Quince Garcia: Ambassador for Peace

Moviemaker and former UEL student Quince Garcia has been declared an ‘Ambassador for Peace’ at a recent award ceremony.

In an interview, Mr Garcia described how, along with others, he was awarded a certificate declaring his status as an Ambassador of Peace, and shared with the audience the events of his life which had led to the award.

The Ambassador for Peace Awards, recognised by the U.N, was established by leader of the worldwide Unification Church and owner of the Washington Times, Sun Myung Moon, to reward people who had overcome hardships in their lives and found success.

Quince Garcia is certainly one such success story. Having grown up with a father who was often in prison, he himself had been in prison three times. Mr Garcia talked about using his time in prison to study and build on his self-esteem. Helped by Kate Ruby, a prison officer, he spent much of his time on various courses, learning drama and Buddhism, and even producing a play for the other prisoners. It was on one of these courses that he met his future partner, Julian Bernard Grau.

After getting out of prison, Mr Garcia established his media company, Roadworks Media, with assistance from the Prince’s Trust. Amongst his most noted works was ‘A Child’s Hood Lost’, a documentary about the decline of Camberwell, where he had spent his childhood. He also studied Animation and Moving Image at UEL, building towards his eventual aim of directing movies. He mentioned that his ultimate aim is to produce a semi-autobiographical film about his time dealing drugs – and that he is looking for funding to produce it.

Mr Garcia mentioned he is currently in the process of establishing a film workshop to help vulnerable youths start a career in film making, aiming to empower them by giving them a thorough grounding in all aspects of the film making process. The project is being initiated with help from Sophie Piper PR at First Steps, and community organisation Strong Linx.

Mr Garcia is also organising a fund raising event to provide funding for 6 films made by youths in the workshop, aiming for a function at Steiner Theatre near Regents College sometime in august.

Lastly, Mr Garcia mentioned his passion for stand-up comedy, revealing that he styles himself on some of the all-time greats- including Ronnie Barker, Eddie Murphie, Richard Prior and even the Carry On films. His observational comedy is something he describes as constantly trying to develop. He has found a regular outlet for his stand-up routines at the Cavendish Arms in South Lambert, where he performs every Monday.

Mr Garcia encourages anyone wishing to help him in his projects to get in touch with him through his website, www.roadworksmedia.co.uk.