Villarreal’s film “Good Enough” wins Emmy award

Armando and Lora Villarreal were awarded the 2023 Rocky Mountain Emmy in Human Interest Long Form Content along with videographer and editor Gregory Grosse.
“Good Enough” is a documentary that Villarreall and Grosse produced together.
This video reveals the behind the scenes of Villarreal making the “22 Forever” helmet for the University of Utah football team.
He uses the phrase “good enough” as a way to describe his work on the helmets along with other artwork.
The helmets were made in honor of players Aaron Lowe and Ty Jordan who lost their lives in gun-related casualties.
This is now the second time Villarreal has been nominated for an Emmy Award.
Not only was he the recipient in 2023, he was also invited to watch the players wear his helmets live.
He and his family were presented in the stadium and were recognized for their work.
Villarreal continuously attributes his successes to his wife, Lora Villarreal.
“Armando Villarreal Studios is definitely Lora and myself, it’s not just me. I would be nowhere near as successful without her,” he said.
He expresses the importance of having his whole family included in his projects.
Like his wife, Villarreal’s children also lend a hand to make the process faster and learn more about their father’s passion.
Before starting his helmet painting journey, Villarreal lived in California working for a sports art company.
After the birth of his second child, he and his wife decided to move back home to Imperial.
Consequently, Villarreal decided it was time to step away from art in 2016.
At the time, he was uncertain if that would be his last time working as a full-time artist.
During this break, he worked as a public works employee of the City of Imperial.
Villarreal vividly remembers the life changing moment when he was asked to start painting football helmets as he was on the back of a garbage truck in 2018.
An old acquaintance from Schutt Sports reached out to him offering an opportunity to paint 212 helmets for the Mississippi State football team.
Being the first time he had done this, the experience was something completely different from anything he had done before.
“We didn’t know what we were doing, I had never done production work before, and the paint was different to what I was used to using,” he said.
The following year Villarreal displayed his art on football helmets for three different teams.
Year after year more teams reached out seeking to have his artwork on their helmets.
In 2022, Villarreal painted helmets for BYU, Maryland, Utah, and Tennessee.
This was the time he decided it was time to become a full-time artist again.
“I was working for the City on the trash truck when this next chapter started,” Villarreal said.
He described this new chapter in his art as “reinvented.”
“I believe when you become content with what you do, you don’t get any better. So I’m always hungry for the next thing,” Villarreal said.
Villarreal continues to spend days and nights working vigorously on his art while trying to meet deadlines.
He does all of this with hopes of being at least “good enough.”