Baldemar Rodriguez was born in Mexico and raised in Pasadena, Texas from the age of four. He holds a B.A. in Communications and a B.A. in Theater from the University of Houston. After graduation and after his mostly-volunteer creative work in film and television became apparent in the Hispanic and professional communities in Houston, Rodriguez was selected as a Media Artist by the Texas Commission on the Arts, a lifelong recognition bestowed by the Governor of Texas.
He has worked in front and behind the cameras as well as on stage and off stage, leading productions with cast and crew of 20-100 with budgets ranging from $30K-$300K directing and producing documentaries, short films, commercials and PSA's for ABC, NBC, Univision, Telemundo among others. He worked at Houston's NBC affiliate KPRC TV2 as an editor and news videographer for six years until he was commissioned to produce a feature film, Grey Focus, which took him on location to Nigeria.
Any director knows art isn’t easy. Convincing others to transform a script into a motion picture doesn’t happen overnight. Rodriguez knows all too well just how challenging that feat can be. He says it’s been a long and patient journey to success in producing his latest project, In Search of the American Dream.
“During the last 10 years of my professional life, I've had a hard time convincing people about my vision to produce quality motion pictures. Film and television production is a scarce industry in Texas, so it was hard to get this project off the ground.
I wrote this script many years ago, and in 2006 I tried to begin pre-production of the movie, which was initially titled El Nacional, but no one wanted to get involved. They claimed the concept was too politically controversial.”
In Search of the American Dream began as a simple synopsis while Rodriguez attended the Producers Academy in Tucson, Arizona in 2004. He was selected to represent Texas as a Latino producer in the National Association of Latino Independent Producers' (NALIP) Signature Programs, the Producers Academy and Writers Lab.
“I’ve always wanted to make a movie about a Mexican-American family, and I needed to think about the commercial viability of such a story. At the Academy, I remembered reading about the various detention centers all over the country housing undocumented immigrants and their children, and the agony that those families faced after separation. That’s when I decided to make immigration, my main theme. Little did I know at the time that the near future would create a national awareness for this issue. The landscape was perfect for this political commentary. Immigration is a hot topic; the debate is both heated and divided, and spoken of in every political arena. I hope this movie will put a real face to this issue that is affecting so many people in this country,” Rodriguez says.
Baldemar Rodriguez is not only the Director of In Search of the American Dream - he wrote the screenplay and is the lead actor in the film. He attributes much of his success to his parents, family, NALIP, as well as downright determination and ambition.
