Meet Horacio Marquinez | Cinematographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Horacio Marquinez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Horacio, maybe we can start at the very start – the idea – how did you come up with the idea for your business?
Since my childhood, I wanted to be a photographer and filmmaker. Over the last 30 years, I have made dozens of films in my role as a cinematographer. My most recent project, America Unfiltered, is the first feature length documentary that I co-produced and directed. ,As an immigrant from Panama, the idea for this film came from my long-time desire to understand what it means to be an American.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My career as a cinematographer has spanned 30+ years. I’m most proud of my recent film, America Unfiltered, and associated portraits because it is a passion project that I have wanted to do for over two decades. The pandemic closed the film industry for a year – and I saw that as an opportunity to create my own project.

My colleague and I, both immigrants, decided to grab our cameras and venture through the US for 9 months in my candy red Mini Cooper. We covered election times, the pandemic, race relations, and immigration. Our goal was to photograph and interview people from all walks of life, in search of what does it mean to be an American.

This adventure evolved into a full length documentary film, in post-production and a VR exhibition of portraits of people from across America. What I learned is that people want to share there amazing stories and are much more approachable than I had anticipated.

Please see link to America Unfiltered sizzle reel

*one particular note, we spend about 5 weeks in Atlanta following a grassroots organization called Justice for Georgia, and encounter extraordinary personal stories of perseverance, justice and hope.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I live in NYC, one of the most exciting cities in the world. I would take my friend to the International Center of Photography and my favorite museums, including the Metropolitan, Brooklyn, and Whitney Museums. I am coffee maniac, know every awesome coffeeshop in the City. We’d eat some of my favorite foods from tapas, to bim bim bap, to fresh fish – in the village, Soho, and Tribecca. We’d also see some shows on broadway and off broadway and go to art galleries across the city. Depending on the weather, I might convince them to go rollerblading in Central Park or Riverside Park.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’m grateful to my husband, Marc Brackett, a successful entrepreneur himself. He’s the author of the bestselling book, Permission To Feel and the lead developer of RULER, an approach to teaching emotional intelligence that has been adopted by over 4,000 schools.

Website: https://horaciodp.com

Instagram: @hmarquinez

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/horaciomarquinez

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/horacio.marquinez

Youtube: @horaciomarquinez