Justin Galindo

Failure is a lesson. Learn from it and move on. Don’t dwell on it.

 

Justin Galindo was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Justin grew up wanting to work in the film industry because his dad and him would watch movies at least two-three times a week. Justin fell in love with the idea even though his parents never thought it would work…Neither did Justin.

While Justin was visiting Los Angeles on vacation, he met a talent manager at an event, and she referred him to a top 10 agency a couple of days later.

Justin ended up making the permanent move and driving 36 hours to make LA his new home. While he wasn’t acting, he worked three jobs doing mostly retail and going to school. Studying Psychology and film production. 

While in school he had access to all this awesome gear he could use as long as he was a student there, so he did, a lot! He made music videos, commercials and shorts with practically no budget. Then made a short called Dragon’s Throat that got into 36 film festivals and won many awards including Best Thriller. That’s when he knew he wanted to be a filmmaker and wanted to do it for a living. 

He told his father that he wanted to build a production company. He just didn’t know where to start! Everyone kind of laughed at him about it. So, he realized with the few years of acting under his belt he understood how the industry worked a little…at least in front of the camera. He knew demo reels were going to be a thing. So, he started JIG Reel Studios.

His company has grown and expanded over the last few years. He now started another company called Warehouse 1 Productions which is a building filled with film sets that we built filmmakers and JIG Reel Studios.

Since the start of JIG Reel he has helped clients get signed, booked guest-stars, series regulars, etc. He has worked with major projects from small indies to major studio projects. Now he spends his time coaching actors and filmmakers with his companies. 

Where did the idea for JIG Reel Studios come from?

I was used to be an actor and knew this was going to be a necessity.

What does your typical day look like and how do you make it productive?

A full day of shooting, meetings, new projects, and just trying to fit everything in a day.

How do you bring ideas to life?

Persistence, hard work, tons of planning.

What’s one trend that excites you?

Not knowing what’s going to happen

What is one habit of yours that makes you more productive as an entrepreneur?

Persistence

What advice would you give your younger self?

Stay patient

Tell us something that’s true that almost nobody agrees with you on.

No idea

As an entrepreneur, what is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Positive mindset even at the worse times. If the mind believes, you will get there.

What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business?

Stay true to your team. Work WITH them and listen.

What is one failure you had as an entrepreneur, and how did you overcome it?

Patience. I’m super impatient. As I get older, I realized nothing everything will be done overnight no matter how hard I worked.

What is one business idea that you’re willing to give away to our readers?

It’s ok to fail. Be excited to fail. Failure is a lesson. Learn from it and move on. Don’t dwell on it.

What is the best $100 you recently spent? What and why?

My short film, Dragon’s Throat. It got into 36 film festivals and helped me fund my feature film. That was the budget of our award-winning short.

What is one piece of software or a web service that helps you be productive?

I use YouTube to listen to motivational videos every morning. It helps start my day in a positive direction.

What is the one book that you recommend our community should read and why?

The Alchemist
Paulo Coelho

What is your favorite quote?

Work until your idols become your rivals.

No idea who said that. Met one of my idols because of this quote.

Key Learnings:

Hardwork
Dedication
Positive mindsets