Manny Jimenez’s story captivated many media outlets years ago. A reformed gang member embarking on his adventure in the film industry sounded very appealing to the business.
“Many wanted the rights to the story of my life, but I wasn’t included; I wasn’t invited to the party,” says Manny Jimenez, director, and writer of ‘SUSPECT: THE SERIES’, which will be presented this Saturday at the East L.A. Film Festival.
“Writing changed my life; it served as therapy, to let out so many things that happened to me in life,” he says. “I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t done it; I might have taken the wrong path.”
Manny Jimenez Sr speaks with great passion about cinema, Hollywood, his favorite film director Quentin Tarantino, and all his projects.
“Years ago, I wasn’t ready, I think I am now. I’ve worked very hard to make this pilot and have this inspiration and aspiration with my work,” he adds.
Manny gained fame in the early 2000s when he founded Suspect Entertainment, a talent agency that specialized in hard-to-find ethnic and gang types for film and television. He supplied major Hollywood feature films and television shows with extras who not only looked the part but lived the part. SUSPECT: THE SERIES aims to tell the story of how it all came about.
The pilot episode features a young Manny (Frankie Hernandez) getting released from prison and driving around Los Angeles looking for a movie set to work on. Through some luck, encouragement from a loved one, and endless persistence, he gets a small, questionable part in a movie, and this leads him to the brainstorm of starting his own casting agency.
“For me, writing is important; we all have stories to tell. I have a love/hate relationship with Hollywood. On one hand, I didn’t feel welcome, and on the other, it’s necessary for the realization of some projects,” he says.
Manny Jimenez has great discipline for writing; he describes himself as someone who enjoys his solitude, the long hours he spends writing.
“I don’t go out anymore; I prefer to stay at home. For me, enjoying moments with friends is when I’m in the studio, filming. When I write, I can spend days locked in, trying to understand each character, for them to come to me. Tarantino says that when you meet the characters and understand them, they take control of our writing. Being alone is painful but necessary; it brings out all my emotions, my traumas, if I’m depressed,” he adds.
Many people who know him do not identify him as a film director; they still associate him with his gangster life.
“It’s hard for them to understand that I’m a different person. New friends see me as a writer; those who knew me before have issues,” he adds.
There’s a scene in the movie where the main character takes food from the table set for those collaborating with the filming. The character representing him fills bags with different food; one might think he’s taking it for himself, but that’s not the case. He goes out to the street and approaches a homeless person to give him the food. The homeless man says, more or less:
“Of all these people here, you’ve been the only one who has been generous.”
And this is what Manny’s work represents.
“I want to help people change; I want to touch as many people as I can with love, with my heart. That homeless scene really happened. When I meet a homeless person, I give them food, not money,” he adds.
His wife, Connie, is his inspiration and his harshest critic.
“When I started writing, I gave her my texts, and she said, ‘I think it needs more work,'” he says, laughing. “Now, after the process I’ve been through, she asks me, ‘Did you really write this?'”
His son, Manny Jiménez Jr., is also a faithful advisor; he grew up among movies and now teaches him new technologies.
Once he had the opportunity to personally thank Tarantino for the inspiration he has been in his life.
“We went to a premiere; we were told he wouldn’t attend. Anyway, my wife and I were there. When we arrived, we saw two reserved seats; we thought they were surely for him. My wife suggested sitting in the front row; if he arrived, we could turn around and greet him. That’s what happened; he came with his now-wife, and I turned around and thanked him. That meant a lot to me,” he says.
I told him I would do the same when I got to one of those premieres that inhabit his dreams.
“I want to make a western, maybe with Benicio del Toro, make a romantic movie, write a children’s book… many things,” he concludes.
(Photo by @herdzmedia)
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