Occupation: Antonio works as a system designer for RGS Energy, a company that installs solar panels on homes.
When you’re not working, what are some of your hobbies? “I watch a ton of movies, of course, and I also work on cars on the side. Like motorcycles, stuff like that.”
What are your favorite types of movies? “My favorite genre of movie is horror, and a movie that I can watch over and over is “Pulp Fiction.” That movie is hilarious! What I like most about it is the great dialogue and how the entire film doesn’t go in chronological order. Tarantino has great control with how his story is told. That’s not a horror movie, I guess, but there haven’t been any good ones out lately.”
How long have you been volunteering for Filmworks? “I started this past fall, and I got involved when I saw something online about independent films that were playing at The Tower Theatre. I saw volunteer information for Filmworks, so that’s how I started.”
What has been your favorite Filmworks screening so far? “My favorite has been “The Great Beauty” because I like the way it was filmed. The whole movie was just shot really beautifully. Great cinematography. I kind of look at that stuff with movies, how they’re made, and that’s my favorite thing about the movie. It was made to feel like you really want to be there.”
What type of films or movie genres would you like Filmworks to show more of? “Filmworks does a good job with their selections, but I’d like to see more of the quirky, weird films, the kind that you don’t normally see anywhere else. More international films are always good, too.”
What do you like most about volunteering? “I guess the nicest thing to say would be meeting new people. But mostly, I do it for the free movies I get the opportunity to see! After you’re done with your volunteer duties, you get to stick around and watch whatever’s playing. That’s usually what I end up doing. But meeting new people is also something I really like about it.”
What is your favorite aspect about seeing an indie film with Filmworks at The Tower Theatre? “Well honestly, just the fact that they’re usually playing something that here in Fresno you probably wouldn’t see otherwise. I mean, we’re kind of in a small city. Well, Fresno is kind of a big city, but it’s not really a big, big city like San Francisco or L.A. where an independent film will be playing close by. With Fresno, it’s a lot harder to come by places where they’ll play films like that. So that’s my favorite thing about Filmworks: They play films that you’re obviously not going to see at the big megaplexes.”
Filmworks thanks all of our February 2014 volunteers: Avigdar Adams, Jemimah Barba, Cleo Bauer, Leslie Bjerke, Lorna Bonyhadi, Micah Byers, Sadie Byers, Nené Casares, Antonio Garcia, Fae Giffen, Rebecca Horwitz, Carl Johnsen, Kathryn Johnsen, Monica Marks-Rea, Ann McGowan, Conde McGowan, Don Olson, Dominic Papagni, Shlomo Pleban, Sara Poss, Gene Richards, Susan Rogers, Bill Rovin, Abigail Smurr, Zoe Smurr, Richard Stone, Jon Veinberg, Analise Villalobos (intern), Suzanne Watkins.
Past volunteers of the month: January 2014: Fae Giffen • December 2013: Cleo Bauer and Dominic Papagni • November 2013: Kathryn and Carl Johnsen • October 2013: Linda Hernandez • September 2013: Susan Rogers • August 2013: Joan and Brijesh Sharma • July 2013: Jon Veinberg • June 2013: Richard Stone • May 2013: Sarah Nixon • April 2013: Alyssa Rendon • March 2013: Nené Casares.
Contact our volunteer director, Gloria Burrola, to volunteer at a future screening.