Jesús Rodríguez started up his own film distribution company in Mexico after graduating from GLOBIS. We caught up with him to find out how he’s pursuing his entrepreneurial dream.
1. What have you been doing since you left GLOBIS?
I’m the CEO of a cinematographic distribution company I founded in Mexico. We distribute films all around Latin America: Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, among other countries. We’re involved in all the distribution channels, as well, including theatrical releases, home video, and video on demand.
2. How has your GLOBIS experience helped you?
GLOBIS gave me the basis to create my company’s initial structure. From this, we’ve developed all our growth projects following a calculated projection—or, as much as possible, for an erratic and ever-changing entertainment market! I even conceived some of my company’s initial ideas from a project in our Venture Strategy class.
3. Any advice for other GLOBIS alumni who are thinking about working in your field?
Get ready to risk it all without any guarantees. It’s an extremely challenging industry. On one hand, you get to travel around and meet famous people at cool international film festivals such Cannes, Berlinale (Berlin), and TIFF (Toronto). On the other hand, when you start your business, you need to already have lots of contacts, from producers to exhibitors and more. And, though this is true in any startup, as a founder, there will be endless long nights in which you need to do some marketing work, some PR, some HR, some sales, some legal, etc., etc. Often, financing and accounting will keep you from doing the fun work!
If you start from scratch, it will be hard to get the initial investment and make a name for yourself. Companies need to trust you with their precious content, and that can be particularly tough with Japanese companies. However, once you get past all the initial obstacles, this really is an enjoyable experience if you love the entertainment and cinematographic industries.
My best pointer is to use your MBA skills to find a niche market for your chosen industry and get as many contacts as you can before starting. Do that, and the rest will follow.
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