awards as an artist. It all started with pencil drawing as a youngster, moving on to painting as an adolescent, then as an adult becoming a digital 3D artist and a camera guru. But my journey didn’t start until a little over a decade ago when I started getting
more serious about writing and directing. That’s when my artistic voice started to be heard through filmmaking.
When I was young, it never crossed my mind to become a film director. Or even to be any kind of writer. Growing up in a culture where everyone worked to pay rent and bring food to the table. Almost no one went to college or sometimes barely finished high school and that was part of the influence I was absorbing. Us latinos are very hard working and we do any job. You name it, we can do it. Hard manual labor, no problem. We teach our young ones the same, so they don’t starve and always have a roof over their heads. But when it comes to education and creative pursuits, unfortunately many of us stay silent.

I was very fortunate to be influenced by some members of my family. My mom was very hands on with arts and crafts, always mending patches in our ripped clothes, so we wouldn’t buy new, or tailoring my sisters dresses to make them prettier. She taught us everything she knew about knitting and sewing. My father was always reading after a hard day at work. He had a subscription to “Reader’s Digest” and was always reading amazing stories and he would sometimes save a story for me to read. At the age of thirteen, with my focus on video games and flirting with the neighbor girl, I didn’t have the time. I literally counted the pages he had assigned for me to read and, of course, the article had the smallest font size known to mankind. I won’t lie, it would take months to read six pages because I was too distracted and had no interest. My dad would always ask me if I’d finished reading it. My response was always “I’ll finish it tomorrow,” but one day it hit me, he was doing his reading routine before bed and he began tearing up. He put the book down and told me the story he was reading and how it related to him. That moment was the shift for me. I started reading and finally finished those six pages.

Now, let me tell you, it wasn’t until college that reading and writing began to hit turbo for me. My reading, writing and math were the lowest when I took my placement test in college. Quite embarrassing but I don’t care because I was very proud to be the first one in my family to attend college. I wanted to be a good example for my younger brother, and my nieces and nephews. The first book assigned in class that I had to read from start to finish was “Night,” by Elie Wiesel about the Holocaust. That book made me cry, it changed my life. I was so moved, I told myself that one day I can also
write a book with that much emotional power. By the end of college, I had conquered college level reading and writing, wrote a bunch of well constructed essays and read over 20 books both in English and Spanish combined. I also made it all the way to college level algebra, but by adding a bunch of art classes, I was unstoppable.

Honestly, looking back I owe all of it to the beautiful and genuine influence of my parents.

Now, the most exciting part as an adult is that I keep reading and I write a lot. I’ve written many short narratives that I’ve turned into films and won awards for my directing. I have written two feature length screenplays. My most recent, “VENUS,” is about getting catfished and the true meaning of love. My other, “PAPERLESS,” is about the great power of highly educated illegal immigrants and holds a “Best Connection” nomination from a global
competition.

To conclude, let me tell you how proud I am that my family has my back in everything that I do. Whether I fail or succeed, they love the artist that I’ve become and they’ll do everything they can to help in my vision. If you have an artist in your home, offer them all the help they need especially when they’re young. Teach them art and literature and lead by example. It’s very important for their growth. Be loving and understanding when they are misunderstood. When they grow older they will find ways to repay what you did for them.

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?
I know this sounds cliche, but follow your heart. All the things that your body feels when creating, follow all that. That climactic feeling you get when you’re doing that thing you love. That is what you want out of this ride. Know that all of us in this world are looking for the moment of truth. That thing you can’t touch but gives elixir. That my friends you can only get by following your heart.

Another thing that took me a long time to understand is the fight for originality. There was a time when I had this cool movie idea and watched a film that had my idea and said. “Hey! That’s the idea I had” so I would trash my desire to create. Or I would think of this cool character who is a bat that fights crime and then watched “Batman” and my great idea vanished. I used to think all the ideas were already taken and for me to come up with something original would be like winning the lottery. I can’t tell you how wrong I was. I learned that we are all original and that our own stories are inherently original. We just have to dig deep in the stories we have to tell. For example, my latest feature screenplay “VENUS” is about a sous chef who gets catfished. Inspired by the movies “CHEF” and “HER,” but what sets my story apart is that my characters and my plotting are unique. They are rich in originality. Using other films and books for reference is good practice. But what you put in your canvas has to be original.

The last quality I embrace is rejection. Allow me to explain. Who out there likes rejection? I don’t see a single person raising their hand. Rejection in any shape or form hurts, but it’s necessary for growth. I actually look for rejection on a daily basis. For example, I’m at a bar and finally decide to approach the beautiful lady that kept smiling at me, so we talk and we hit it off. She’s very flirtatious and gives me her number to go on a date. Boom! A day later I text her and she never responds. An expert at ghosting.
Another example, I happened to meet with a CEO of a Latino media company that works with story development at a major studio and represents writers and directors. He loves my work and gave me his card because he wants to collaborate. Boom! So I emailed him my Spanglish screenplay, “PAPERLESS,” about educated illegal immigrants in the United States. I follow up and… Crickets!

Nowadays, I move fast with rejection. As much it hurts I can’t hold on to the pain or let it bring me down. The faster I get rejected the faster I can move on. Remember though, out of a thousand “NO’s” there is one “YES”. And that yes changes everything because they recognize the worth in you and you in them. So go out there and face that rejection.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Through the years I’ve learned to breathe and to just listen to myself. I tune into my intuition and look around to see who is beside me. Those elements are helpful when overwhelmed.

If pressured, I control my breathing and keep my cool. It allows me to move smoother. It keeps me balanced and sharp, being in control of my inhaling and exhaling in a moment of truth. When I listen to my mind and body, I get my answers right away. Intuition kicks in to affirm that I am doing the right thing and remembering that overwhelm won’t last forever.

Probably the most important part is to just look around. You have to be willing to ask for help. Most people will be more than happy to help ease the pressure, but you have to ask. Knowing how much you can handle and for how long is crucial to avoid burning out, getting mad or getting to a point where you hate what you’re doing.

The biggest advice I can give to anyone is respect your days off and vacations to rest and do nothing. Learn how to say no. If something doesn’t speak to you, motivate you, or have real meaning, then say no. Learn to let certain things go for the sake of your bigger goals.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Pablo Tovar, Brooke Taffet, Jocelyn Kuan, Elena Nardini

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