Your two upcoming movies Love Death and Duque, in a
few words, what are they about?
David Pedraza (DP): Love Death
is a action spy-thriller introducing a character, Jude Quinn - a
former Army Special Forces/NSA agent turned Private Detective. This
movie tells the story of a doomed scientist, Samantha Collins
(Staci Mueller) who knows she has been poisoned and knows there is no
cure. She has one wish, to spend one last night with the love of her
life Jerry Stanton (Arthur Rios). While this is a stand alone
movie, it opens the door for a Jude Quinn series.
Duque (working Title) on the other hand is a coming of age/heroine drama that tells the
story of high school girl Amanda Duque who has inherited the pitching
genes of her famous father and who tries to become the first girl on a
boys baseball team in a small conservative Texas town.
David, what were your
inspirations when writing the two of them?
DP:
Well, for Duque I began the project after I came across a story on
Jackie Mitchell on the Public Broadcasting Network (PBS). I love history
and 90% of my screenplays/novels have some historical slant, so I did
some research and found when Jackie Mitchell passed away and set the
story just before that happened.
Love
Death
actually began as a short film project and halfway through it, I heard
my Jude Quinn character knocking on my brain wanting to be a part
of it. I have two seasons worth of Jude Quinn stories written and
I trust him (Jude Quinn) as much I trust myself.
How did both
projects get off the ground, and how did all of you get involved?
DP: Well, one of the actors in Love Death, Jay Pennington, who plays
one of the Ranchers, approached our Executive Producer, Yolanda Ayala,
on my working on a film he is developing. After my meeting with Yolanda
I let her know that I had a script or two she may be interested in. She
said to send her one so I sent her Love Death and less then a
week later, she said “let's make it!” I called Chip and asked him to
direct and a few weeks later, Chip was in Texas and I've been trying to
get him to stay ever since. Yolanda called me the day after the Love
Death wrapped and asked what else I had. I offered Duque because
there were not a lot of locations and I, as I try to do in all my
screenplays, depend on the actors acting and not on flash and bang,
speed chases or blood n guts. She loved it and we're off and
running again.
Glynn Praesel (GP): David and I worked on a 24 hour film project and I introduced
him to Chip and Jack. True networking with talent now from NY to LA.
As
far as I know, both films are set in Texas - so what can you tell us about
your locations, and Chip, as a California resident, what are your feelings
about shooting in Texas?
DP: For
Love Death our Executive Producer procured The Trois Estates, a
resort that looks upon Enchanted Rock, one of the largest Pink Crystal
rock formations in the United States.
Duque
is targeted to be shot in and around San Antonio. We have access to some
great locations and Texas is such a film friendly state, many locations
are gratis.
Chip
Mefford (CM): Texas is a great place to shoot with great incentives and
locations. It has become one of my favorite places to film and the crews
are deep enough that we haven't had any problem with both crewing up and
local talent.
Let's go into a bit more detail
about Love Death first: This seems to be a rather action-packed
movie - so what can you tell us about your action scenes?
GP: All of the action scenes were choreographed by Chip who is also an
accomplished stuntman and stunt coordinator. Love Death is a pilot for a
series that will have action-packed scenes each episode. Do
talk about your cast for this movie for a bit, and why exactly these
people?
DP: Every
cast member sold me on their role!
Art Ruiz, who played Jerry, was younger than I was looking for but at 1
am and his second callback he sold me that he could give the emotion I
needed for his part.
Stacie
Mueller had the look I needed to sell the 2 parts she played. They were
the leading roles with a great supporting cast.
According to my information, Love Death
is just a snippet of a larger body of work, storywise, and you might
extend this into a TV series - care to elaborate?
DP: Well,
as I mentioned earlier, I have two seasons of Jude Quinn stories
written and have been working on this character for a solid eight years.
Some of the stories are inspired from my experiences as a soldier in the
US Army. Once I met Chip, I met the analytical side of Jude Quinn
of a true Special Forces soldier. and once he read who JQ was, he knew it
as well. Now it's a shared dream to bring him to the small screen. Do
talk about the actual shoot and the on-set atmosphere for a bit?
CM:
We had a very short shoot schedule and a lot of people told me it couldn't
be done ... in most cases I would say they were correct. But ... other people did not have my cast and crew!!! I came from LA to Texas to
make a movie. Yolanda had built a team to support me. I came in without
really knowing the crew. I believe it took the crew about an hour or
2 after knowing me that they decided to give me their all!!!! and that
they did! We were a team that had a clear direction and everyone had a say
in how we made our project
I believe that we as movie makers need to have input but it is up to the
director to lead the team thru the project
And having a great 1st AD really helps! Danny Ramos was my first! He kept me on schedule, pushed me when he
needed to, and gave me the time when I needed it! All I can say is I
would walk thru Hell with my crew or for them.
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Let's
move on to Duque - how are you planning to represent baseball, as
an action-based sport, in your film, and how will you set the balance
between the physical aspects of the sport and the drama of your story?
DP:
In my mind, baseball is really just a backdrop for a coming of age story.
While the circumstances may be different, what happens to our character Amanda
Duque happens to both boys and girls in schools across the world
everyday. Bullying is bullying whether it takes place in a locker room or
on the playground. Amanda finds a way to overcome her adversaries
and if this story helps just one kid, then it was all worth it. But the
baseball is represented with the class and dignity of the early days of
the sport. It is represented with respectful coaches doing respectful
things; teaching the game correctly. Again,
do talk about the cast of your movie, and why them?
DP:
We are still in the casting process but we knew going into this project
that finding that right person to play Amanda was going to be a challenge.
The rest of the cast I was not so worried about. But we have some strong
candidates to play her, and those who don't make it as Amanda may well be
stunt doubles so as not to wear out anyone's arm. Glynn Praesel will be
playing one of the leads as Amanda's coach and his talent and work speak
for itself. Shy Pilgreen will be a great supporting actress and actually
worked on Love Death as well. With
Duque being a period piece - where do you see the challenges of
that aspect of your movie? CM: The
big parts, wardrobe, hair, and the cars. I mean where are we going to find
Hammer pants? -
All joking aside I believe the wardrobe, hair and makeup will be huge for
this film,
David has done a great job with the dialog and keeping it 80's. Glynn, you play
prominent roles in both movies - so what can you tell us about your
characters, how do they compare, and how will you approach them?
GP: The
character I play in Love Death is a wealthy cowboy/rancher who has
nefarious intentions. I have played this same kind of character before
so it's an easy role that I just get to have fun with.
Additionally,
the coach Tom Walters role in Duque is a fantastic role that lends
itself to a wide range of emotions and great character development. I
have also played a coach similar to this character.
What
I will look for as I develop both characters is what each has as a
strength and as a weakness. This makes them real to the audience and
relatable.
It
might be waaay too early to ask, but any idea when the two films will be
released yet?
Both
will be targeted for Summer/Fall 2014. Any future projects past Love Death
and Duque, both together and individually?
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DP: Well
I'm down to work on any film those cats (Glynn, Chip) feel I can help on.
I'm also hoping to get a sci-fi screenplay I wrote called Charlie
Martels into the right hands. When I do, you'll be one of the first to
know. Your/your
movies' websites, Facebooks, whatever elses?
http://dbmediaent.com/Duque/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/duquemovie
http://dbmediaent.com/Love%20Death.html
Anything
else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Jack
Skyyler: I’ve been working with Glynn Praesel a long
time. And you’ll see him on the credits of many of my
films. You see him tying these projects together.
Glynn’s a truly great actor. But beyond that,
he’s a truly great man! And I’m looking forward to
a lot more films with him! Thanks
for the interview!
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