Maddoggin' | Movie
If you believe, as I do, that all people desire emotional and financial
security, then why is it in a kid's emotional and/or financial self-interest to
join a gang? Maddoggin' started with that simple question. What followed was
eighteen months of work.
“It Takes a Village”
I spent two months
researching everything from memoirs of former gang members to massive
sociological studies on street gangs. Then I attempted to write a compelling
story incorporating all that I had learned. Following multiple drafts, with
essential input from my closest collaborators, I finally felt it was ready to
show to Eddie Ruiz. Eddie is not only a gifted, working actor, but a natural
born producer who was raised in Boyle Heights, the neighborhood in which the
script is based. Thankfully, Eddie loved the script, contributed insightful
notes, and signed on to shepherd Maddoggin' from script to screen. From that
first meeting, Eddie and I both shared a common vision: We would not tell the
community's story for them, but enlist the entire community to tell their own
story.
Pedro & Ernesto Tunnel Wide
The first person Eddie
contacted was his former high school classmate, Dario Debora,
who uses music to mentor at-risk youth in East L.A. In turn, Dario connected us
with his brother Fabian Spade
Debora, one of the most prominent Latino artists in Los Angeles and a former
gang member. Fabian also counsels at-risk youth at Homeboy Industries
(Father Greg), a non-profit organization that provides jobs, training, and
social services to former gang members. When Fabian reviewed the script with me
at the Homegirl Cafe, he remarked, "This is my story."
3 Shot
Having Fabian on our team was more than I could have hoped. Not only is
he responsible for all of the incredible artwork in the film, including a huge
two hundred square foot mural he created specifically for the project, he also
gave us vital script notes and introduced us to many of the kids in the film.
Dario, besides acting as Music Supervisor, overseeing a brilliant hip-hop
soundtrack consisting entirely of local up and coming artists from East L.A.,
also introduced us to the multi-talented hip-hop artist, Leonard “Y.O.”
Davenport.
Leonard, as he puts it, is a "hood rat" raised in the
projects between the L.A. River and the 101 freeway. His cousin, musical
collaborator, and best friend was shot and killed at the age of eighteen by a
rival gang member. When Eddie and I met Leonard, we both had the same thought,
could he read for one of our two lead roles? There was only one catch: Leonard
had never acted before, not even in a school play. With the help of our intrepid
casting director, Paige Orr, we prepped Leonard for a few days before giving him
an official audition. During his read, I turned on my camera and put it in his
face to see if he could handle the pressure, and that's when Leonard's
performance came alive. All Leonard needed was a camera on him.
Ernesto
& Pedro walking
Following some hard math, Eddie and I realized that
including pre-production, production, and post, the absolute cheapest we could
produce the film for would be $25,000 – approximately one thousand dollars per
minute of screen time. As a side note, Eddie brought the film in $1500 under
budget. Thankfully, the Latino Film Fund accepted our application for fiscal
sponsorship, which allowed us to raise funds as a non-profit project. Their
support and mentorship gave instant credibility to our nascent film and opened up
a lot of doors for us. Unfortunately, Eddie and I were so consumed with
pre-production we were unable to spend much time raising funds. Tim Hart and
Janice and Ronald Fox gave us generous contributions. I supplemented the rest of
the budget from my savings.
The casting process continued. We combined
non-traditional methods, such as visiting Drama departments at local high
schools and community centers with the established method of sending out
"Breakdowns" and auditioning actors. Paige did a phenomenal job finding our other
lead actor, L.A. native David Castaneda. Once we saw David read for the role of
Pedro, no other actor had a chance. He is one of the most talented, hardest
working, young actors I have ever met.
Justin Huen was another great
discovery by Paige. Justin, also born and raised on the eastside, has played
lead roles at most of the major theatres in Los Angeles. Justin's audition for
the role of the gang leader, AK, was one of the ten best auditions I have ever
seen for any project. I have seen tens of thousands of auditions.
Bill
& Pedro
Paige also introduced us to two up and coming actresses:
Victoria Moroles and Damaris Diaz. Victoria was only thirteen when we filmed, but
performed like a pro twice her age. Since working on Maddoggin' as her first
professional job, Damaris has already booked a FOX TV pilot, Family Album, as a
series regular. Another great actress in the cast, Kikey Castillo, is the child
of migrant farm workers who grew up picking vegetables in the fields, before
becoming the first in her family to graduate from college. Stewart Flores, who
lived on the streets prior to being adopted by a family at the age of sixteen,
gave us a perfect performance. He is also training for the Olympic trials in
boxing.
Due to their generosity and passion for the project, we were
able to add some of the most successful working actors in L.A. in minor roles
that would have usually been far too insignificant for their talents: Ingrid Oliu
(Stand and Deliver), Alejandro Patino (Iron Man 2), Lex Medlin (Southland),
Rawle Lewis (Cool Runnings), Nicole Ghastin (Coyote Ugly), and John Serge
(Veronica Mars). The rest of the cast is made up almost entirely of former gang
members and at-risk youth from East L.A. I loved working with every single one
of them. They were all unfailingly polite and hard working. I would
unequivocally recommend them for any future job in or out of the film industry.
I could write dozens of paragraphs about the production team, designers,
and crew, but in a feeble attempt at brevity, I will just say that they are
people at the top of their profession, who volunteered to work for a fraction of
their usual rates, on all-night shoots and twelve-hour location days in the L.A.
heat. In truth, our skeleton crew, that often numbered no more than six, was
doing the work of scores of crew on a regular film shoot. Check out their credits
on I.M.D.B. you will see how blessed we were to have them. Pedro Hands up
The entire film was shot on the streets of East L.A. and Boyle Heights
and at the homes of Eddie's friends. The only exception was Scott Robinson Honda
in Torrance. Eddie cold-called all the Honda dealerships in L.A. and Eric
Bolstad, the General Manager, gave us carte-blanch to shoot in their dealership
once he learned we were telling a story about at-risk youth. His generosity
added thousands of dollars of production value and he asked us for nothing in
return. So, if you're in the market for a Honda…
As the shoot
approached, we rehearsed the lead actors for many weeks in rooms donated to us
by the Boyle Heights Tech Center. Joe and Ozzie, who run the Tech Center, have
created a place where kids are safe from life on the streets. Built on the site
of a former crack house, it is an alternative school for at-risk youth and
community center. I encourage you to visit the Tech Center and support the
wonderful work they're doing.
We shot over eight days in June of 2010.
Eddie's family cooked all the meals and set up and struck base camp every day
and night. Fabian brought a van full of kids from Homeboy Industries to play
background artists and acted as a tattooed "den mother" to them on set. Our
friends and family pitched in with props, allowed dozens of strangers into their
homes through the night, lent us vehicles, provided transportation, played
extras at four in the morning, and much, much more. I will always be grateful
for the tremendous effort our entire team put into creating Maddoggin'.
Soccer sketch
Post Script
Six weeks after filming I
received a text from Fabian that one of our kids in the film, Irvin Panameno, had
been shot and killed. He was nineteen years old. Irvin was walking to the bus at
7:30AM on his way to work at Homeboy Industries when he was shot in the face,
neck, and back. The LA Times spelled his name wrong and included the following
information, "Investigators believe the shooting was gang related".
All
of us are guilty of glossing over similar stories while reading the paper. If we
are honest with ourselves, we may have even thought deep down, that the kid
probably had it coming. My hope is that after seeing this film, you will never
pass by a similar story in the paper again without remembering that that kid had
hopes and dreams and a family. I also hope that you will no longer see these
kids as a frightening "other", but recognize that if you were in their shoes,
you would very likely make some of the same mistakes. Perhaps, you might even be
motivated to help create economic opportunities for at-risk youth. In the words
of Father Greg Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries, "Nothing stops a bullet
like a job."
Written by Director: Terence Heuston
MADDOGGIN' Trailer from Terence Heuston on Vimeo.
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