As a Marine captain-turned-filmmaker, Brian Iglesias, 34, relies on a veritable “laundry list” of military skills to run his production company, Veterans Expeditionary Media.
But when Iglesias first began looking for a job in film or television, hiring managers failed to see the value of his 14 years of active duty
“I had figured, ‘I’ve got a good resume,’” explains Iglesias, who in 2008 transferred to the Reserves after two tours in Iraq and one in the Pacific. “I’ve led combat operations. I’ve done humanitarian relief. I’ve trained with different countries.”
Yet not even the film degree he earned from Temple University before his deployments gave him an edge.
“I was overqualified for entry-level work, but under-experienced for mid-level work,” says Iglesias, who splits his time between Queens and Hazlet, NJ, with his wife and two young sons. “I couldn’t even get an internship. It was like swinging at the air.”
Then, after nearly a year of futile job searching, Iglesias was struck with the realization that he would have to “create my own opportunity.”
“The door wasn’t opening, so I figured I’d knock it off its hinges and do it myself,” he says.
For Iglesias, this meant enrolling in Syracuse University’s Entrepreneur Bootcamp for Veterans for a crash-course in business ownership, and teaming up with Anton Sattler, a fellow Marine infantry officer and aspiring filmmaker.
Together, the duo decided that Iglesias’ idea to make a documentary about the Chosin Reservoir Campaign — a seminal Korean War battle — had real potential.
“Every Marine is told about this battle,” says Iglesias. “It’s legendary. So we thought, a lot of these guys are still alive. Let’s get their stories. Let’s capture it.”
Not a month later, Iglesias and Sattler had cashed in their savings and embarked on an eight-month journey around the country to interview 128 of the battle’s veterans. Along the way, they relied on the kindness of fellow vets, friends and strangers for warm meals, couches to crash on and even cash donations.
According to Iglesias, “people believed in what we were doing” — so much so that he and Sattler decided to form their production company around their first project. “We knew that we were going to continue to do this past this film.”
But the first order of business was several months of editing and post-production work in preparation for premiering their finished product, “Chosin,” at the 2010 GI Film Festival. The film ended up selling out its first night and winning best documentary, and has since been screened all over the country and optioned for a Hollywood feature.
“We kind of hit gold,” Iglesias says. “Our mission was to celebrate these heroes, and we did that. It was pretty rewarding.”
Bolstered by their initial success, Iglesias and Sattler have gone on to produce several commercial spots for veterans organizations and a trio of small-budget narrative films, and they recently started work on a military-themed animated movie. This past year, they also produced the pre-taped content for the NYC Veteran’s Day Parade and assisted with the live broadcast.
Iglesias says he feeds off the pressure of managing several jobs at once — with a team that can swell up to 40 contractors — often on four hours of sleep.
“Being an infantry Marine in combat, you learn to thrive in chaos,” he says. “You’ve got personnel, you’ve got civilians, you’ve got equipment — and you are the one person everyone looks to, to make a decision. It’s the same thing in small business.”
Now, as the company continues to grow and is finally turning a profit, Iglesias finds himself busier than ever, with a balance of script writing, industry networking and financing. But if the workload is substantial, so are the rewards.
“As an infantry officer with a film degree, my qualifications were pretty narrow,” he says. “But I answered that call. The best part about it is that I am what I’m supposed to be.” — L.T.