Matt Rodriguez
Who are you, and what do you do?
We are a group of creative individuals who explored a hobby and turned it into a business. Needless to say, this isn’t really a job for us, it’s more of a passion and something we love to do.
How do you craft your identity?
By doing our best to stay 2 steps ahead of everyone else. It’s always good to be paranoid, it helps keep you on your toes.
Creatively speaking, that’s just about having a personality that allows criticism. Our team tries our best to instill it being ok to give criticism, as long as you have the knowledge to do so.
What motivates you?
There’s nothing more motivating than loving what you do. At the same time when you have a lot of responsibility, it’s your duty to ensure than your team is always in a good position to succeed. I would say my personal motivation is my wife and my team.
What skill / quality do you value the most?
To be a very critical thinker. Having an idea is not difficult. Any one of us can come up with a vast amount of ideas that can all be great. It’s about executing and knowing something could possibly go wrong, while making sure you have thought out a few backup plans that could solve possible problems.
What is the greatest risk you’ve taken? What was your process in making your decision?
The greatest risk I have personally taken with BIL is not accepting any investor money. We are completely self-funded by the fruits of our labor. That can be a risk because I didn’t go and seek $20 million to play with and have as a fall back when necessary. Yes, it would be nice to have extra capital so that I can get a larger team and fill a lot of voids where necessary. However, it’s the way we want to do it, so it’s nice to do things on our own terms.
What do you do in your free-time to decompress?
I try and leave my phone out of reach so that I don’t constantly check it. One problem we have as a population, is becoming more communicative with our phones than with those around us. When I spend time with my wife, I try and leave my phone in the car so that I can actually be away from work and most importantly, give her the attention she deserves.
Funny side story. It is becoming more and more common for us to go to a restaurant and scan the room, only to see people sitting at a table in which they are both on their phones. This isn’t just something that is happening with the youth, I see it with older folks as well.
What is something you’ve had to learn on your own that you’d like to pass onto the next Creative?
Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Mistakes are the best way to learn. If you are working on your own and there is no one to tell you if you are making mistakes, learn how to recognize it by how successful whatever it is you are doing. In the end, just make sure you are happy with what you are doing.
What forms of media have influenced you the most?
Nothing influences you more than working paycheck to paycheck as a 20 year old while going to school full time. Once you experience that, you are like a sponge, you want to absorb as much as you can handle.
What hardware / software do you use?
We use a lot of different hardware/software. We are essentially a one stop shop. We do pre-production/production/post production video as well as graphic design, photography etc.
What would be your dream creative setup?
A setting is one thing. Being allowed to be creative is another. There are times in my short career where I have worked with people who are terrible at taking criticism as well as those who are terrible at giving criticism. If you cannot take or dish out constructive criticism then you are setting yourself up for failure. It’s impossible to be creative and productive at the same time if what you are producing is only from your point of view. You have to allow yourself to learn from others.
