Life in the limelight

Ali Naqvi is a producer, director and independent filmmaker whose repertoire includes “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises,” “Parks and Recreation” and the HBO series “Westworld.” He attributes his success to the networking skills he learned during his time in the Rio Grande Valley.

Naqvi grew up in Louisiana and moved to the Valley, where he attended legacy institution University of Texas Pan American from 2003 until 2008 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in communication.

Even though he thoroughly enjoyed his time as a student, he faced a common problem all graduates have– finding a job after graduation.

“I loved my experience at UTPA,” Naqvi said. “[I loved] the hands-on aspect of everything. I do know that afterwards, there wasn’t a good idea of what to do next. Usually after school or any kind of higher education, especially in this field, you make some kind of connections and stuff like that. We did make connections but only locally and there wasn’t a clear idea of, ‘OK, now what are we going to do with this degree, this piece of paper?’”

He emphasizes the importance of emerging films, students realizing their potential and making connections in cultural hubs such as Los Angeles and Austin.

“You finish [your degree] and you’re like, ‘OK now what?’ I guess I can make commercials locally, or work at a news station,” Naqvi said.  “[That] is not all we can do. We can create local indie films and TV shows. We have great resources in the Valley and it’s a matter of finding them and mining them.”   

After graduation, he briefly worked at McAllen’s newspaper, The Monitor. Although he gained a lot of camerawork experience, he grew tired of the mundane, repetitive work and realized that he wanted a more fast-paced career.

Naqvi soon moved to Los Angeles and began scouting for jobs in film production. Although it was difficult to make connections at first, he was able to form the bonds he needed to become a prominent member of the industry.

“Sitting at home, I was getting a bit anxious because I didn’t know anybody [in Los Angeles],” he said. “I was doing a lot of [surfing] on Craigslist and some work websites like ProductionHUB and Facebook. … So, I did a lot of random independent films and freelances [where I’d] just jump on a random set or a few TV shows. And early on, I worked with a producer almost three weeks after I moved here and he kept saying, ‘Oh, work hard for me and I’ll get you on something great. I’ll get you on something big.’

“I worked three movies with them and two were unpaid and for the third one, he got me paid. And the fourth was ‘Dark Knight Rises’ and I got going on that with him for seven days. He called me up and asked, ‘What are you doing next Wednesday after the third movie?’ I was like, ‘Nothing’ and he was like, ‘Cool, you’re working on ‘Dark Knight Rises.’ I just remember jumping up and down a lot that day.” 

Naqvi’s hard work on “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises” put him on a list of production assistants where he was able to form connections, which later landed him on the set of “The Lone Ranger.”

Even though the job is unpredictable, he still enjoys every part of it and shared one of his memorable experiences with The Rider.

“I helped when they came back from shooting “Aloha” in Hawaii with Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone,” Naqvi said. “They came back and they had this shipping container that was shipped back with all their supplies and everything that was left over from the show, and one of my jobs was that I got brought on to unload this shipping container. Some of [the jobs you get called on] are crazy, random odd jobs. At the end of that, it was like, ‘Hey, this workout bike that belonged to Bradley Cooper in filming is just going to get tossed in the trash. Does anybody want it?’ And we were just like, ‘We’ll take it!’ It’s the weird collection of random stories and memories. None of it seems real.”      

Well aware of the growing interest students have in the unique career he has, Naqvi advises current students who are striving to make their name in the film business to take the plunge despite any fears they have.

“In the Valley, we come from a place where you get comfortable, you get complacent and you look around and say, ‘So, this is the level I’m at,’” he said. “Just do it. [That goes for] anybody in any industry. Even if you don’t know anybody who is doing it, there is someone [who is] and you will probably be able to do it, if not better than them.”