Patrick James: Englishman in G-Town

Since he was a young boy, Patrick James has been fascinated with All Things America. He got here as soon as he could and the move to Galveston, he said, was the proverbial icing on the cake. He shares his story with us!

Humans of Galveston: What’s your story, Patrick?

Patrick: I’ve lived in America about ten years. I have family in The Woodlands, which brought me to Texas. I bought a house here (Galveston), thinking I was going to remodel it and sell it. Then I started remodeling it and realized I really like it here. After two or three weeks I realized that I really love Galveston and I never sold it. That was six years ago and I’ve stayed here.

Humans of Galveston: Tell me about your life...

Patrick: When I wasn’t doing houses, I decided to turn my hobby into my business. My hobby was shooting short films, so I used to shoot horror short films and enter them into competition. I entered SplatterFest a few times.

When we first came to Galveston we shot one here. Then I shot documentaries. I won Best Documentary at the Gulf Coast Film Festival for my film, “Help Save Jack” in 2013. It’s about a dog that was on death row in upstate new York. In the end the dog went back to live with its owner so the outcome was successful.

Those sort of films don’t pay any money so I decided to become a wedding videographer. I’ve been shooting weddings for a few years, and recently shot one at the Hotel Galvez. My company is SirPatrickPictures.com.

Humans of Galveston: How are your wedding videos different from the norm?

Patrick: I sit the couple down and I ask them how they met. Did they meet in a bar or a restaurant or online? What is it about this person that they find so attractive? So I build up their love story. I’ve been doing this for years so I’ve gotten really good at it. You look at my work and it’s really good.

The down side of shooting wedding videography is it’s a lot of editing. It takes me about 10 to 20 hours to edit a wedding video. I found that I was stuck in my office editing the wedding videos, and I kind of missed company. So I thought, Uber driving.

About a year ago I started Uber driving just to get out and chat with people. It saves money from going down to the park and doing it (socializing) and there’s no hangover. So then I hit upon this idea of actually asking the couples that get in the Uber about how they met, and the same questions, because that was the most fun of shooting a wedding video. Especially like here on the island with the cruise ships. We get loads of couples here. So I got a dash cam for the car in early March and I have got mountains of footage.

Humans of Galveston: Does the couple know that you’re filming them?

Patrick: I absolutely 100 percent let them know. You can see the videos on my new YouTube channel - Uber Love Stories.

Humans of Galveston: If you could look into a crystal ball, would you ever think you’d end up where you are now?

Patrick: I’ve always loved America. When I was a little kid growing up in England I was fascinated and loved everything about America. Evil Knievel was my hero. I loved to watch “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “Charlie’s Angels.” When you were a little kid growing up in a village in England, America was a million miles away.

Humans of Galveston: What was it like when you landed? Was it different than what you thought?

Patrick: Yes. I first came to Texas in 1989 for a holiday. It’s just so big. Everywhere is just so big, and in England everything is little. The roads are really little. It’s difficult to put it in perspective and it takes a while to adjust.

I was a bit disappointed by the women when I first came. Only because I’ve been watching “Dallas” and “Dynasty” and I thought every single woman was like that in America. Because they’re the only ones you see on TV. But it’s all good. It is what it is. (laughs).

Humans of Galveston: What do you want the world to know?

Patrick: I’m vegan and have been vegan 20 years. And I also run the Galveston Vegan Social Group – Galveston Vegans on Facebook. We have a meet-up once a month at the Hart Gallery on Postoffice. I’d be great if more people would come out. We have a potluck every month and there’s an acoustic jam where people can bring their guitars. And that makes the world a better place because I want people to be healthier and I don’t like the unkind animal farming industry.

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Published by Bobby Stanton