Meet Greg Garthe | Filmmaker & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Greg Garthe and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Greg, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The alure was an opportunity to help grown men and women ease the anxieties of adult life by reconnecting to their own creativity and things they loved when they were children.

I’m actually working on building two businesses. The first is called GROWING UP MOVIES (www.growingupmovies.com), inspired by my lifelong journey as a filmmaker and collector of pop culture nostalgia. The seed of this project was a fresh concept: what if I took original, 30+ year old video footage from one of the narrative home “movies” my friends and I made when we were kids, incorporated it into a new show based on the old story, brought back some of those kids (now as adults) to reprise their original roles, and filled out the rest of the cast with established comedians, YouTube, and social media stars? With the help of my parents, who never threw anything away, I was able to salvage tapes containing the many “movies” and “shows” I made from the ages of 12-18, along with a room full of movie memorabilia, toys, models, and nostalgic artifacts. After 20+ years of working in the entertainment world, mostly in the director/producer departments, on everything from studio and indie features, to commercials, music videos, documentary, live TV, and even two Super Bowls – creating this show based off my personal childhood creativity from age 12, was a refreshing experience.

After completing post-production on the series, I decided to not go the traditional route of distribution, but rather build my own brand around this nostalgic reconnection to personal childlike creativity. So last year, I launched “Growing Up Movies” on YouTube and across social media. I stepped in front of the camera for a change, and started shooting videos about pop culture nostalgia and childlike creativity. On the pop culture side, I discuss a variety of topics from retro action figures to adult coloring books, classic arcade games, sports memorabilia, cosplay, and much more. There is a specific focus on personal childlike creativity, for we all were creative when we were young. Whether it was making movies with a camcorder, painting, drawing, building things out of wood, out of clay – we all had our creative outlets, and it can be incredibly therapeutic to tap back into that innate childlike imagination, by finding time in the adult week to be creative just for the fun of it. Those years of childhood are when our souls are closest to origin – before we are told what we are “supposed” to do in adulthood – those are the formative years and it’s perfectly natural and healthy to rediscover and embrace our inner creative-child-selves. Over the past few years, Growing Up Movies has evolved into my life’s work and my way of giving back to this world by sharing these things and encouraging adults to step back into their childlike selves.

I have also been a professional photographer for the better part of my adult life and am currently in the process of building a platform (www.allnaturalimages.com) and social media presence to share the many unique moments I have captured over the years – from wildlife, to sports, movie sets, naturescapes, people, art, pets, events, etc. Both Growing Up Movies and All Natural Images can be classified as “businesses” but what I care about the most is sharing these works and helping others through them. If these projects bring happiness and goodness into some peoples’ lives, then I have achieved my goals.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
It’s all about being a force for good. The human experience in this world is a difficult one. Nobody has everything. And we are here to help each other. I love helping those who need some support, a little pick-me-up in their lives. I hope that Growing Up Movies inspires people to therapeutically reconnect with the fun things they loved in their youths. I’m very grateful for the incredible experiences I had working in the movie business and other forms of media, but I have semi-retired from that world to put all my focus on these two projects geared at giving back and sharing what I have learned and made over the years. Ideally, I can make a positive mark on this world in a way that helps people help themselves and brings some extra enjoyment into their lives.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The Huntington Gardens in San Marino is a must see and my favorite cultural place in greater Los Angeles. It’s like an adult Disneyland for art, educational history, and beauty. Being that LA is the music capital of the world, we have some of the best concert venues. So, a show at the Wiltern, the Greek, Hollywood Bowl, the Orpheum, or Henry Fonda Music Box would be a hot ticket. And for food and general fun, I would take my out-of-town friend to Korea Town for the best Korean barbeque in the United States, then head west to the beaches of Venice and South Santa Monica to roam around the strand and hit up the taco joints. There is no shortage of incredible activities in Los Angeles!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The people who have been most influential and supportive in my life and career are my father David & my late mother Mary, my wife Bianca, and my professional mentor director/producer David Dobkin, with whom I worked with for 15 years on numerous TV shows, commercials, music videos, and feature films. I had incredible adventures working on those productions, living in cities like London, Prague, New Orleans, Boston, and being a part of the team that made the comedy classic “Wedding Crashers.”

Website: www.growingupmovies.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/growingupmovies/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/growingupmovies/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@growingupmovies

Other: Greg Garthe Photography: allnaturalimages.com