Brownsville rocker finds knack for screenwriting

Hometown Hollywood: Profiling Valley natives who are making waves in the film industry

Name: Rick Del Castillo

Hometown: Brownsville

Where he lives now: Austin

A full-time member and namesake of popular rock group Del Castillo, Rick Del Castillo got into movie-making with his short film Killing Snakes, co-written with friend Martina Amende. The flick has been a hit at festivals around the country. It won the gold award for Best Score at the Park City Film Music Festival, it was an official selection for Cannes 2007, and took Best Short at the McAllen Film Festival,

Current projects: His band has been touring extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada and have shot live footage for an upcoming DVD/CD. They played Brownsville on Nov. 1.

You've seen him: touring with his band, Del Castillo, and in the film Killing Snakes. He also made a guest appearance on The George Lopez Show in 2005 as a member of Robert Rodriguez's band.

Future projects: a live orchestral performance as guitar soloist with the Santa Fe Symphony for the score of his film Killing Snakes along with other film composers in the works for 2009.

Musician he'd like to work with: Jose Feliciano

What you might not know: His band has songs on the soundtracks for Once Upon a Time in Mexico and Kill Bill Vo. 2. They even played at the red carpet premier of Kill Bill Vol. 2. He also composed the music for Killing Snakes.

Three favorite movies The Godfather, Somewhere in Time, When Harry Met Sally

Three musicians you admire The Beatles /Paul McCartney, Freddie Mercury, Stevie Ray Vaughn

Behind the scenes: While playing at an Cartier-sponsored after-party in Geneva, Switzerland, some models claimed to know who they were, then made requests for Bon Jovi songs.

This week we profiled Rick Del Castillo, check out some other parts of the Hometown Hollywoods series:

• Valley playwright is hot in Chicago
• Valley guy shared scene with strippers, Doogie Hauser
• McHi grad studies with Philip Seymour Hoffman
• San Juan native now calls Hollywood home
• Meet a Pharr native who's a writer, actor, director and producer
• Valleyite learns from acting vets in L.A.
• Brownsville drummer tours with big names
• She's commercial
• Makeup artist makes up the likes of Master P, more
• Edinburg North grad does Matrix-style stuntwork