Connect
To Top

Meet George Jac of Rising Tides Creative in Downtown

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to George Jac.

George, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
San Diego– the gorgeous jewel on the southernmost coastal tip of California and the only city that I’ve ever really known, and where my story began. ‘America’s Finest City’ is where I was born, raised and wasn’t even able to escape the city’s grasp on me, when I had the chance to leave for college. Instead I chose to stay home to attend San Diego State University where I majored in Public Administration and minored in Psychology. Over the years I’ve found that it is unusual to meet someone else in San Diego, like myself– who is NOT a transplant from a different city, state or country. Even rarer would be to find someone that shares the same ethnicities as myself: Serbian and Filipino. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

You might be wondering why all of that is important to my story and it’s probably because I am an artist/creative in the filmmaking/media production world. Storytelling is now imbedded in me; and good storytelling always utilizes recurring themes. I wasn’t always this interested in it though, which is where the theme continues, because having a career in any capacity of content production is always going to be a unique path.

It was 2007 and I was in the midst of the most formative years of my life. I was in college, and up to that point, had no idea what I wanted to pursue as a major, let alone for the rest of my life. I wanted to do Kinesiology, until I had to take an organic chemistry class, so there went that. I went into Business School instead, until I had to take a business calculus class, which flattened out any motivation I had for that direction. Finally, I heard about Public Administration, which was from what I understood the same thing as Business except without the math!

So there, I was in my first Public Administration course, falling asleep in the back corner of a 500-person lecture because I had been up the night before doing remedial tasks/chores for the fraternity that I was pledging to get into. I woke up to a vibration from my pocket–I was being texted by one of my pledge bro’s–a pledge bro is someone who pledges in the same semester as you: “You, did you watch ‘Entourage’ last night?” he asked. If you don’t know, ‘Entourage’ was an HBO series that pulled the veil from Hollywood and vividly depicted what it is like to be an actor, from a nobody to A-list. I was absolutely infatuated with the show and thought it would be cool to be an actor, but there was no way I believed that I could actually pursue a career in the film industry, let alone an actor. It wasn’t until the following semester that I would actualize that outcome, as a possibility.

It was a combination of coincidences in this subsequent semester that I’d really consider to be the catalyst which started me on the path that I am continuing today. Having exhausted many of the available options for elective classes, I decided to take a Psychology class, more specifically: Psychology of the Personality (Psych 351). I engaged with the content of this course more so than any other class I could ever remember, and it showed in my report card as I got the full four points for the class, or an “A.” Furthermore, I realized the close connection that Psychology had with the art of acting, and the Universe must have felt that connection because during that same semester I was presented with an opportunity to be an “extra,” or background, in an HBO series that was actually shooting in San Diego called “John from Cincinnati.” I emailed the casting department, and I was surprised with such a quick response: I was booked, and for a week nonetheless! I was stoked! The show didn’t last more than a season, but the memories of that experience will live with me forever.

It was 4:00am the following Monday and I was wide awake because we had to get to set by 5:30am. I never woke up before noon at that time unless I had a morning class or lecture, but I was so excited for this opportunity to be on the set of an HBO show, the same company that captured my awe with their other show, “Entourage.” That might have been the only moment that I had to soak in all the excitement because from that point on I realized the whirlwind that is being on a set. I arrived at 5:20am and was almost immediately put to work and was walking back and forth in the background of scenes all day, and was just in complete awe of how many people were needed to keep the set running. Watching “Entourage” gave me a curiosity, but actually being on set became the tactile piece that I needed to inspire my acting career. The following day I arrived a few minutes early to set, and this time it must have been serendipity, because I was chosen out of all the extras to have a more prominent part than just walking back and forth. They asked me if I had my license, and then asked me to drive a news van. I was beyond stoked, and to top it off they even allowed me to speak a line in the upcoming scene.

After the scene concluded, which took all day mind you, I was getting ready to park the vehicle when I began to reverse it, and all of a sudden… CRASH!!! I got out of the car, and couldn’t believe it, I had crashed the news van into the car behind me. And no, it wasn’t part of the scene. I was completely devastated, but out of ALL the people to reassure me everything would be fine, it was no other than the asshole dad from “Married With Children,” no other than, ‘Al Bundy,’ or Ed O’Neill, the actor who played ‘Al Bundy’ all those years. I couldn’t believe he wasn’t a dice. And believe it or not, he was right, I was not fired and I came back the next day and the van and car had been fixed overnight, and completed the week of filming. Like I said, whirlwind. What an experience being on set for a show produced by HBO and talking to an actor I had watched growing up! It was this specific catalyst that instigated my passionate investigation into how to make this a living. However, before I could begin my journey, I had to finish up my bachelor’s degree.

Fast forward to 2012, the year that I had graduated from college, and I hadn’t done anything related to the film industry since “John From Cincinnati,” but I was more motivated than ever because during my time in school I had tirelessly researched how to build an acting career, but waited to apply that knowledge until I was free from scholastic obligations. As soon as I graduated, I sought out acting classes, which led to student film auditions, small commercial and independent film auditions. I admit it was a slow burn trying to build up my experience in auditioning, and believe it or not, that too is a key to the development of an actor, but that’s a different story for a different day. I found, despite my insecurities, that I was actually a natural at acting and it led to some interesting roles in short films and web series’ and introduced me into the concept of producing. One of the films I had been cast in I was asked by the director to help produce, and I remember literally replying: ‘what does it mean to produce?’ From that day forward I utilized the business skill set I developed in college and merged it with the creativity that I learned from acting and began to learn about the industry from both the business (producer) and creative (actor) sides.

I have since worked tirelessly to develop my creative acting muscles and my proficiency as a producer. I’ve appeared in multiple national commercials- including those of high-ranking Fortune 500 companies, have joined the actor’s union: SAG-AFTRA and boast dozens of film credits including theatrical films, both short and feature length, as well as new media projects.

I have humbly been twice nominated for ‘best actor,’ having received best actor nods for both a feature film and a short. Coincidentally the films in which I have received best actor nominations, I also produced. My accomplishments, however, are not limited to on camera work, but also behind the camera, as a savvy producer. I have produced films that have been nominated for awards, with a couple wins under my belt: an award-winning feature film, “South of 8,” which garnered five nominations and three wins; and two short films “Fletcher & Jenks,” and “Broken Knuckles” which each took home an award for best film.

All of my experience has culminated in my inspiration to use my art and creativity to help humanity in any way that I can, and luckily, I have found a team to partner with that believes in using art in the same way. I’ve recently become interested in marketing, however, have been introduced to a creative agency that cares about the same thing: RISING TIDES CREATIVE is a creative agency– that I am now a part of– with goals of utilizing original and narrative content to not only grow their clients’ brands, but to connect them with their communities.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Nothing about the road has been smooth, but I would never have it any other way. You learn most from the bumps in the road than you do smooth sailing.

Rising Tides Creative – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Whether you’re a small business or multi-franchise corporation, we have all the tools in the creative box from web design, product photography, video production, graphic design, podcasting, blogging and even running your social media campaigns or pages! Rising Tides Creative’s core philosophy is as we teach the next generation of artists how to thrive in the digital age, our brand identity and leverage against traditional media and entertainment outlets will grow when those we taught rise through the ranks of their chosen fields. Focusing on Film/Acting classes first, Rising Tides will eventually expand to classes for all art forms traditional and digital.

Through monthly networking events and an aggressive social media push to get local arts communities working better together, we believe that we can build a self-sustaining ecosystem to help push each other’s brands, online content and social media presence. Whether you’re a filmmaker, an actor, photographer, musician, digital artist, glass blower or anyone that calls themselves an artist; we want to help you do what all artists live for, creation.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
It’s funny because my most memorable childhood experiences come from the film, TOP GUN. And it wasn’t until today, that I realized: I don’t want to be a pilot, but I want to be able to form memories for others, through my art… just like TOP GUN did for me.

Contact Info:

Suggest a story: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in