Gustavo Velasquez (Actor-Producer-Investor)
After Maria and Carlos fled El Salvador when they were 17, due to the guerrilla warfare in the country, they moved to Los Angeles individually. Not knowing how to speak English and not knowing anything about the American culture, the only thing they could do was hold onto a dream, a dream for a better life. The two met in Los Angeles, fell in love and over time became self-made and had four amazing children. One of them was the black sheep of the family who always went against the status quo: Gustavo Velasquez.
Gustavo graduated cum-laude with a B.A. in Accounting from Cal State Fullerton. During his last year in college, he received job offers to join the audit teams at Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Ernst & Young, but he decided to take a huge risk for himself. Gustavo turned his back on the social norms of society and decided life was too short not to live fully as an artist. In other words - - to be happy every single day for the rest of his life.
Directly following college, Gustavo attended multiple acting studios and workshops in Los Angeles, focusing all of his energy on honing his craft as an actor. He studied with Annie Grindlay, Margie Haber, Ani Avetyan, and Chick Venerra. He also took every workshop he could in the industry and researched everything there was to know about building a lasting career in Hollywood. Over the years, Gustavo has used his business background to help him build his acting career by writing and filming his own work, marketing, branding, honing his craft, failing constantly, and learning from his mistakes.
Gustavo eventually met Anne Marie Cummings, who gave him his first big break and cast him as one of the lead actors in “Conversations in L.A.” - a one-shot series which has received five Daytime Emmy nominations to date. In 2017, Gustavo received a Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Digital Drama series. For Season Three, Gustavo has taken on the additional role of Producer for “Conversations in L.A.” In 2018, Gustavo also landed the role of Edgar, a young attorney, recurring co-star on the HBO series “Insecure”.
Gustavo believes happiness comes from being a well-rounded individual - - no amount of money, fame or success can give to you what knowing yourself can give. Being 100% physically, mentality and spiritually strong, treating others with kindness, and making the world a better place one day at a time, regardless of what the future brings, is part of his motto for life.