PGA Diversity Workshop
2020 has been a tough year so far. But I did receive some good news. I’ll be part of the 2020 Producers Guild of America Power of Diversity Master Workshop!
I’m very thankful for Elesha Barnette. We met at the 2011 UCLA Professional Program in Producing. She’s not only a producer, but also a wonderful writer, director, production designer – I’ve seen her in action on the “Last Life” series and she is amazing! http://eleshabarnette.com . Then she sent her feature script to me – “The International Sweethearts of Rhythm” a story inspired by the lives of the all girl swing band that performed from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. I fell in love with her script.
And I couldn’t stop researching more and more about the lives of the real women. I can’t believe I’ve never heard of them before. They broke box office records and played opposite jazz greats, even though they had so much against them (they came from a poor economic background, were women, majority women of color, in a segregated time). Their story must be told!
I’m also thankful to Patriot Pictures for financing diverse, inclusive, untold stories and supporting females and people of color.
Thank you Producers Guild of America and the Diversity Mentor Team! I can’t wait to learn more from you over the next few months and get this story on screen to audiences!!!
More about the program: https://www.producersguild.org/page/pga_diversity?
ELECTION NIGHT has been selected by extraordinary festivals around the world and has won awards, which include: Cannes Film Festival Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the American Pavilion, DC ShortsFest, Florida Film Festival, Hollyshorts, International Festival of Women – Jakarta (Award of Excellence), Los Angeles Comedy Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, Seattle ShortsFest, Toronto Inside Out, USA Film Festival (Special Jury Award).
s a great way for the community to help artists. I’ve used kickstarter and indiegogo on other projects and it is usually months of hard work. But this is the first time that I worked on a project that reached its goal and even more – $20,000 – within ONE (1) week!
Odessa is many things, a western, an apocalyptic near future sci-fi, a road story, a chase film, and ultimately a family drama. I embraced the many things it was and melded the choices. Some moments intentionally harkens epic cinema, other moments have a far grittier documentary inspired approach. The choices were intended to bring the best out of scenarios, framing the dusty West Texan landscapes in an visually impactful way, while lending a more on the fly approach to acting moments with the purpose of enhancing realism and believability.
ng with that story world. I had no idea where the script would go or who the characters were, just a goal and an obstacle to it. The result was nothing like what I’d thought it would be. I started off writing an action script, but by the time I reached Fade Out, I’d written a drama. Our very sharp producer Grace Santos read the script and opened my eyes to the fact that the post-apocalyptic world of Odessa was the ideal context for a series of overlapping vignettes, and we’re hard at work developing those stories now.
We’re missing the point. The answers don’t lie in border security. The answers lie in understanding the economics [that drive migration.]”. Most of my past projects have touched on a political or social issue. I’m drawn to those issues – I studied religious studies and law even though I was already a member of AEA and SAG. I also named my production company Ethos because “character” means more than just an individual, but is also used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology. I look for character driven works and also works that analyze how relationships between characters mime society and society’s ideas.
Furthermore, the way Doug set up the story-world generates endless possibilities for the development of more characters and dramatic storylines. So I am “forcing” Doug to continue to work with me to develop “Odessa” into a bigger work. In summary, the script hit so many of my sides and goals: compelling story, great characters, foundation for a series, personal acting goals, my socio-political side, beauty, and so much! I can’t believe I convinced Doug to work with me!
c role in final scene of the film / first episode.
Sean their acting reels and Sean said they are absolutely perfect for the roles. I feel really blessed that Ricky and Will took the time to fly into Texas for this project when they definitely do not need to add to their credits or acting reels. They are very talented and giving people. I cannot say enough about them. I met Anthony Escobar (Prison Break) through the El Paso Film Commission. He was accidentally listed as an Assistant Director instead of an actor and I am happy for the mistake. He knows everything about El Paso filmmaking (the local actors, crew, locations) and was so giving without asking for anything in return. When I did internet research on him (yes, it appears that I perform a google search on everyone prior to doing business with them), I came across his acting reel. He is talented so I a
sked Doug to write a role for him. We met Manny Rubio and Isa Rubio through Anthony. Our original cast member for the role of Elias booked a bigger project so could no longer work on “Odessa”. Manny was already working with us and when the casting issue happened at the last minute, we were more than happy to find out that Manny had the cutest actress daughter and it worked perfectly to change the role of the son into a daughter.
El Paso. I knew some people in other cities but didn’t realize that Austin was 8 hours away and Dallas was 12 hours away – gosh Texas is a large state! I first did some internet research to try to find a local El Paso production company that would like to co-produce the film with my company. When that fell through, I posted ads on the Texas Film Commission website and Craig’s List in El Paso, TX and Las Cruces, NM, and I started calling people in the directory of the El Paso Film Commission.
in which they had to move around from city to city. I joke around that I hired Stephen because I saw Keith Urban on his website.
locals for these roles and I have worked on more than one project with Stefon and Eric and know their work ethic so I felt more secure having them on the team.
Photographer) and Jamie Medrano (our 1st Assistant Camera). They are so professional! And check out their websites to see their talent!
did not have anyone listed in El Paso. Thank goodness for google. Susie is based in Las Cruces NM, which is just an hour away. It was important to find someone local because we were very low budget and shipping horses would have been expensive. Yet we also couldn’t just rent a horse from a local ranch – we had to make sure they were trained for filming. Safety first! Susie, her assistants, and her horses are so professional, and I would recommend Susie to anyone. I don’t know if Susie was thinking ahead or if it was just part of the movie making magic, but one of her assistants, Laura Mandell (an award winning horse riding competition gal) is exactly my size and we had the same hair length. There was a narrow section on a cliff and Susie strongly argued against me riding the horse there. It was easily handled with Laura becoming my double. Also, Susie always provided creative input to Sean and Doug by letting them know how she thinks a horse would react in certain places of the script.
ground, etc.
chicken shit and making chicken salad”. It is an amazing thing when a group of artists come together in harmony and cooperation and work together on something, and then God comes down and adds a little more–that little something extra that no one individual can take credit for, yet there it is. Particularly, when we were at the finish line and Grace gave that wonderful performance next to a cold bed, with lighting wizardry making us think it was daytime, and just enough set dressing to fool the audience completely. Those are the moments when all the efforts are rewarded, when an artistic triumph happens and you almost pinch yourself in disbelief. Try and explain it to a non-artist. For me, those moments are what life is all about.
hardship these characters faced on daily basis. I was able to work closely with the makeup artist and combine our ideas (and pigment dirt) to make sure the makeup and costuming each had the same look and color palette and the overall result looked great on camera.
moved to LA from Indiana at the age of 18. She wanted to be a comedic actor. But when she read the script for “Swallow My Squirt 5”, and cracked up at the comedy, she knew it was too good to turn down. Then, after the paychecks started rolling in – she couldn’t stop. Plus she found out that sexy women could get whatever they wanted from guys. She’s quit the business, but she still makes money selling porn merchandise on adultmerch.com and is obsessed with posting half-naked selfies on Instagram. She also posts pictures of her playing the piano. She has two cats, Dr Sniffles and Princess Netty-Puff, and they have active Twitter accounts. She is very health conscious – she always works out, is a vegan, and doesn’t drink or do drugs. Her hero is her grandmother, who was a concentration camp survivor. Bree’s ex-girlfriend Trisha is a barista at Starbucks, and their relationship ended so badly that Bree only dates men… for now. Bree no longer goes to the Starbucks after she figured out she was being “decaffeinated” – which is when the employees make decaf drinks for the people they hate.
calls herself a “Hands on” manager – but “Hands on” really means “live in” man- ager. She is a leech who bleeds her clients dry then moves on to the next one. Her claim to fame is that she thinks she’s responsible for making Miley Cyrus quit “Hannah Montana” – after shouting at Miley from her car one day. Kim has only slept with one person (when she was 20), but was cheated on by him and has sworn off sex and personal relationships ever since. She has an unflattering style (much the opposite of Bree, who dressed sexy and trendy).
town, but now she can be a small fish in a big town.” Grace is Bree’s biggest fan and purposely moved next to Bree (but Bree doesn’t know it). Her obsession with Bree started when Bree said “Hey” to her on the street and made her feel like a somebody. She would do anything for Bree. She has seen (and owns) all of Bree’s movies, and references them all the time. Dresses in anything she thinks Bree would maybe wear but does it all wrong. Maybe a lesbian.
