“Connections lead to connections,” muses tequila producer and tourism entrepreneur-turned-film producer David Ruiz as he thumbs through the pages of his latest project: a script for a film documentary focusing on Jalisco’s iconic contributions to Mexican identity.
The connections Ruiz has made during the two years he’s spent developing the story for his film has led him to yet another project: creating an English-language conversation class for film professionals with a specialized emphasis on video and film production terminology.
“The film industry is embryonic in Guadalajara, but there is a wealth of young talent in the city, frustrated with desire to break into the business with very few opportunities. I’ve met so many talented young people in the city, mainly though word of mouth or local internet searches – and one meeting just leads to another,” he notes, leaning back in his comfortable desk chair in an office lined with tequila bottles on shelves and strewn with video and film-making equipment, dominated by a full-flown cinematographic camera on a tripod.
Ruiz’s relaxed style belies the restless energy he contains in his neat frame. While spending time in his “semi-retirement” taking classes in film production and writing his screenplay, he was quick to recognize the value of young talent and swiftly gathered a group of young cinematographers, screen writers, designers and other artisans to collaborate with him on his production project. In the process, he discovered one of the sources of some of their frustration with the film business, both inside and outside Jalisco. “Most of them said to me, ‘David, what I need help with most is English. Can you help me communicate with people in the business in the States?’ I realized that I need their help, and in return I can help them, too — so we’ve got a class starting on August 19 that I think will quickly become an important resource for young filmmakers.”
“The story of tequila is a personal one – everybody has his own history, and every family has its own tradition of how to tell the tale,” notes Ruiz. His grandfather distilled the firey liquor in the town of El Arenal at the family tequileria “La Parrena.” The oral tradition in which he was steeped as a child growing up in California and on regular visits to Jalisco (“I spoke Spanish before I spoke English,” he remembers) ultimately led Ruiz, a first-generation American, to settle permanently in his ancestral home of Guadalajara nine years ago, where he began serious study of the great triad of Mexican iconography — mariachi, charreria (Mexican rodeo) and tequila — for his Tequila Tours enterprise. Subsequently, Ruiz became certified as an expert in tequila technology and a formed a successful company that serves as a facilitator for boutique tequila brands to find distributors in cities across the United States.
The uniquely Jalisco origins of Mexico’s national emblems resonated strongly with the entrepreneur, and he infused his area tours for global corporate groups with engaging histories of these cultural monoliths. The story for his documentary, now in its second year of development, derived from his experiences and research, and emerged as a creative response to his heritage. He spent time during his tours making connections with videographers and producers from the Discovery Channel, CBS News, and even a “Bollywood” production company from Bombay, India, working with film teams in what he laughingly calls “paid training.”
“I went from home film hobbyist to professional producer through opportunities I had meeting people in the business — through my own tour and consultant businesses,” Ruiz says. He now wants to share his experiences through his self- and industry-funded film project while enabling young Tapatio filmmakers to communicate and collaborate more effectively with professionals in the United States and around the world.
“Most people in the States think of tequila as just something you put in a margarita,” he adds, “I want to open up the mindset of Americans north of the border. Most of the information consumers get about tequila is marketing or advertising. I want to tell a new audience about the real story – or, rather, because every story has its own life – the many family ‘histories’ of the tequila culture.”
Ruiz is convinced that Mexico is ready to “blossom” on the world stage – and that Guadalajara is the breeding ground for a new era of creative talent that can dramatically influence the future of the country. The new class in English conversation for film and video production professionals is his first pass at sowing those seeds of change. Volunteer participants are welcome to attend, and a variety of exercises will be used in the class.
“Rules of the class are everyone speaks, no one laughs, and we give speakers time to respond to each other,” insists Ruiz. “Our first classes will focus on introductions, then we will see where the participants want to go and what they want to focus on. I’m sure we will focus on technical terminology for filmmakers and we will eventually even have a class in the etiquette of collaborating in film, among the many, many topics we can cover.”
For more information about the August 19 class “English Conversation for Film and Video Production Professionals,” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the American Society of Jalisco, Avenida San Francisco 3332, Col, Chapalita, contact David Ruiz at (33) 1525-6317 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The first few classes are free and open to the public, but spaces are limited.