Today we’d like to introduce you to J. Budro Partida.
Hi J. Budro, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m an Emmy-Award winning professional video producer and award-winning filmmaker based out of Austin, Texas. I’ve been in media and television production for nearly 25 years. I started off as a commercial production editor and after some time, rose up to managing a production crew for our ad sales department. I’m currently the Commercial Production Manager at CBS Austin (KEYE-TV) and in 2013, I formed my own production company, PennyRock Productions LLC.
My spectrum of work includes client commercial production, short films, various music videos, online promotional materials and multiple television series, including “Professor Griffin’s Midnight Theatre” and the Emmy award-winning late night TV series, “Austin After Hours”. I’m also a 10-time Telly Award winner (including a Silver Telly) and have garnered multiple industry awards throughout my career.
I’m extremely passionate about production and film-making. I’m one of the lucky few that gets to say they like going to work every day because every day is different and never boring. I’ve always considered myself a life-long film student and cinephile, always watching films and learning. Sight, Sound, Motion, Emotion are the core fundamentals of what I work with. My job is to manipulate those for the audience. My bread and butter is television production, but my real passion is in film-making with an emphasis on Horror. I’m an administrator with the Austin Horror Society and network with plenty of Austin-based film and media groups. I’m also involved in the austin film community as a judge for two local film festivals: Austin under the stars film festival and the Austin Spotlight Film Festival.
I’m currently working on my first feature, a documentary about the infamous heavy metal club that existed in East Austin called The Back Room. It’s titled “Bloody & Bruised: The Untold Story of The Back Room”. It is currently in-production and slated for a 2023 release. I also have multiple music videos either in-production or lined up for the rest of 2021, including a music video for the Austin-based horror punk band, The Immortalz.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My field is extremely competitive. Making yourself stand out in the market is always a challenge. Getting paid well is even more difficult. So since Day 1, it was extremely important for me to put full effort and passion behind *everything* I shot and edited, whether it was a $300,000 budget or a $300 budget.
This market is always over-saturated with “video producers”. Nowadays, anyone buys a camera and a laptop with editing software and they are a “video producer”. Not to say you can’t be self-taught, I have many colleagues that were.
But I’ve spent the last 20 years in this market building my reputation and honing my craft. I know the technical aspects, requirements and legal necessities that go behind creating a tv commercial or online video. I know what’s effective for my clients, what my capabilities and limitations are. There are not many individuals in media that do what I do on a daily basis. So I pride myself in being an established media professional in this market.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I produced and directed the Emmy award-winning late night TV series, “Austin After Hours”, as well as produced and directed other television series, including “Professor Griffin’s Midnight Theatre”.
I’m a 10-time Telly Award winner, including one Silver Telly. My micro-short, “Devastated” won the Platinum Award (beating 375+ other short films) and named Season 6 Winner of the 15 Second Horror Film Challenge Competition in 2020. My 2019 werewolf short, “Bewere”, won “Best Horror Film” at the 2020 Austin Indie Fest, “Best Picture” at the 2020 Demonic Brilliance Film Festival and won “Best Horror Short” at the 2019 San Antonio Horrific Film Fest. The film has also gained multiple awards, nominations and has been selected in various other film festivals throughout 2020 and is now available on Amazon Prime. My short horror film, “Hi, Penny” (2018), received five nominations and won “Best Horror Short” at the 2018 San Antonio Horrific Film Fest. I am currently serving as Director and Producer on the feature-length documentary in-production titled “Bloody & Bruised: The Untold Story of The Back Room”.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I’m a big proponent of physical media. I ripped out a walk-in closet in my house to store my dvd/bluray collection that I’ve been growing since the 1990s. Last I checked, I was around the disc count was around 4,000.
But if we are talking about streaming apps, I really love HBO Max. Not only because it features newer films that are debuting in theaters but because they have a huge selection of older, classic films. I especially love their selections from the Criterion catalog. I’m a huge fan of the Criterion Collection and have plenty of their films on physical media. But it’s great having access to a CC film that I may not have on disc. I commonly post on social media whenever I’m watching a Criterion Collection film. Chances are it’s usually a Japanese Samurai film. I used to have the CC app, but between the two and my scarce amount of free time, I’ve pretty much honed in on HBO Max as my go-to in order to watch and study older films.
And of course, the Shudder app is an outstanding media outlet for a horror filmmaker like myself. The selection is amazing and I could go down a worm hole of their film catalog and lose a whole day in watching classic and modern horror films that influence my current work.
Contact Info:
- Email: budro@pennyrockproductions.com
- Website: www.pennyrockproductions.com
- Instagram: @budropartida
- Facebook: @budropartida
- Twitter: @budropartida
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/budropartida
Image Credits
Personal photo by Scott Stieferman. Other photos by Joseph Alvarez, Sarah Webb, Ryan Smith, Michele Law and Jessy Ann Huff.
