Ed. note: This post is part of the Spotlight on Commerce series highlighting the contributions and accomplishments of Department of Commerce employees in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15—October 15).

Guest blog post by José Ricardo García, Scriptwriter and Video Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

I used to think that you could only be a successful filmmaker in New York or Los Angeles. Little did I know that I would end up winning an Emmy® as a government employee in Maryland. I’m a scriptwriter/director in the Video and Digital Media Production Group within the Public Affairs Office at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).  I have the coolest job. I make scientists look like rock stars because they are.

I was blessed by being born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, an island filled with amazing people and stories. I’m the youngest of three brothers and lucky to grow up in an era in which we played outside and constantly found creative ways to keep ourselves entertained. That has come in handy when developing interesting concepts for our videos.

At the age of 18, I moved to New York City, where I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts in film/video production with a minor in psychology from New York University. I moved to the Washington, D.C. metro area in 2012 and have been with NIST for the past five years.

Hispanic Heritage Month to me is a reminder of the amazing contributions that Hispanics have made throughout history and continue to make every day in our society. I’m extremely proud of being Puerto Rican, and I do my best to represent my heritage with honesty every day through my work. We are privileged to live in a country with so much diversity where we can learn from one another and where we are reminded that above all things we are humans and actors in this beautiful story we call life.

To my fellow Latinos interested in a career in video, I advise them to never forget where they came from because that honesty will bring the best stories out of them. It’s not where you live or work that makes you a great filmmaker but the stories you tell and how you tell them. The world can benefit from the passion we all carry in our hearts. Videos can only get brighter with more color in them.