Latino Hispanic Culture, Art and Film at Bullfighter’s Cafe

Michael Centeno is a young filmmaker I met at the Pasedena Cinco de Mayo Festival last year. When I asked to view his work for an article on this site, he presented me with a press kit worthy enough to represent a million dollar film. I realize after reading his package that this man does everything with attention to detail and the utmost care. In addition to internships at a couple of LA television stations and winning several film festival awards, Michael also founded a weekly film festival at Tia Chuchas Cafe Cultural so he could give back to his community. At an age where most people have only begun to set their eyes on a dream, Michael is taking huge steps to make them happen. He shares with us plans for his new film. Photo: Michael Centeno, Angel Aviles-McClinton, Luis J. Rodriguez
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BFC: You say that your new project is slated to go into production summer of 2007. What’s the film about?
The film is entitled, “2011”. As the title suggests, the film takes place in the year 2011. Corporations have taken over and monopolized the agricultural industry. As a result underground movements have formed to resist the take over and genetic manipulation of farmlands across the world. From one of these movements emerges Xol, a man who grew up on the streets alone with no family or friends other than the strangers he meets along his path of trying to find understanding and meaning in his life. By a chance meeting Xol obtains information that perpetuates him into the world of smuggling “pure seeds” (seeds that have not yet been genetically modified) to different communities in the resistance movement. Although he grows to be extremely successful at what he does, Xol struggles with accepting his role as a leader in a movement he does not believe in or fully understand.

BFC: What ’s your budget?
My ideal budget is 200,000 but will settle with 100,000. We are currently in the process of fundraising the money for the budget. Instead of looking for producers or investors that might hinder our creative control we are taking a grass roots
attempt to fundraise and meet our proposed budget. My attitude is to move forward as much as we can with the mentality that we have all the money we need. If
we don’t approach it in that way then we will never make any progress and always be waiting for someone rather than move forward independently on our own.

BFC: Have you developed a style?
With every project I do whether it is a narrative piece, documentary, or random family event, I feel that I am continuously defining my style and perfecting my craft. With my two recent projects I feel that my style is evident although always evolving and transforming.

I feel that my style has an emphasis on conveying emotions. I enjoy conveying these emotions not just with the actors’ performance but also with the soundtrack and everything visual, which accompanies the scene at that given time.

BFC: What is your production process like?
I consider myself to be very meticulous and detail oriented during pre-production and very laid back during production. I spend a lot of time making sure all the details are covered during pre-production and that I have a clear understanding and idea in my head of exactly what I want. By doing this I can come on the set and work with the actors in a very laid back atmosphere. Of course production is very chaotic but I try to have fun as much as I can and hope that my actors and crew do as well.

BFC: What if any obstacles did you face in producing your last project and what did you do to overcome them?
I think that the obstacles I faced were those that came up during production that were just issues that you always have to deal with. No matter how much you plan there will always be obstacles that come up. Part of the filmmaking process is problem solving, and problem solving on the spot. You know that there are going to be problems but there is no real way to prepare for them. The important thing is to come up with solutions and not allow the problem to stop the filmmaking process or your vision. I guess the most difficult obstacle was not having enough time and money. In order to resolve this I just had to cut some scenes and reedit some other scenes to create a coherent story.

email: elusivemindsprod@yahoo.com

am06/06

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