Costa Rican Hernan Jimenez is someone that dared to dream big, and has managed to build a name and a reputation in a field where not many “ticos” have ventured.

Here in Costa Rica when someone mentions wanting to be an artist he/she will face the usual negativity, with comments such as: “you are going to starve”, “you’ll never make it”, “you can’t make a living in this country doing that” or “no, seriously, what are you going to do with your life?”

Hernan Jimenez was born in 1980 in San Jose, and left the country at the early age of 16 to attend Pearson College UWC in British Columbia, Canada. He went on to study screenwriting and directing at Columbia University in New York, studied film a the San Francisco Art Institute and trained to be an actor at the National Theatre School of Canada.

He is best known in Costa Rica as a stand-up comedian, one that sells out each and every one of his shows just minutes after he announces a new date on Facebook. He has released three stand-up comedy specials which he offers online though VIMEO.

He wrote, directed and produced his first film in 2010 “Eyes Closed”. In 2012 he funded his second film “The Return”, raising almost $60,000 USD on Kickstarter for post-production, aside from writing and directing the movie he was also part of the cast.

He starred in the film “Viaje” (Journey) in 2015; and his most recent and successful film was released in 2016 “Entonces Nosotros” (About Us) (Watch the video at the end of the article); Jimenez was the writer, director, editor and played the main character “Diego”, the movie was well received by the Costa Rican audience and was selected to be the country’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 89th Academy Awards.

Probably what his fans love about him is his simple and down to earth approach in everything he does, “I have managed to build an audience here (Costa Rica), and it’s a very loyal audience. And it’s such a small country that it can be a very dangerous and easy trap to fall into to suddenly start believing that your work is at a certain level of accomplishment. I think it’s always healthy and sobering to get off a plane in LA and be a nobody once again”, said Hernan to writer Manuel Betancourt of Remezcla online magazine.

Jimenez continues to open doors and pave the way for young Costa Ricans who want to venture into the entertainment industry. When asked about the growth of the film industry in Costa Rica Hernan states “I think there’s factual evidence to support that feeling that it’s growing. They don’t discredit local work as easily and as quickly as they used to. There’s some actual institutional support that has become a lot more palpable in the last few years. The work doesn’t feel as isolated as it used to”.

This talented artist is just at the beginning of his career, and has a lot more to give, but he’s already given his most important contribution to the entertainment industry in Costa Rica, by proving it is possible to be successful and recognized as an entertainer in this country. His audience is expectant and waiting to see what Hernan Jimenez has to offer in 2017.