Welcome back to our Employee Feature series, where we give you a “behind-the-scenes” look at our team. This Meet Motion Source article features Sal Marquez, who joined the team earlier this year. He pulls double duty in production and post-production, and can be found either working on set or in the office editing.

Sal is south side Chicago born and bred, but recently moved north to the Gold Coast neighborhood. He received his bachelor's degree in Interactive Media from Illinois State University. His experience ranges from corporate to wedding to film and documentary. So whether it's in the field or in the edit, Sal has proven his ability to bring a story to life.

How did you get into filmmaking?

I made my first film in high school for a sophomore English project and realized I really enjoyed the entire process. From there I studied Communications at Illinois State University and haven't looked back.

What was your path from the beginning of that journey to now?

Illinois State has an amazing Communications program, but the Interactive Media focus is second-to-none. That's where I really began to understand the process of filmmaking. The teachers there all had hands-on experience which they then passed down to us. After I graduated, I freelanced for a couple of years before I landed a job as an editor for Comcast SportsNet. From there, I settled into an in-house videographer role for an industry-leading trade show display company in suburban Chicago. I was there for 3 years before making my way to Motion Source.

What do you love most about your job/filmmaking?

Being around veteran filmmakers. When I set out to take the next step in my career, I wanted to focus on learning from others. Here, I do that every day. As for filmmaking in general, it's being able to create anything you want...most of the time, with other like-minded professionals. Most videos/films are not created by just one person, so collaboration is key and I think that's where the learning part comes in.

When you’re not at Motion Source:

I love working out and learning more about healthy living every day, whether that's learning a new workout technique or learning about different ways to feed your body the things it needs. That's not to say I don't indulge on the weekends. Grabbing a doughnut and coffee on a Sunday morning has been a routine of mine recently and with the fall weather here, I don't see that changing.

Personal Mantra:

Find the happy medium in life.

Fun Fact:

I've realized that "Insomnia Cookies" are some of the best you can get in the city, but as an avid cookie consumer, there's a method to getting them just right. When you first purchase cookies from Insomnia, they come right out of the oven. I'd rather not eat a cookie that’s hot and melty. The sign of quality cookie (in my opinion) is a doughy, chewy, almost raw texture that holds up hours, even days, after it's been baked.  The key to Insomnia is purchase, bring them home and stick them in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. After that, the dough and chocolate chips have settled enough to enjoy the perfect cookie. In short, I really like cookies.

Bonus Fun Fact (from Michelle): Sal and I went to Illinois State University together. Check out this throwback selfie from graduation. How the time flies!

Look out for Sal on your next project and make sure to have a cookie ready for him!