South Texan wrote music in Will Smith's new flick

Festiva's "Hometown Hollywood" profiles track down the big names that have emerged from the Rio Grande Valley, as well as the rising stars who are bound to make us proud in the future.

Rick Garcia couldn't believe it as the sound started coming out of his television's speakers. His song was being played on the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The arrangements had been made for it to be featured, but it hadn't struck him how big a deal it was until he heard it for himself.

"It played for about three minutes, which is an eternity of air time," he said. 

In three minutes, the San Diego, Texas native's life changed.

"The response, from the U.K. (United Kingdom) to Europe to Latin America to Russia, people were responding to us and sending us e-mails," he said. "That introduced me to the impact songs could have on TV and movies."

Since then, his songs have been featured in some major Hollywood films. In fact, his song, "Así Sera," can be heard in the Will Smith movie Seven Pounds, which comes out today. Garcia left a tiny Texas town to play in a band in Austin before taking his dream to Los Angeles. Now he's found his musical success making songs that most might not notice until they absent-mindedly hum them as they walk out of a theater. And he's OK with that - in fact, he's really proud about it. He's made an impact in an industry where it's hard to get listened to.

Name: Rick Garcia

Hometown: San Diego, Texas

Job: Film/TV composer

Age: 46

Where he lives now: Los Angeles

Past projects: His songs have appeared in the T.V. version of Buffy the Vampire, Saving Silverman, Collateral, Brokeback Mountain, Hancock and Seven Pounds.

Other projects: Plays in a band called The Green Car Motel with creative partner Rene Reyes

Catch his music in: The Will Smith movie Seven Pounds. He's also working on an independent film with Valley native and The George Lopez Show co-star Valente Rodriguez, whom he met in L.A.

Online www.myspace.com/thegreencarmotel

What I miss about South Texas... The people. "They're warm, friendly, genuine and hospitable," he said. "It's very hard thing to come by and it's in abundance down there."

Valley ties... Garcia has cousins in Brownsville and used to visit extended family in Mission a few times a year

He really wants to: start a mentorship program for students. In L.A., he worked with Seinfield alum Jason Alexander's program for inner city kids and said he's been wanting to talk to Valente Rodriguez about starting one in South Texas that would bring "extraordinary guests" to talk to the kids and host symposiums. "I'm really hoping to talk to Valente about creating that in the Valley," he said.

What's the difference between writing music for T.V. and movies and general music writing? "I think when writing songs you can write from the place you are at the moment. You can write whatever style you want," he said. "When writing for a movie, you're under the umbrellas of the tone of the film. It's the director's vision and no longer your own."

Three favorite composers: Alberto Iglesias (Kite Runner), Danny Elfman (Edward Scissorhands) and Harry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia)

Behind the scenes: While working as a music consultant for The Good Shepherd, he used to spend hours at a time with the movie's director, Robert De Niro, while the actor was working on Meet the Fockers. Because it was a film set in a specific period, Garcia was charged with choosing appropriate music. But his professional gig didn't stop him from being star struck, and he was generally awed with the experience. "Just riding around the Universal (Studio's) lot in a golf cart, sitting in Robert De Niro's trailer, knowing that Barbara Streisand, Dustin Hoffman and Ben Stiller were right next to you, it was surreal, let me tell you."

Click the links below to read more Hometown Hollywood profiles.

* VERONICA LOREN: A McAllen actress and singer who's sweeping 2008's indie awards
* LIZ RAMOS: A McAllen dancer who taught Brad Pitt to tango
* ERIC HAHN: A clown at the Nolana IHOP who did stuntwork in 'Platoon,' 'Delta Force'
* MANDO ALVARADO: San Juan actor shared scene with strippers, Doogie Hauser
* RICK DEL CASTILLO: A Brownsville rocker who found a knack for screenwriting
* RAUL CASTILLO: A McHi grad who has acted and studied with Philip Seymour Hoffman
* TANYA SARACHO: A Valley playwright who is hot in Chicago
* DAVID BARRERA: A San Juan native who was in an NYPD Blue episode everybody saw
* MICHAEL RAY ESCAMILLA: A writer, actor, director and producer from Pharr
* MARISA QUINTANILLA: A McAllen Memorial grad who was in Road House 2
* FAUSTO CUEVAS: A Brownsville drummer who has toured with Britney Spears and Stevie Wonder
* GABRIEL PENA: An Edinburg North grad who does Matrix-style stuntwork