Vicissitude at The Plaza Classic

            This past weekend went by in an instant as I hung out with family and friends back home in El Paso, TX/Juarez, Mexico, but more importantly, presented Vicissitude at the El Paso Plaza Classic Film Festival as part of their “Local Flavor” selection.

            The screening took place at the Museum of Art in downtown El Paso. It was nice to check out some of the very impressive pieces of art they had on display. A good number of people showed up to the El Paso Energy Auditorium at the museum to watch the documentary; it was nice to see so much support from close family and friends, some cast members, Kickstarter donors, as well as strangers (some who are now friends).

            Optimum Exposure TV, a start-up video and photography company, came out to photograph the event and do a short interview for their website and YouTube channel.

Interview in English

Interview in Spanish

            Sunday I had the opportunity to meet a few students who traveled from different cities of the United States to attend the festival. I was approached by my friend Oscar Garza, who is a writer for TheProspector and a Plaza Classic Film Club Facilitator, to talk to them about the process of making the documentary, some of the challenges, and many other things. He then invited me to watch The Third Man (1949) on beautiful 35mm at the Kendle Kidd Performance Hall. It would’ve been a sin to leave El Paso without catching a classic flick at the festival.

            It was a great weekend and the lack of sleep was totally worth it. Being home this past weekend for both business and pleasure made me realize I am blessed to have many individuals around me who support and love me, but push me to be the best I can be. Oprah once said, “Surround yourself with only people that are going to lift you higher.” I try to stand by those words on a consistent basis.

Ricardo Ramos Copyright 2013

El Paso Plaza Classic Film Festival

            Hello everyone, I hope you had a great week. For those of you who didn’t know, I am thrilled to announce that Vicissitude will be part of the “Local Flavor” line-up at the El Paso Plaza Classic Film Festival on August 3^rd.

            Vicissitude is a documentary that portrays a personal side of several victims of the drug-related violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. People saw it on the news or read about it in the paper for a long time, but they never got to see what these people went through on a deeper level. Whether someone was carjacked, had to shut down a business, or experienced a death in the family, the documentary also gives focus to the history and facts behind the drug war that sparked in 2008. However, it ends on a positive note by covering the actions that are taking place by groups of people and organizations to uplift the city and its people. If you’re interested in reading more about the production process of the documentary, click here to check out a blogpost I wrote a while back.

            The Plaza Classic was created in 2008 and will run from August 1^st to the 11^th in downtown El Paso, Texas. "One of the goals of Local Flavor, and of the festival as a whole, is to bring people downtown," says Carlos Corral, the festival's local film coordinator, on an article from Newspaper Tree.

             The festival includes a wide line-up of classic films such as West Side Story, Goodfellas, The Sound of Music, among others. It also features panels with specials guests, including Academy Award winning actress Rita Moreno, art exhibits, concerts, and screenings of feature length films and shorts made by local filmmakers.

            Vicissitude will be screened along with the short films Art by Gabriel Lira, Mas De Uno by Jonathan Herrera, and Noventa by Bryan Thompson at the El Paso Museum of Art on August 3^rd at 1:00 p.m. There will be a Q&A session after the film and I’ll have copies of the documentary on DVD for anyone who’s interested in taking one home. I’m looking forward to seeing some of cast members and Kickstarter donors, as well as family, friends, and film enthusiasts. See you there!

Ricardo Ramos Copyright 2013

Kickstarter and the Future of Big Budget Film Financing

            “Hell, there are no rules here – We’re trying to accomplish something.” Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State) quotes Edison on the Kickstarter profile for Wish I Was Here, a personal film that he’s looking to finance through this platform. And indeed, rules aren’t set in stone, especially in this third wave, web 2.0 world we live in. However, people on both sides of the coin have interesting things to say in regards to this method of funding that is rising in popularity the way Instagram and cat videos are.

            Braff’s film, which he’ll be directing, starring in, and co-wrote with his brother, is a follow-up to his critically acclaimed directorial debut, Garden State, which came out almost nine years ago. The art film, which is very personal to him, is about a struggling actor in his thirties who ends up having to home school his two children. After attempting to finance both through the studio and independent system, he was inspired by the success of Veronica Mars. For those of you who live in a cave, Veronica Mars raised $5.7 million of the $2 million it set as a goal in order to finance a film version of the CW show.

            The Kickstarter project was launched two days ago. It seeks a generous $2 million and as of now (April 26, 14:52 EST), it has reached $1.8 million with over 25,000 backers. I wish my little project for Vicissitude, which I launched almost two years ago, had reached that unimaginable amount of money, which takes me to my next point.

            Some people are all for it and others have determined points of view.

The fans love it. They get to be a part of the project and get rewarded with cool perks depending on the amount of money they donate. Hey, I’m in if Steven Levitan and Christopher Lloyd launch a campaign for Modern Family. Also, it opens new doors for niche or art films to be funded. On the other hand, some people think that bigger, well-established filmmakers, such as Braff, shouldn’t be taking advantage of this method. Tim Anderson is an Orlando-based filmmaker and runs the monthly Film Slam festival at the Enzian theater. Anderson believes that people who are helping finance films this way are ignorant. Not only are they paying them to make them money, but they’ll pay them again when they go see it at the movies, rent it, or buy it. “Take your $25 dollars and give it to a homeless person, or a charity for battered women, or someone in your community that is trying to make art for a living. Don't give it to Zach Braff whose residual checks each month for Scrubs are worth more than your house,” he stated last night.

            Personally, it’s up to you to do what you want with your money. Going back to Edison’s quote, “there are no rules.” However, I believe that Kickstarter and other campaign websites such as Indiegogo are meant for filmmakers, artists, and creators who seriously lack capital, to seek contributions. I completely understand that as a fan, it’s thrilling to know your name has the potential of appearing at the end credits or that you’ll receive exclusive goodies (Hey, I admitted I would donate if Modern Family were to go down the same path), but there are hundreds of projects out there by aspiring artists that deserve a shot. About 59% of Kickstarter projects fail to get funded.

            It will be interesting to see if this will truly be the future of film financing for big budget projects, or if it’s just a phase that will have it’s fifteen minutes of fame. We shall see.

Another Reason To Give Thanks on Thanksgiving

             Two weeks ago I published a blog post in which I briefly explain the journey of Vicissitude on all three stages of production. On this one, I simply want to share what a great experience it was to finally screen the documentary to a group of people. The members of Club Rotario Juarez Ejecutivo were the lucky ones to see it for the first time. This Rotary Club branch from Ciudad Juarez gave me the opportunity to present my project the Friday after Thanksgiving at their weekly meeting. We met at Campestre Country Club where we had lunch together and listened to another presenter before they introduced me and played the documentary.

Community Service, Sierra Tarahumara

           After the screening, I conducted a Q&A session to answer some of the questions they had regarding the making of the project. I was also given feedback and constructive criticism, and there were nothing but positive comments. I heard things from how well the story was structured and edited, to how relevant the music sounded, to how properly the interviews were conducted. Some were curious about the overall budget, others wondered what inspired me to do it, and where I planned to take it next.

With Manuel Papadakis (Kickstarter Donor)

With Gilberto Nevarez (Club President) and Dr. Ramos (Executive Producer)

            After the screening, my editor made a couple of minimal changes as soon as I came back to Orlando from my trip to the border, and now we’re ready to start submitting it to different film festivals. I submitted for the first time to the Florida Film Festival a couple of days ago and I can’t wait to find out if we’ll be able to represent our crew and Ciudad Juarez at this prestigious festival. Also, I just finished a list with other potential festivals for me to submit the documentary to and start getting the story out there. It’s important for me that this documentary gets seen by as many people as possible because that is the main reason why I decided to take this challenge.

            I will keep posting updates on the progress and whenever I submit to other festivals or screen somewhere else. In the meantime, don’t forget to “Like Us” on Facebook and keep up on Twitter typing #vicissitudedocumentary. Once again, thanks to all of our donors, supporters, and anyone who was a part of this project.

The Journey of "Vicissitude"

           Vicissitude is an independent documentary that takes the viewer on a journey with several people who have been innocent victims of the drug-related violence in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico Whether they were carjacked, had to shut down a business, or had a relative killed, the feature-length movie pays homage to the thousands of people who have lost their lives since 2008 by portraying a more personal side to the story.

           The purpose of the documentary is to show what people never really got to see on the news, and to give a voice to those who had to go through this experience of radical change. It also shows a progress, which is slow but certain, and the hopes that the city and its people have to once again be free of war.

           It is a project close to my heart since I’ve personally been a victim in one way or another and I lived in Ciudad Juarez for 16 years. The idea came to mind a couple of months after starting film school back in the summer of 2010. I had to write a short story for one of my classes and I thought, “Why not do something based on a case from the situation in Juarez?”

           As the months passed by, I put the script aside but the thought of doing a story about the violence would bother me every night. I knew I had to tell it some way. 

           In the summer of 2011, my best friend told me while having a conversation that she would love to visit Juarez. We had a break for Memorial Day coming up, so we planned a little trip to my hometown. An idea struck me that same night. I realized this could be the perfect opportunity to shoot a documentary. I had just taken two documentary classes, and the instructor, who is an Emmy award winner, had been a true inspiration. After giving it careful thought, I asked her if she wouldn’t mind to change our trip into a business trip. She was all for it.

           I did pre-production for approximately two months. This process consisted of crewing up, contacting potential interviewees, setting up a Kickstarter account to raise funds for the project, getting a hold of equipment, and many other things. I successfully raised a little over a thousand dollars, which I used to pay part of the plane tickets of the three people who came with me plus some other miscellaneous expenses.

           We shot the documentary during the four-day trip and it was nothing but a great learning experience as an aspiring filmmaker and as a person. Our biggest challenges had to do with time, but we managed to get things done.

           We came back with about 150 hours of footage from interviews, and that’s not counting B-Roll. The editing process was probably the most difficult but most rewarding. Having to balance school, work, and extracurricular activities, made it difficult for my first editor and me to get together. Luckily, I was blessed to bump into Mauricio Martinez one day at school, the guy who ended up becoming my editor and who is now a close friend. I happened to be wearing a soccer jersey from Mexico and he asked me where I was from. We had a short conversation before I needed to head back to class from break but we exchanged our contact information. We then took it online. It was here when I realized he speaks Spanish, is familiar with the subject, and one of his fortes is editing. As a result, he ended up editing the project and receiving a producer credit due to his contribution to the structure of the story and for recommending me an amazing recording arts student to compose the soundtrack.

           We finally finished the lengthy process on November 21^st, a day before Thanksgiving. I am aware that this is only the beginning, since now I have to figure out ways to get people to watch it, submit it to different film festivals, and screen it wherever I can. My top priority right now is the Florida Film Festival, we have a deadline coming up soon.

           This experience has taught me managing skills more than anything, and it has broaden my network. I hope something good will come out of this story and I can’t thank enough the people who contributed to this project by either working on it, investing, participating, or sending the good vibes.