RICHMOND HILL – In Richmond Hill, “new” is the name of the game. The south Bryan city has new schools, new townhomes, new businesses, and new (read: more) cars on the road to take us to them. It’s no surprise that people from all walks of life want to put down roots here, searching for a piece of the American Dream in one of Georgia’s fastest-growing counties.
Cesar Perez and his family were no different. The 33-year-old film producer, who now lives in Atlanta, was born in El Salvador and grew up here in Richmond Hill, back when “growth” wasn’t a county-wide buzzword yet.
“I used to live all the way down [GA SR] 144, up on Kilkenny Road,” Perez said. “There were really not many people down there. It literally took a while to get to school, just because it was very out there.”
This memory is a far cry from today’s bustling Richmond Hill, and even further removed from Perez’s life today, where he continues to thrive working in film and media despite suffering a severe car accident in 2018 that nearly killed him. His self-produced documentary, “Chase the Light,” details his path to recovery and is currently doing the film circuit, having been recently submitted to this year’s SCAD Film Festival.
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The youngest of three, Perez lived a fairly typical suburban life, attending local schools, hanging out with friends, and doing his share of extracurriculars, from soccer practice to band and orchestra and even taking American Sign Language classes. He was one of the Richmond Hill High School’s soccer captains as an upperclassman and was made prom king his senior year.
His parents Roland and Nuria, who left El Salvador following the country’s civil war, wanted their children–Alicia, Carolina, and Cesar–to achieve all they could with the opportunities to be had here in the States.
“When we came to the U.S., my mom was just grabbing a hold of every opportunity,” Perez said.
His mom, a homemaker, would even clean houses on the weekends to help pay for enrichment activities.
“My dad was always working, and he would always play soccer with us if he had a chance,” Perez said. “He was always working, and my mom was helping us progress in our education and learning new things. Our days were busy after classes, and we kinda hated it at first! But honestly, I can’t thank her enough for doing it, because it gave me everything I know now.”
Bucking the stereotypes of immigrant families, Perez said his parents were undaunted when he chose to study Multimedia and Communications at Georgia Southern University, where he enrolled as a ‘1906’ scholar with the Honors College, covering the full cost of tuition.
“I was the first person in my family to receive a full-ride, [to university], so it opened up many doors for me,” Perez said.
After stints working with Savannah’s WTOC and the Davenport House, Perez dove straight into the world of filmmaking after graduation, working with big names like Daniel Radcliffe and Clint Eastwood on films “Beast of Burden” and “The 15:17 to Paris.”. Living in Atlanta, he took on a position with Cox Media in the midst of Georgia’s 2010s film boom, even featuring “in several films” himself as an actor.
“My career was taking off both as a professional and then as an actor,” said Perez, whose road to success looked refreshingly straightforward for such an affable young man from an ordinary background.
But then the accident happened, which changed Perez’s life forever.
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In early 2018, Perez was set for an audition for “Venom,” the Marvel film starring Tom Hardy, when tragedy struck. He was traveling home to Richmond Hill to see his family and visit his then-girlfriend and, while driving along 1-16, a truck driver hit him and his car head-on, going 76 miles per hour. A second vehicle, a semi-truck, hit him shortly after, also going over 70 miles per hour.
“That’s where my [old] life kind of ended, and my new life began shortly after that,” Perez said.
The accident left him with severe traumatic brain injury, as well as a brachial plexus injury, where the right side of his body was paralyzed for several months. His mouth was wired shut for several months as well, so he couldn’t even talk through his experiences. Doctors reported that Perez coded on scene several times, he said, amounting to a near-death state.
He was airlifted to Dublin’s Fairview Hospital before being transferred to Macon and eventually Shepherd’s Hospital in Atlanta to start his road to recovery. It was then, between endless rounds of operations and physical therapy, that Perez decided that he wanted to do something bigger with this setback.
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Perez’s documentary, “Chase the Light,” details his recovery from the accident to today. The documentary features footage and interviews on Perez’s journey, with clips of family, friends and colleagues.
“I started on this journey to try and tell my story [and] help others going through their darkest moment realize that there is a chance, you know, to smile again,” Perez said. “That there is a chance to live a beautiful life despite your trauma and scars.”
Owing to his media background, Perez set off to film, edit, and direct his documentary himself.
“After my accident, I realized I had a once-in-a-lifetime kind of story: who better to tell it right than me, and thankfully I was able to do it because of all my knowledge and everything I've already accomplished,” Perez said.
He did everything from photography to video editing to animation and music composition by himself. (A sound engineer was on hand to help with audio mixing, however).
But Perez did of course also rely on his parents and older sisters behind the scenes.
“This documentary, [I said] I only would like to do it by myself. But if anyone should help me, it should be my family,” Perez said. “And so my mom and my dad were my gaffers, were my PAs. When I needed to shoot or interview somebody, they were doing the lights. So it's literally like a family project. Even though they were helping me, right? But they were my crew.”
And his documentary has also been adapted to print as a book with the help of Lioncrest Publishing, the publishing house behind Navy SEAL David Goggins’ bestselling autobiography “Can’t Hurt Me”.
In fact, the film poster for Perez’s documentary comes from the book adaptation, which Perez said became a hit on Amazon following its release in 2022.
“And now with this documentary, once it's either distributed or or if I put it out, you know, it's just gonna make the book even more relevant,” Perez said.
“Chase the Light” has since been submitted to the SCAD Film Festival in time for awards season, and Perez is eagerly awaiting to see if the documentary picks up any recognition.
He also does speaking engagements at various schools and colleges, where he shares his story and message of hope to others who may be going through similar excruciating challenges.
“When I published the memoir, it was with that in mind, you know, to help other people going through their life-altering situations, and [help them] realize that there is still a reason to hold on for one more day,” Perez said.
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In many ways, Perez’s documentary is a labor of love to all those that have stayed by his side through his recovery, particularly his family and friends in Bryan County. He cites the love and support he received from his friends in Richmond Hill and beyond.
“Every now and again I get on my phone, and once I was able to start moving my hand a bit, I would get on my phone and see all the messages that people reached out,” he said. “You know, people from different places, from Richmond Hill, from Savannah, from Statesboro, from Atlanta. Everybody was reaching out.”
“Once my sister started the GoFundMe, the people from the Davenport House, the people from WTOC aired it, and people started donating and trying to reach out. You know, trying to help me and my family.
“It was definitely a hard time. But all the people and everybody who kept tabs on me and said all their prayers, you know, people donating financially helped me and my family a lot, which is why you know I thanked them at the end of the documentary, and I thank everybody who was a part of it.”
Cesar Perez's memoir, "Chase the Light: The Gruesome Art of Becoming Unbreakable" is available for purchase at Amazon.com and other retailers.
Andrea Gutierrez is the managing editor of the Bryan County News.
