Black Gold On Silver Screen: An On The Porch Exclusive With Filmmaker Rickey Bird Jr.
Rickey Bird Jr. works the rigs by day and calls “action” by night — and his new documentary is making Kern County’s case to the world.
Published on March 5, 2026 | Featured Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
Rickey Bird Jr. is a third-generation oilfield worker, a grindhouse filmmaker, a Bakersfield lifer, and the kind of person who will tell you in the same breath that he loves A24 horror and The Golden Girls.
Bird Jr. turned 43 the day we sat down together—two days after the fourth anniversary of losing his father—and he spoke about all of it with an openness that could only come from a man who turned personal tragedy into purpose. Here, we will explore Bird Jr.’s journey and how he finally brought his two worlds together so others could understand what is quietly happening to our local Kern County community.
His new documentary, Kern Oil, just premiered in Bakersfield to nearly 1,000 people. It is, as Bird Jr. will be quick to tell you, not a political film. It is something more personal than that.
Born Here. Built Here.
The award-winning Naked Zombie Girl writer and director grew up in Bakersfield, attended West High, and has spent most of his adult life here. He became a father at 17, earned his GED, and went to work. The oil fields were the family trade.
“My dad had worked in the oil fields and had a lot of success there. I really didn’t want to work in the oil fields because it was hard work. But I feel like it was kind of what made me become a man out there—being yelled at, being in really dangerous conditions. It’s like boot camp,” Bird Jr. says.
His son, now 25 and serving in the Navy, was the reason he made it work. Bird Jr. started as a roughneck and eventually became a mud engineer on a drilling rig, working a schedule that—though he didn’t plan it that way—turned out to be ideal for a filmmaker: seven days on, seven days off.
“I feel like every job should be like that—7 days on, 7 days off.”
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
When Filmmaking Started
The filmmaking started, as it often does, with noticing something and thinking: I could do that. Around 2002, Bird Jr. auditioned for a local independent film and found himself watching two older guys with one camera and some lights.
“I was like—man—I could do this. So I asked if I could use their camera. I borrowed it for at least a year and we were filming all kinds of stuff,” Bird Jr. says.
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
That borrowed camera led to commercials—including several years shooting with Hulk Hogan (See Bird Jr.’s tribute to Hulk here)—and eventually to a clear vision of what he actually wanted: movies. His production company, Hectic Films, has been making grindhouse-influenced, independent genre films out of Bakersfield ever since.
He loves to shoot local, and has shot a film at Pyrenees Cafe before the renovation, bringing Los Angeles film folks here in Kern County to shoot.
“Horror is so fun to shoot, and there’s so much more you can say in a horror film because the audience is usually movie lovers, and they don’t care what you say. Even like Night of the Living Dead—first Black lead in that. You could do a lot more in horror than you could do in regular genres.”
Night of the Living Dead, directed by George Romero, written by John Russo, and released in 1968, is widely recognized for casting Duane Jones as its lead—a landmark moment in American cinema. Bird Jr. sees that legacy as proof of what the genre has always made possible. He already has two horror scripts waiting for him on the other side of his Kern Oil documentary.
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
When the Fields Went Quiet
In 2022, the oil industry in California hit a severe downturn. Work dried up across Kern County because of regulatory pressure and permit restrictions that ended up driving our Kern locals out of state to support their families. Some of those that were forced to move were third generation Kern County oil families who never intended to leave.
Tragedy hit many, including Bird Jr.’s family. His father lost his life to suicide.
“He was one of many that I know that have taken their life, or went to prison, or gotten into a lot of trouble, because they just don’t have any work.”
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
That loss—two days before his birthday—ultimately led to the creation of the Kern Oil documentary. Bird Jr. had always kept his two worlds separate. Some in the oil fields didn’t quite understand the filmmaking path, and the film world didn’t always get why he worked in the oil industry. This documentary was the first time he let those two lives touch.
“When my dad took his life, I just felt like I needed to combine the two that I’ve always kept separated for over 20 years,” Bird Jr. says.
“I needed to do something. Normally I don’t like doing documentaries. But I just wanted to do something that helped people understand how important this is to our community.”
He turned down funding. He did not want anyone telling him what he could or couldn’t do, and he didn’t want the film to read as a PR piece for big oil. It was funded entirely out of pocket, built grassroots, over more than two years.
“I would have liked to have a $2,000,000 budget. I could have done a lot more, showed a lot more. But I think for what it is now, it tells a story and informs people. And I’m proud of it.”
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
Why Local Oil Matters
Kern Oil moves through the subject in chapters—the history of oil in Kern County, how a well is drilled, the permitting process, and the human cost of overregulation. Bird Jr. interviews people from the highest levels of the industry down to the workers in the field. He also takes on the math that most people haven’t seen laid out plainly.
“California uses 1,800,000 barrels a day—just in refining. That’s not counting the computer monitors, our phones, our clothes, glasses, all these things. We did a visual—the Rose Bowl filled to the top with oil, then refilled every single day. That’s how much oil just California uses,” Bird Jr. says.
His argument is that California is still using it, yet instead of supporting our local Kern oil industry, we are importing it. He points to a recent pipeline explosion in Ecuador, where oil is cutting through the rainforest under no meaningful regulation.
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
“We do it here, we do it clean. We have environmental regulations [and] we do it right. Right now we’re importing oil from Ecuador [among other countries], where they’re cutting down the rainforest. They have no regulations. Oil is going into the rainforests, into communities there.”
During the interview, Bird Jr. made it clear he is not asking people to become pro oil. He is asking them to understand what they are already using, where it comes from when it doesn’t come from here, and who loses their livelihood in the gap between rhetoric and reality.
“I don’t think anybody’s going to be like, ‘oh, I’m pro-oil’ after they watch it. But hopefully they won’t vote for legislation that puts [us] out of work when we’re still using it.”
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
Kern Oil Movie And What’s Ahead
Kern Oil held its Bakersfield premiere on February 27th at the Historic Bakersfield Fox Theater (See photos of the event here). Additional screenings are in the works. Taft has a screening set for April 25th and Bird Jr. is aiming for one in Sacramento—near the Governor’s office. Once the tour is over, the film will be available for streaming. Updates can be found at kernoilmovie.com.
After the tour wraps, Bird Jr. plans to shoot a short horror vertical, then move into a larger feature. He does casting calls and welcomes local actors and crew members through hecticfilms.com and his Facebook page.
He also wrote Cheap Movie Tricks, available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble, for anyone who wants to start making their own films.
“I always want people that want to act, people that are taking it seriously, crew members to help out on set. I’m always open. And I think that’s how you get your feet wet.”
Bird Jr. loves working with Kern County locals and has and continues to work with local students that are interested in the film industry.
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
Keep It Local, Keep It Human
Rickey Bird Jr. wants Kern County to thrive. He wants his friends and family to keep their jobs and their homes.
He made a documentary because a borrowed camera taught him, 20-some years ago, that film is how you make people feel something they wouldn’t have felt otherwise.
“I just want people to know this movie is not a political movement. I’m not a Democrat or Republican. I’m just a guy that works in the oil fields and makes movies and wants to entertain,” Bird Jr. says.
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
“I’m not trying to be an apologist for big oil. I just want people to know we use it. It affects our community greatly. And I want Kern County to thrive. If we’re going to use it, we should get it here locally. And, you know, we’re going to put our people to work—the oil companies, the oil leases and all this stuff, it helps our community through and through. Tax revenue, all those things.”
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
Quick Q&A With Rickey Bird Jr.
What do you love about Kern?
“The people here are just awesome. I think we have hospitality like no other. We have great restaurants that nobody else has. I love that it’s like a big small town. And I’m hoping we don’t lose that with the influx of people coming into the community.”
Where do you eat local?
“I love Pyrenees. I like Frugatti’s, so I’ll go back and forth to them. I like Luigi’s. Milt’s Diner—I eat at Milt’s probably once a week. We’ve been going there for 20-plus years.”
When you need to get out of town, where do you go?
“I like to go to Hollywood, I’ll go to Universal—I like to go see things where they’re getting filmed. And then Paso. But that’s another good thing about Bakersfield—we’re so close to the beach, we’re so close to L.A. I like to visit, look at the buildings, see things, check it out, and then we come back and really have nice spaces to breathe.”
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
Reel Talk with Rickey Bird Jr.
Rickey Bird Jr. is, at his core, a movie lover. He doesn’t watch sports. He goes to Universal to watch things being filmed. He is a paid A24 member who gets a birthday present from them every year. And the director who cracked it all open for him was Robert Rodriguez.
“Robert Rodriguez shot El Mariachi for seven grand on film. That’s basically for nothing. And I think there’s something to be said about every director—I love Hitchcock and Kubrick and all these different elements—but Robert Rodriguez was the one that I was like, ‘hey, I could do this.’”
So much so that when Rodriguez launched a crowdfunding investment opportunity that included a trip to his Austin-based Troublemaker Studios, Bird Jr. was all in—and this month, that bucket list item becomes a reality.
Photo Courtesy of Hectic Films
If one of Bird Jr.’s films makes it big, he’s got a plan.
“I watch a lot of The Golden Girls, which is really random. I love The Golden Girls. I always have The Golden Girls on. People make fun of me. If one of these movies hits, I will go back and I will spend the money on AI and make my deck—because I wish they would have shot The Golden Girls on film. Because when you shoot it on film, you can make it 4K. But if you shoot it digitally, you’re screwed.”
Want to learn more about the Kern Oil documentary? Check out the trailer below.
