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Your new movie Intolerance
No More - in a few words what is it about?
A
modern tale on racism, social prejudice and hope through the social media
lens.
What
were your sources of inspiration when writing Intolerance
No More?
Two
facts that called my attention:
1. Network news that spends millions of Dollars covering police pursuits and emphasizing social prejudice.
2.
During the story research, I found out that in 2017, 174 people were
killed in police brutality cases, just in California – 50% were African
Americans and 50% Latinos.
Intolerance
No More touches upon some very valid social issues and makes some
very strong points - was this your intention from the get-go, or did this
only develop during scripting? Police
brutality was always the core issue ,but when we started developing other
characters such as the vloggers, we explored other subplots like racism
and prejudice that reinforce the main issue. You've
shot Intolerance No
More the found footage way - so why did you take that
approach, and what was your approach to that approach? Two
main reasons. The first one, I wanted to explore a realistic cinematic
language approach, to make the audience feel as if it's happening now. The
second one, the budget. I knew that I was going to finance the movie
myself, so from the script we established the "big brother"
style, no matter where you go, you are always being watched by some
device. Filming
found footage style, what are the advantages but also challenges making a
movie that way? It
was a new film language for all of us. Thanks that DP Xavier Grobet
understood the challenges, we were able to do several scenes in one take.
For instance, on the scene where the police officer is lying on the ground,
it was a 360 degree set, where 20 cameras and 10 mics were rolling at the
same time.
Parts of Intolerance
No More, including a police chase, were shot at public places,
including a very busy highways - so how did you even get those shots? The
police highway chase is a stock footage intertwined with our own footage.
Movie magic! What
can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand?
I
wanted to explore a raw approach to my filmmaking process. Working with a
very talented cast, we made sure that the characters felt human, with
contradictions and goals that motivate a particular behavior, so that the
audience could care about them. Once on set, I gave them the freedom of
improvisation as long as we achieved the scene's objectives and most
importantly, embraced the rawness of life.
Do talk about Intolerance
No More's key cast, and why exactly these people? "Giving
voice to the voiceless" was from the beginning the film's philosophy.
With that in mind, we cast non-Union actors to give them the opportunity
to shine on the screen and the result was amazing! The four female lead
protagonists, the fearless and talented Paulette Patterson who carried the
film on her shoulders, Lizza Monet Morales, a real artivist, influencer and
journalist looking for the "truth", the police officer
antagonist played by Christina Morales with mixed emotions about the case,
and Helen Kennedy as the greedy TV anchor – all of them brought that raw
talent needed to pull this story off. A
few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? We
shot the movie in 10 days with Thanksgiving weekend and a one-day
commercial shoot in between. The on-set atmosphere was like "Let's
try this new thing."
Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of your movie? The
audience reception and feedback has been very positive, especially on
festivals and community screenings. A story that sadly is very timely.
With every screening we hope to spark the conversation and create
awareness on police brutality and racism. Any
future projects you'd like to share? We
are shooting a new film in the middle of the pandemic titled Stay-At-Home,
that hopefully will help us understand that we are all in this together. What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject? My
older brother, a director as well, influenced me to get into filmmaking in
Mexico City. Later, I came to LA where I graduated from USC film school.
Since then I became a bilingual, bicultural, dual-citizen, director,
producer and writer... in that order. What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Intolerance
No More? After
graduation I was involved in commercials, TV series, documentaries and
films. Some of my favorites projects are A
Day Without A Mexican, a film about immigration, Dos
Lunas, a TV series about mental health, and
Gracias Maestros, a PSA Emmy award winner.
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How would you describe yourself as a
director? Uff...no comment. Filmmakers who inspire you? The
Three Amigos, Mexican directors. Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else?
https://www.intolerancenomore.com/
https://www.facebook.com/intolerancenomore
https://www.instagram.com/intolerancethemovie/
https://twitter.com/intolerance_no
Thanks for the
interview!
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