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

I first met Ed and Jose Quiroz ten years ago when I worked on their film “Blood and Tears. I had just decided to go back to school. I remember my husband thinking I was nuts; flying out to San Francisco alone, to meet some guys that said they were filmmakers, and play the part of a gangster’s wife. Truth be told, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into but as it happened, the experience was awesome! But what made me do it? It was the sheer guts these guys had, to track me down and ask me to be in their film. It was the inspired spirit of these seriously independent filmmakers. They’ve made (with distribution) TEN films since then. They are some real life BULLfighters. So take a minute and enjoy this article from two of the nicest guys in the biz.

Angel M

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We grew up in Hayward, California, which is a five-minute drive from Oakland, California. We were poor and on welfare growing up. We were raised in a low-income neighborhood. It wasn’t as bad as Oakland, but it definitely has its share of negativity that plagues poor Latino and Black neighborhoods: gangs, drugs, police harassment, etc… We grew up with the Latino culture all around us and in our home. We came to the U.S. in the ’70s so we only spoke Spanish in our household. We picked up English in School. We would walk to the Mexican store in our neighborhood “La Mexicana” and buy tortillas, Mexican breads and bean burritos with our mom. We’d go to Catholic church, watch “Chespirito,” “El Chavo Del Ocho” and “Chapulin Colorado” on the Spanish channel. We grew up hearing “Sana, sana culito de rana” and ate at Taco trucks when we had the money. I guess, the typical Latino childhood.

We used to produce music for independent artists. We put out some independent rap artists and some punk rock groups. But we ended up saving money from our jobs and started to make our own films. We’ve always liked filmmaking a lot better. Nowadays we produce and score our own films.

Our love of film started as kids. We used to sell our lunch tickets to kids at school (which we would get for free ’cause we were poor) and we’d save every penny we’d get all week. Then on weekends we would rent movies at our local video store. If you’d rent three movies, they’d give you a fourth rental for free. Our dad had this beat up moving van parked outside and we’d run extension cords to the van, hook ‘em up to a small black & white t.v. and a barely-working VCR. Then we’d use dark blankets for curtains and watch the VHS tapes we just rented with the neighborhood kids. It was our own ghetto movie theater. That was our little escape from our reality. For those few hours, we’d be into our movies and nothing else existed to us at that moment except for the “Goonies” and “Jason Voorhees.” That’s what started our love of film.

We’ve always been very good storytellers. We would always tell scary and funny stories to our neighborhood friends. People have always liked our stories. So, one day my brother said, “let’s make a movie” so I said “okay” and off we went. We never went to film school. We just worked and saved money to make our first film. We wrote a couple of scripts; let some of our closest friends read them. Then we found a place across the Bay in San Francisco that rents out film equipment. They basically just showed us how to load and unload the film. So, we rented an old CP16 film camera, bought several rolls of 16mm film and shot our first feature with a HUGE budget of $4,000. It was a comedy called “Paper Napkins.” It had some funny parts, but it was pretty horrible as I’m sure you can imagine what a $4,000 feature film would look like. It still got accepted and screened at a couple of film festivals and we ended up flying around a bit to other states to attend these festivals.

It was a great experience and all of our movies have been our film school.We learned everything by doing. Just plain ol’ hands-on experience. And every movie we’ve made since has been better than the last. We’ve made dramas, comedies, action, gangster movies, and horror. We’ve had 12 feature films distributed through Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery, Best Buy, Circuit City, Wal-Mart, Target, etc. We’ve had some of our films on pay-per-view as well. Eleven years and 15 films later, we’re still writing, directing and producing our own independent features.

Our favorite part is the all-around production of a feature film. We love coming up with stories to turn into scripts. We love coming up with different ways to tell a story. Each part of production is its own little hell. From the script writing to pre-production (getting props and sets and locations and actors and money) to actual production, which is both a headache and fun, to post-production with all the countless hours of editing and sound mixing. Making a film is mentally and physically exhausting, but when it’s all over, it’s a great feeling of accomplishment. After finishing something that you’re proud of, it makes it all worth it. Our least favorite part is all the paperwork and permits and insurance and contracts and corporate b.s. that you have to deal with.

You could say another obstacle is being Brown in this business, it’s hard as hell. It’s a damn shame that it’s 2007 and Latinos are still at the bottom in this business. I think the problem is that we as Latinos, don’t bitch about it as much as everyone else does. We don’t organize and make noise. In my opinion, we NEED to bitch and make noise and be heard and recognized. We have it worse than Black actors and filmmakers. Even though they’re still not represented as much as they should be in the business, we’ve got it a million times worse. I had read somewhere that Latinos only represent something in the neighborhood of 1.7% in film and television. If that’s true then it’s a damn shame since we’re the biggest minority.

When we ARE represented, we’re shown as gangbangers, drug dealers, or servants. Although there are a few, and I do mean a FEW Latino actors and filmmakers who have made somewhat of a name for themselves, it’s still not enough, in our opinion. There’s TONS of talent out there and no one gives Latinos a chance. We’ve definitely experienced some obstacles because we’re Latinos. We’ve done several interviews and it’s always the same thing-somewhere in the interview, we’re referred to as Latino filmmakers. So, right off the bat, they separate us from other filmmakers. Yeah, we’re Latinos, but we’re just filmmakers, period. No one refers to Spielberg as a Jewish filmmaker or Coppola as an Italian filmmaker, so why are we “Latino” filmmakers?

Another obstacle is major companies not wanting to give you a chance. Even though we’ve proven that we can make a feature for less money than is usually spent on catering for a typical Hollywood movie. But we’ve been paying our dues for over a decade now and we’ve actually made a bit of a name for ourselves. It’s actually cool to know that there are people in the industry who have heard of the Quiroz Bros. and we’re actually getting some recognition. A little while ago DVD Premieres inside of Variety named us two of the top ten straight to video directors for the year. They had an interview/story on us with our pictures in it. We’ve also been approached by a few companies and people in the industry that want to work with us, so things are rolling along good.

In fifteen years, we’ll still be making films. Right now we’re making a living doing this and we love it. We’re able to take care of our wives and kids while we make movies. But we definitely want to keep moving up in this business. We’re actually working on some things right now and we’re in talks with some major players in the film world to be able to release bigger-budgeted pictures in theaters. Hopefully by 10, 15 years we’d have won an Oscar.

For anyone who wants to be a filmmaker, you really have to have a drive for this business. If you truly have a passion for filmmaking, and we mean a true passion in your hearts to do this, then don’t stop doing it. Don’t ever give up and put in the necessary work to achieve what you’re reaching for. Don’t half-ass anything. Either do it 100% or don’t do it at all. We’re not in Hollywood and we’re still able to make films that get distribution because we have the drive. We’re in the Bay Area and we’re making a living making films, so that goes to show you that if you put your heart and soul into something and work your ass off, you can do anything you want to do.

Pumkin Patch Pictures
Jose and Eduardo Quiroz

www.pumpkinpatchpictures.com

myspace.com/thepumpkinpatchpictures

AM/05/07

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