2022 Austin Film Festival Semi-Finalist
Worked in 45 Countries
Decorated Military Veteran
Dept. of Defense Top Combat Photographer
Operation Desert Storm
Documented Drug War in Escobar Era
Documented Rwanda Genocide
NBA Credentialed Photographer
Trained Mediator in Conflict Resolution
Bachelor's in Communication, UTSA
Depth and Breadth
2021 National Hispanic Media Coalition Series Scriptwriter
Alumnus
2021 Writers Guild Foundation Veterans Project Alumnus
Producer, Writer, DIT, Photo, Grip Credits
Screenwriter Facts
The Grind
A screenwriter breakthrough takes an average of 10 years, a journey known as “the grind” with no pay.
Survival
And for those that survive the grind, it’s estimated only 0.5% breakthrough.
Perseverance
And those that breakthrough, it’s because they have the “gannas,” Spanish for desire.
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Hello!
I’m Rolando
A screenwriter and producer and future director with a photojournalism background—hence why I drink deadlines for breakfast. It’s all about story.
Stories that have taken me to 45 countries on assignment that allows me to write about what most people have never touched, seen, heard, smelled, or tasted. I write from what I’ve known, not just what I know….
What’s my story?
Operation Desert Storm
Saddam Hussein called it “The mother of all wars” and Israel called it, “The First Gulf War” and we called it “Operation Desert Storm.” But the one thing we all agreed on, there was a lot of sand.
Operation Support Justice
I spent 26-months in Latin America where my unit tracked Pablo Escobar, narcos, and the Shining Path guerrillas. I was awarded a “peacetime Bronze Star,” a DMSM, because “we were never at war.”
Operation Support Hope
I saw and smelled more death in the 1994 Rwanda genocide in Africa than a convention of undertakers will in their lifetimes. It’s true, you never forget the smell of death and most of us veterans never left Rwanda.
Operation Uphold Democracy
Yep, I deployed to the Haiti invasion and after a recon mission with rangers from the 75th Ranger Regiment, I got bit by a tarantula. I’m still waiting on my Spiderman superpowers to kick in.
Family
As a father of five children, I understand family and have been a victim of parental alienation. I write from these experiences too.
Racism
My first marriage ended because of racism, so we remarried in secrecy, then when it was discovered, we were forced to divorce again.
Berlin Wall
I’ll never forget the joy I saw in people along with their tears as the Berlin Wall fell, and I still cherish a piece of that wall I brought home.
Operation Full Accounting
On this mission, I stared at ten U.S. flag-draped caskets on a U.S. Air Force C-141 Starlifter aircraft as we headed back to the U.S. in total silence.
“Faith sees best in the dark.” — Søren Kierkegaard
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When you fail to do your research, you flunk your success.
*Ganas Beats the Grind
*The Spanish word “ganas” means desire in English.