JACK OF ALL TRADES | Omarr A. Salgado
INTERVIEW KB Tindal PHOTOGRAPH Omarr A. Salgado
As a seasoned veteran in the music, film and healthcare industries this CEO and founder of Fast Forward Films, Grown Man Sports, and New Swing Entertainment, is an actor, a writer, and a filmmaker. He has a history in worldwide marketing, business development and talent acquisition. He also has over a decade of experience in the healthcare industry. He's basically what you would proudly call an “all-around modern Hispanic Renaissance Man, who hails from The Bronx, New York and his history in the game is as rich as the city that he represents. Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome to this issue of Validated Magazine, Mr. Omarr A. Salgado.
Validated: So you’re from the Bronx right?
Omarr A. Salgado: I was raised in the Bronx. My dynamic is my mother was closer to Brooklyn and Manhattan’s lower east side. Then my dad grew up in Harlem. I was born in Puerto Rico. My dad was a proud Puerto Rican. He shipped my mom's back to Puerto Rico, so I could be born on the land. Then shortly after that came I back to New York and I've been in the Bronx the whole time. I grew up in the Bronx. I grew up in the X.
Validated: Let's start from the beginning. Music was introduced to you at an early age by your grandfather Juan Salgado and your father Aurelio Juan Salgado Sanchez, who was also known as Yeyo Salgado and he was a Latin pianist with a Grammy nominated group “New Swing Sextet.” How did those early years influence you musically and culturally?
Omarr A. Salgado: Yeah man, it influenced me greatly. I was surrounded by music. I remember as far back as being two and three years old in the crib. Literally like waking up not knowing where my parents were at and crying and then my mom's coming in picking me up, and then she brought me to the living room and my pops had a full out jam session going on at that time. And I'm talking about bass players, guitars, congas, the whole shebang. It was really crazy to watch that and to see it. I just been around music my whole life, man like I'm talking about real musicians.
Validated: The essence of it all absolutely.
Omarr A. Salgado: Yes, the essence of it. I remember waking up in the morning and listening to different genres of music. My father was into a little bit of everything right so it was a lot. Obviously Salsa was going on in the house, a lot of jazz. He was into disco at that time too, that's before hip-hop really started to take off. Then you had your R&B. I was really well-rounded when it came to the different music and sounds and rhythms that were out there. Brazilian music was big in my house too.
Validated: Growing up in the Bronx, I know how it affected me at an early age and when I had to move out to Queens and I had to readapt and how that affected me as well. How did growing up in the Bronx outside of your home affect you at an early age and what are some of the things from the neighborhood that you learned at an early age that you still carry with you today?
Omarr A. Salgado: Oh man growing up back in those days man we was… just like it was school the whole time. Music came to me. I remember listening to it like Mr. Magic's Rap Attack back in the day. That was probably like, that's probably my earliest memory of listening, just kind of being introduced to the genre of Hip-Hop and whatever but just the break dancing, Mr. Frost used to come on my block. We used to have block parties, like serious block parties back in the days. I remember the New York City Breakers came on the block one time. We had an all-out battle. It was crazy. That's when Hip-Hop was fun and community driven. It was a beautiful time back then. I remember being exposed to all that. One of my boys, his name is Manny, used to do things like the tags on the trains, all the graffiti stuff and all that. I was exposed to that like 24/7. Beat Street was like one of my favorite movies.
Validated: Me too. I can't tell you how many times I rewound that Crazy Legs scene where he took his sneakers off at the end of a backspin while he was breaking in the club.
Omarr A. Salgado: Crazy and iconic.
Validated: A classic. As a filmmaker and as an actor, I know I read that your favorite actors are Sydney Poitier, Denzel Washington and Regina King and your favorite filmmakers are Martin Scorsese, Ava Duvernay and John Singleton. Can you tell me a little bit about how they influenced you and what you take from them when it comes to perfecting and refining your craft on a continuous basis as it applies to acting and film making?
Omarr A. Salgado: Being an artist, just being an artist, music, film, whatever it is my dad was an artist so like he watched a lot of these early movies and I would sit down with him and watch it. I would watch the Sydney Poitiers. I would watch Fred Astaire and all that. All of them type of movies, musicals and stuff like that I was really into that. Just the art itself was just very fascinating for me.
Denzel Washington obviously that dude is just such a master at his craft. That's a no-brainer. Then when it comes to these filmmakers, I just look for people that have their own unique eye and can really project their perspective on other people. I think that those names that you put out there have been able to do that. They can bring you into their world in other words. I think as a filmmaker that's very important, like you got to be able to bring people into your world, so you got to create that for them.
Validated: Absolutely. You founded Fast Forward Films in 2019 along with FFIC TV in 2021 with your partner Willie Coggins. Tell me about the company and tell me about the goal and some of the milestone projects that you feel in your mind that you've released so far?
Omarr A. Salgado: FFIC TV came about right before the pandemic. That's when the pandemic started to hit. I was doing a film before that. I was doing film I started in 2012 but then revamped my surroundings. I revamped my team and the people that I was rocking with. I just made a total transformation and I just kind of went solo. I created Fast Forward Films and started really investing in myself, doing that kind of stuff and I was acting. I was doing a lot of acting at that time.
I met Willie Coggins at an audition basically for one of his films. I came in just as an actor, we hit it off and what we realized is that we had a synergy when it came to film. We had the same goals and wanted to be in a film. So, we just decided to get together and start doing this film thing ourselves man. Right now we have a slew of films that we are in pre-production on right now. We do have one that's out called Sweet Burn that's been doing pretty good on the Tubi platform as we speak. I myself have been in a couple of films as well, like just various films with Rob Stapleton. I got another film called Surviving the Hunt. I got another film called The One Closest to You. I got some other films that I've done with other filmmakers that I collaborated on. Right now what I'm trying to do with Fast Forward Films and FFIC TV is just really bring them something different, bring the audience a little bit of something different and just make my mark. Create my legacy.
Validated: I know we're going to see more projects on FFIC TV on the platform in the future. Off the top of your head, what are you working on right now if you had to pick one project that you would want a potential new fan to see, so that they could get the full spectrum of what you embody as a filmmaker, what project or what film would that be?
Omarr A. Salgado: We have a film that we're going to be starting in November called “Seven”. I think that film is going to give people a very good idea of what we're able to do as a team. This arena of film there's no solo in it. You can't do this by yourself. You have to have a team involved in what you do. We've grown a lot since we've started our first films. So, I think right now they're going to really be able to see a real cinematic masterpiece when we get to this one man, Seven. I'm excited about getting that one done.
Validated: You pursued music as a career in the 90s, and you work with the likes of Naughty by Nature, Lords of the Underground, Main Source, Trendz of Culture. What lessons in business and artistic expression did you bring from the music world into the film world with you that still applies to this day?
Omarr A. Salgado: That's a great question. A lot of people ask me what that transition was like for me, like going from music to film. What I really realized is that there's so many similarities between the two in the creative aspect. I think even now what we're starting to see with the help of technology we're seeing where, like once upon a time when I was doing music you were in the studio man, you was in the studio with that 24 track or that big ass tape.
Validated: The big Tascam joints.
Omarr A. Salgado: Tascam. When they were editing back in the day, they took a razor and they spliced it. That's back in the days. Technology now allows you to have the same quality in these huge spaces that we used to work out of. You could put it in the corner in your home right now in film. These big stupid cameras that they had back in the days and these big lenses, they condensed all of that stuff so small and the price points are much better and people can afford it. I think what I've taken from it is that it's an ever-evolving industry. The industry evolves. Some people are able to get acclimated and then others are not. I take pride in the fact that I've been able to get acclimated from one sector of production and being able to utilize all the technology that we got now to be able to do what we are doing now.
I also think of another lesson that I learned. Let's keep in mind I'm 50 years old now. I was 17, 16 years old when I was in music. I wasn't even thinking about the business back then. That wasn't even a thought man, where now in hindsight understanding what's really going on, I believe that, and this is something that I preach to all my filmmakers, you got to understand the business of what you're doing. It's cool you know your cameras, your light and your angles and all that other stuff. Once that creativity is already in place and it's put together and it's ready to go on to what you are going to do next. What's the next step? Business to me is everything at the end of the day.
Validated: Trendz of Culture I just remember that hit that they had “Off and On,” it was such a dope song man. I really wish they had done more as a group but that was just a good era of Hip-Hop at that time.
Omarr A. Salgado: It was an excellent era of Hip-Hop. I believe it was at its purest at that particular moment.
Validated: I agree.
Omarr A. Salgado: I remember them creating the song. The original “Off and On” what we know is not the original song. The song that everybody's listening to is the remix that Lord Finesse did. That went from a B-side to an A-side basically.
Validated: Now that you brought that up, I definitely remember that.
Omarr A. Salgado: Those my guys man. We still keep a touch and all that.
Validated: Are they doing well? Are they still in a creative space?
Omarr A. Salgado: Yes, they still pretty much for the most part. Nastee is DJing now. M.O.L. still does production. Grapevine went on to acting and all that. Everybody is still in their creative space for sure.
Validated: That's good that's what's up. I like to hear that. What's your favorite film of all time man?
Omarr A. Salgado: Funny every time I say this people say, “What?” Baby Boy that's my favorite film. Baby Boy is my favorite. I don't know, there's something about that movie Tyrese, Ving Rhame, Omar Gooding, yo they did such an amazing job on that movie for me. I could watch it over and over again. It's one of those movies that anytime it comes on I just lock into it. I enjoy it all the time. They did such an amazing job because it was so authentic to me. It made me want to go to the West Coast. I wanted to be in LA when I saw that movie. That's my favorite real talk.
Validated: No doubt. When people ask me mine they never think I'm going to say what I say but my favorite is “Love Jones.”
Omarr A. Salgado: That’s great movie.
Validated: I think Love Jones was done in such a super creative way it birthed a lot of new stars that we still see today. I just think it was a dynamic film. It was a great love story. It had a lot of good elements in it. I think it was a really good movie.
Omarr A. Salgado: That's a great movie. Great choice.
Validated: Absolutely. Who's your favorite musical artist of all time?
Omarr A. Salgado: Does the genre make a difference or not?
Validated: Not at all.
Omarr A. Salgado: Wow that's a good one. I have so many but what I'll tell you is the one that influenced me the most at least in Hip-Hop. It was Rakim.
Validated: Me too.
Omarr A. Salgado: Eric B. & Rakim. That's the one. Even in my music days a lot of people would say I favored him but it was just because I took to his style. I took to what he was bringing to the table. So, he influenced me a lot. He influenced me a lot.
Validated: Tell me about Grown Man Sport.
Omarr A. Salgado: Grown Man Sport came about as an organization that I was putting together to help the youth, to help younger people younger men specifically because what I was finding is that a lot of our young men were missing out on etiquette. Just simple etiquette. Just being able to communicate with each other properly. A lot of them didn't know how to interview for jobs. They didn't know how to tie a tie. All kinds of that kind of situations. I wanted to do something that was geared towards that. I started that but then it morphed into film. I created a PSA called Tie Never Broken which was a moment that I had with my dad when I was a little kid where I saw him in the mirror tying a tie. I asked him. I said, “Yo, Dad what are you doing?” He took the time to show me exactly how to do it. The whole purpose of the video was just to show people like not so much the tie but just like being patient. Practicing your craft and being diligent on what it is that you want to do. So that was the thing. My man Charles Jones had entered it in a Obama 2012 fatherhood contest, and he came in second place last minute. So, that kind of was my confirmation that I think I could do this film thing. That's how that came about.
Validated: Tell me a little bit about “New Swing Entertainment”.
Omarr A. Salgado: “New Swing Entertainment” was my music thing. New Swing Entertainment obviously is a play on my dad's band that he used to rock with the New Swing Sextet. I created New Swing Entertainment and I put out a few singles under that label at that time and I did the music thing. These things work and then something else comes about. That was the situation at that time.
Validated: You were the Head of Acquisitions for America Nu Network. Tell me a little bit about that.
Omarr A. Salgado: America Nu Network is a network that was created by Damon Dash and it was something that he wanted to bring forth to give filmmakers and creators a safe place right, and also a place where they can monetize from.
Validated: I believe he has an app for that too, right?
Omarr A. Salgado: Yes, it's an official platform. It's on everything, your Apple, Google and all of that and it has all types of content. It has movies, podcasts, and documentaries. You got music stuff on there and everything. It just provides opportunity at the end of the day. It's providing opportunity for filmmakers or creators that probably wouldn't get opportunity anywhere else.
Validated: Speaking of Dash, we all know what he's going through right now with the auction getting ready to take place. One thing I've never heard is anybody say anything bad about Dame as far as his person. Tell me something about his business that you've taken or something that he may have taught you that you still carry today, because what he's done in this game is monumental regardless of where he's at right now, The mark that he's left on Hip-Hop in this culture can never be faded. You can't say anything bad about that at all. Tell me something that that you still carry with you today.
Omarr A. Salgado: I think the one thing that stands out to me the most would be a relentless belief in what it is that you want to do. Having that plan in place. The thing is like not only having a plan but actually executing it because it's one thing to think about doing something but it's another thing to actually get it done. That's the one thing that I will say that I've taken from him that regardless he has these ideas. He has multiple ideas. He has this thing called, “The Octopus” that he does. It's like eight different ideas or whatever and he does everything simultaneously. It's really about being relentless with what it is that you are trying to do. That's what I really take from him. I take that you out of anybody else has to believe the most. You got to believe it.
Validated: You got to bet on yourself.
Omarr A. Salgado: You got to bet on yourself, that's a fact.
Validated: On top of all the endeavors that you're involved in, you also have over a decade of experience in healthcare administration. How has that helped you on the business side of the entertainment industry?
Omarr A. Salgado: What's funny man is that came up recently. I did another interview and they must have been digging. They found out this dude he's in the healthcare field and he does administration. It helped me because being a boss and having to dictate what goes on in the office and just being proficient at your job and making sure that everybody is tended to and all of that kind of stuff really helped me as far as communication skills, being in business arenas. Again, the business of what we do in entertainment looks like a lot of fun, a lot of jumping around, happiness, and everything but it's business. This is a real business. There's a time for all of that but then there's a time to really sit down at the table and get the business done. I think me being an administrator in the healthcare field and me dealing with that corporate style of work has definitely helped me with bringing that same energy to this arena as well. I've been able to curate a lot of relationships just based on conversation, just based on us being able to talk to each other and have a real real good conversation and people really getting to know and understand that “This guy really knows what he's talking about.” That makes the difference at the end of the day.
Validated: I know you're a huge advocate for mental health as far as black men are concerned. Tell me what you're doing in that space. and on the tail end of that if you could change two things about the healthcare industry in America what would they be and why?
Omarr A. Salgado: What I've been doing in regards to mental health, I do have a project that I am working on currently that will highlight that as well called Mask Off. It's like a documentary that I'm going to be doing that I'm talking to different individuals mostly black men or men of color that know that are dealing with mental health. A lot of this comes from our personal experience and having so much difficulty in finding the help that we need as black men. We come from a society that any form of weakness is shunned upon. I'm not going to say weakness. It's not really weakness it's just something, it's the way that we look at it at the end of the day.
I've been doing that and I think my other contribution is that I've been a lot more vocal about it and I talk about it openly now. Before I used to be a little bit nervous about even having to have that conversation because of what it is but now we got to talk about this because what I'm finding is that in just casual conversation, I realize that brothers are going through it. Let me tell you something: That support is everything. When you can relate to other people and you realize that, “Yo I'm not alone in this,” it makes it easier for you to cope.
At the end of the day I'm disappointed in healthcare now. I've been in it for a long time. There was a time when patients actually knew their doctors where they actually were able to sit, like they knew their families. They sat down. They talked to you. They really had a conversation. There's no more of that going on right now. Now it's all about your numbers. It's all about how many patients they can see in how little time. I don't remember going to the doctor and actually getting a real physical like somebody actually touching me and making sure my ribs or my lungs are working well. None of that. All they do is sit on the computer, ask you questions and punch in answers.
I don't know, it's a kind of a scary time in terms of that for me. I've seen a lot of it. I've worked in every department from radiology to oncology. I've seen the different ends of the spectrum. I used to fight for patients that had pre-existing conditions because of their cancer. I saw how insurance companies would not want to pay for their services. I’ve seen how doctors would no longer be able to float certain charges because the drugs were astronomical in price. Some of these drugs are costing like $30,000 a pop just for one shot. It's a lot. Hopefully we can get to a better place with that but right now it's all about the business. It's become corporate.
Validated: Would you say that you would change the business model?
Omarr A. Salgado: I would try to get more back to the personal touch. Back to treating people like people and not like cattle. They are treating them like cattle right now. You got to treat people like people. I would definitely try to change the model in that respect. Technology is a good thing but technology also changes the dynamic of how things work.
Validated: On the mental health side of things I know for me my last two years with my therapist have been amazing. It's opened up so many new doors for me and so many different ways to just deal with everyday life.
Omarr A. Salgado: Salute to you for doing that my brother because a lot of us don't do it. I see a therapist which for me is maintenance and it helps me put things in perspective.
Validated: Exactly. It's definitely maintenance and it's worked wonders for me. I'm all for it. If we can get more brothers in that space to be able to open up even if it's just the one person that they can open up to where they can dump their stuff and they can learn how to maintain it and keep moving forward then that's a positive impact. I'm all for that. Anything else that you want to tell the people that we haven't covered? Anything you got coming up? What people should be looking out for outside of the projects that you're working on. Anything like that?
Omarr A. Salgado: I have a lot of other relationships. I work with a lot of other different networks. I'm on the phone with a lot of CEOs just talking to them about different things. I've become sort of the go-to guy when it comes to connecting the dots with certain things. I've been blessed. I can't lie. I've been blessed in this situation to be even able to do that. I got some big things coming that's going to look good. One thing I could talk about is Bottle Girls, the movie that's going to drop probably in another week or so. That's going to be a good look. I'm excited about that. My son has taken on the legacy of music and he's now doing music. He'll be doing a venture with In The Black. It's In The Black Network which is James DuBose's Network and it's going to be In The Black Music. He just did a show in Atlanta at the City Winery with one of his artists named Joshua Guns and they’re getting ready to do a song together. I'm excited about that too.
Validated: When it's all over man, when it's all said and done and you leave your legacy behind, what kind of mark do you want to leave, and how do you want to be remembered?
Omarr A. Salgado: I want to be remembered as somebody who was transparent and honest. That's it man, just transparent and honest.
Validated: That says it all. The final question man, I ask everybody this because for a lot of us and for the majority of us everything started with Hip-Hop. What does Hip-Hop mean to you?
Omarr A. Salgado: Hip-Hop means community. It means culture. It means the beginning for me. It was the beginning. At the beginning it opened me up to everything that I'm currently doing right now.
Validated: Yes. When you said Mr. Magic, I thought the same thing because I'm a little bit older than you so for me it was WHBI with Mr. Magic.
Omarr A. Salgado: I remember that. I do remember that. I appreciate you my brother. Thank you so much man. Salute to you and everything that you’re doing too.
Validated: No doubt. All right, peace.
Omarr A. Salgado: Peace.