“When I first came to this country I was like I have to give up all of my dreams. All of them. I have to put them aside. I had to say, Yeah I have no more dreams, they take everything from me. Everything. I guess I have nothing left to dream for.”

— Javier Castillo

For Javier Castillo a path to the industry felt near impossible upon his arrival to the United States, but with his infectious optimism, perseverance, and humbleness he has proven to himself that he can dream again.

Javier had a modest childhood raised by a single mother in Venezuela. He had many happy memories growing up, but looking back now he has come to realize how his mother worked to shield him from the financial hardships they were facing.

“We weren’t sure what was going to happen the next day or next week so we were figuring out day-by-day. When I was growing up I never noticed it. My mom was always making sure that I was just happy.”

When Javier was still young his mother provided that happy home while also attending university. Following graduation she was able to create a new life for them giving Javier the opportunity to pursue his own career goals as an adult. He decided to go to school for advertising influenced by his love of the movies and desire to work on sets. Through a cousin he was able to get his first job working as an art director’s assistant and from that moment everything clicked.

“I just fell in love right away,” Said Javier. “Since then I haven’t wanted to do anything else with my life.”

Javier spent about four years making his way in the industry in Venezuela, but in 2015 everything came to an abrupt halt. Due to the political climate in the country, Javier and his wife Alba became one of many refugees who had to leave their home for their own safety and start anew in the United States. Now in Omaha, Nebraska Javier felt that the life he was building for himself was slipping away.

“When I first came to this country I was like I have to give up all of my dreams. All of them. I have to put them aside,” said Javier. “I had to say, Yeah I have no more dreams, they take everything from me. Everything. I guess I have nothing left to dream for.”

Still, Javier was determined to find a way. He got a part-time service job, enrolled in a community college to study film, and took every chance he got from his professors to work on various commercial and film projects. As he came to his last year in school Javier had found several mentors and some success working in Nebraska, but felt that his career trajectory would be limited if he stayed.

“I’d PA, grip, camera operate, edit, I did a little bit of everything,” Said Javier. “But I knew there were some positions I wasn’t going to ever be able to get as an outsider. I wasn’t going to be able to break those bonds. I wasn’t going to be able to break those circles of power.”

The professional community in Nebraska was a tight knit one where many of them had been working together for years. It was hard to break in and even harder to advance as someone who didn’t have that same history within the community. So Javier and Alba looked into where they could go next. With their sights initially on LA and New York they happened to take a short visit to Chicago in 2019 and quickly decided this would be their new home despite having no professional contacts in the city.

The day before he moved, Javier was finishing up on a commercial job when a colleague recommended that he reach out to Tessa Steele, a location scout in Chicago. Tessa grabbed a coffee with Javier when he settled into the city and after hearing his situation immediately got him setup with a few jobs. A meeting with a stranger became the catalyst for Javier’s career in Chicago and allowed him to continue building his network and a life in his new home.

“Sometimes you just have to meet one person and that person can change your life. And you know in this case Tessa did change my life in a way,” said Javier. “I’m just really grateful for her and other people I have met that keep throwing my name out.”

Now with almost a decade of experience under his belt Javier continues to remain humble with an eagerness to learn and a true passion for his work. He also knows not to ever take his position for granted.

“For four years I wasn’t able to work doing what I like or what I know. I landed here as an immigrant and I was working in a restaurant, I was learning the language, I was going to school dreaming of being on set again and I wasn’t getting any jobs because I didn’t know anybody,” Said Javier. “So I guess all that time doing something different helped me to appreciate my job more. And I was like, once i get back to set I’m just going to work as hard as I can cause I never want to do something else.”

Key Advice:

Set aside your ego, particularly when you are starting out. Don’t ever feel like you are too big for a job and take any opportunity to get on set.
When you have free time on the job, help out other crew on the set. You will learn more about other positions and it could open up future job opportunities.
Remain humble and never take your job for granted.
“You always have to be grateful. The people who made those decisions to call you, they have many other options. It’s like you really had 25 players and you decide me to be your player. Thank you. Many other people don’t have the opportunity.” - Javier Castillo

A small portfolio of Javier Castillo’s photo work. See more on his website https://javcastillo.com

Javier Castillo: Photo Assistant & AC